Difference between symmetric and asymmetric encryption

About encryption-

Encryption is used to ensure the confidentiality of data. For example, if you are sending an email (typically using an insecure medium), the email is prone to hacking/interception. The solution is to use encryption.

The basic encryption process is as follows:

The methods-

Based on the purpose and complexity/simplicity two main types of encryption methods are used:

1. Symmetric encryption
2. Asymmetric encryption

Pros and Cons of Symmetric encryption-

In symmetric encryption, a public key is used for both encryption and decryption. Since the public key can be shared publicly, there is a high probability that if the key is hacked during transmission, it can be shared publicly.

Therefore, key distribution problems arise when the key is shared over insecure mediums, such as the internet.

Moreover, when more and more people join the conversation (the message/email transmission), the key management problems arise.

Therefore, key management and key distribution problems are the main drawbacks of using symmetric encryption.

However, since a single key is used for both encryption and decryption processes, the process is fast and efficient as compared to asymmetric encryption which uses one key for encryption and another case for decryption.

Pros and Cons of Asymmetric encryption-

In asymmetric encryption, a public key is used for encryption and a private key for decryption. The public key can be shared publicly, but the private key should be kept hidden. When two keys are used, the time for decryption of an encrypted message takes a long time than decrypting an symmetrically encrypted message. Therefore, one of the major disadvantages of asymmetric encryption is that the process is very slow.

Key management problems also arise when using asymmetric encryption.

However, key distribution is easy, as the decrypting key is a private key and the private key can be kept hidden.

In summary-

	Symmetric encryption	Asymmetric encryption
Advantages	Fast and efficient	Key distribution is easy
Disadvantages	1. Key management problems 2. Key distribution problems	1. Slow in performance 2. Key management problems

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