A form of cryptography which uses two keys - a private key and a public key. Anything encrypted with your public key can only be decrypted with your private key. So you can distribute your public key to anyone in the world, because it only is useful for encrypting data intended for you. The private key, on the other hand, must be kept secured. This form of crypto is used frequently for encrypting e-mail because you don't need a secure mechanism for exchanging the public key. Even if someone intercepts it, without your private key they won't be able to decrypt any of the messages intended for you.
An encryption technique developed to overcome the limitations of secret-key cryptography (see separate entry). Public key (also called "asymmetric key") cryptography uses two mathematically related keys: A public key to encrypt messages, and a private key to decrypt them. In a public-key system, you communicate privately by encrypting your message using the public key of your intended recipient. Although everyone else knows the recipient's public key, it is useless for decrypting a message encrypted with it. Only the corresponding private key, known only to the recipient, can decrypt the message.
Also known as asymmetric key cryptography. In public-key cryptosystems, everyone has two related complementary keys, a publicly revealed key and a secret key (also frequently called a private key). Each key unlocks the code that the other key makes. Knowing the public key does not help you deduce the corresponding secret key. The public key can be published and widely disseminated across a communications network. This protocol provides privacy without the need for the same kind of secure channels that a conventional cryptosystem requires.
Encryption method that uses two different random numbers ( key s). See public key and public-key encryption.
A system of cryptography which overcomes the problems of key distribution. Public-key cryptography requires an asymmetric cipher, so that each user can create a public encryption key and a private decryption key.
A type of cryptography that is based on public/private key pairs.
A set of well-established techniques and standards that allow an entity to verify its identity electronically or to sign and encrypt electronic data. Two keys are involved: a public key and a private key. A public key is published as part of a certificate, which associates that key with a particular identity. The corresponding private key is kept secret. Data encrypted with the public key can be decrypted only with the private key.
Cryptography based on methods involving a public key and a private key.
A form of cryptography that uses two keys: a public key and a private key.
Public key cryptography, also known as asymmetric cryptography, is a form of cryptography in which a user has a pair of cryptographic keys - a public key and a private key. The private key is kept secret, while the public key may be widely distributed. The keys are related mathematically, but the private key cannot be practically derived from the public key.