Symmetric vs Asymmetric encryption: 2 Definitions

Symmetric vs asymmetric encryption plays a great role in choosing the best type of encryption for data types. Every organization has one way of encrypting and decrypting data, and the choice sometimes depends on the flexibility of the encryption method. A bank may choose both asymmetric and symmetric encryption depending on the convenience of the situation. While using the ATM card system, banks use symmetric encryption because it is faster and more convenient. Remember so much information is in transit at ago and there is no time for the bank to create a key then you also create yours as it is with asymmetric encryption

Symmetric vs Asymmetric encryption; What is symmetric encryption?

Symmetric encryption is the type of encryption which involves using one private key to encrypt and decript information. An example is the PIN of an ATM card, a wifi system password, or even the Bitlocker for encrypting drives. Encrypted files that are encrypted and decrypted with the same key use symmetric encryption; an example is an encrypted Microsoft Word document. It uses one password to encrypt and decrypt the message

An advantage of symmetric encryption is that it is fast and convenient; it is easy and quick to compute. It doesn’t require the person receiving the information to have a key to access the information like it is with asymmetric encryption. The key is also small in size, just a simple password with a few characters

Symmetric vs Asymmetric encryption; What is asymmetric encryption?

It is the type of encryption that uses both the public and private keys. The public key is used for encryption and the private is used for description. In this, the sender and receiver must have a private key because if the sender has the key for encrypting and the receiver doesn’t have, she will not be able to read the message.

Unlike symmetric encryption, asymmetric encryption is very safe because it involves the use of two secret keys whose identity the receiver and sender don’t know but yet the same keys can decrypt the messages sent.

Examples of asymmetric encryption; Rivest Shamir Adleman (RSA), the digital signature standard, elliptical curve cryptography, TSL, and SSL Protocol

Focus: The SSL Protocol; is a type of asymmetric encryption used to protect websites. The protocol ensures that the data transferred from the user to the server is private. The user can authenticate the identity of the server. That is why if you want to access a website with the hypertext transfer protocol(HTTP), the web browser gives you a warning that it is not safe because nothing is encrypted, your information is not encrypted, and can be maliciously used by hackers.

However, if the website has a hypertext transfer protocol secure(https), the communication between the user and the server during information transfer is very secure because it is encrypted. WhatsApp and Signal use both symmetric and asymmetric encryption algorithms

Choosing the best type encryption depends on where you are creating the information and where you are sending it as well as where you are going to store the information. If you are creating your information on a Microsoft office document, then you will adopt symmetric encryption because you will create a password for the document.

I am going to prepare practical videos on both symmetric and asymmetric encryption using Proton Mail and Mailvelope.

Meanwhile please like and comment on this article so we can find out your views on asymmetric and symmetric encryption

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