From the course: CompTIA CySA+ (CS0-002) Cert Prep: 4 Software and Systems Security

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Symmetric and asymmetric cryptography

Symmetric and asymmetric cryptography

From the course: CompTIA CySA+ (CS0-002) Cert Prep: 4 Software and Systems Security

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Symmetric and asymmetric cryptography

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- [Instructor] There are many different kinds of encryption algorithm, and there are different ways that we can categorize those algorithms. Two of the major categories are symmetric and asymmetric algorithms. You're probably already familiar with the concept of symmetry, meaning that two things are the same. Symmetric shapes have two sides that when divided along an axis are identical. Similarly, the structure of the human face is symmetric. In cryptography, symmetry relates to keys rather than shapes, and we have two categories of encryption algorithms. In symmetric encryption algorithms, also known as shared secret encryption algorithms, the encryption and decryption operations use the same key. If one user encrypts a message using the secret key apple, a second user would have to decrypt the message using that same key. It's a shared secret. Asymmetric encryption algorithms, on the other hand, use different keys for…

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