Lesson 3: Explain Cryptographic Solutions Flashcards
What is cryptography?
The art of securing information by encoding it, transforming plaintext into ciphertext to protect data from unauthorized access.
Define plaintext in cryptographic terms.
Unencrypted data.
Define ciphertext in cryptographic terms.
Encrypted data.
What is an algorithm in cryptography?
The process of encryption/decryption.
What is cryptanalysis?
The study of breaking cryptographic systems.
List the three main types of cryptographic algorithms.
- Hashing algorithms
- Symmetric ciphers
- Asymmetric ciphers
What do hashing algorithms ensure?
Data integrity.
What is a characteristic of symmetric ciphers?
Use a single shared key.
What is a characteristic of asymmetric ciphers?
Utilize a public/private key pair.
What do Hashing Algorithms do?
These algorithms convert input data into fixed-length digest, ensuring data integrity by allowing verification of data without revealing the original content.
What is the mechanism of symmetric encryption?
Uses the same key for both encryption and decryption.
This makes it efficient for large data sets.
What is the primary advantage of symmetric encryption?
Speed, making it ideal for bulk data encryption.
What is a disadvantage of symmetric encryption?
The secure exchange of the encryption key can be a vulnerability.
Give an example of a widely used symmetric cipher.
The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
What are the variations of AES indicative of?
The key size, such as AES-128 and AES-256.
Provide a use case for Symmetric Encryption
Commonly used in securing data at rest and in transit, such as in file encryption and VPNs.
Streaming services.
What is the mechanism of asymmetric encryption?
A public key is used for encryption and a paired private key for decryption.
What is a key advantage of asymmetric encryption?
Secure key exchange since the public key can be shared openly.
What is a drawback of asymmetric encryption?
It is slower and requires more computational resources.
What is a common use case for asymmetric encryption?
To encrypt symmetric session keys.
Name two popular asymmetric encryption algorithms.
- RSA
- ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography)
What do hashing algorithms produce?
They convert input data into a fixed-length string of characters, which is unique to the input data.
What is the primary use of hashing algorithms?
To ensure data integrity.
Allowing verification of data without revealing the original content.
Name a common hashing algorithm.
SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm), specifically SHA-256.
MD5 is a less secure hashing algorithm and considered obsolete for sensitive applications.