CRYPTOGRAPHY CONCEPT MAP

CRYPTOGRAPHY CONCEPT MAP

1. symmetric and asymmetric encryption

   • Symmetric encryption is a type of encryption where only one key (a secret key) is used to both encrypt and decrypt electronic information. The entities communicating via symmetric encryption must exchange the key so that it can be used in the decryption process.
     • What is Symmetric Encryption Used For?
       • While symmetric encryption is an older method of encryption, it is faster and more efficient than asymmetric encryption, which takes a toll on networks due to performance issues with data size and heavy CPU use. Due to the better performance and faster speed of symmetric encryption (compared to asymmetric), symmetric cryptography is typically used for bulk encryption / encrypting large amounts of data, e.g. for database encryption. In the case of a database, the secret key might only be available to the database itself to encrypt or decrypt.
     • Some examples of symmetric encryption algorithms include:
       • • AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)
         • • DES (Data Encryption Standard)
           • • IDEA (International Data Encryption Algorithm)
             • • RC5 (Rivest Cipher 5)
               • • RC4 (Rivest Cipher 4)
               • • RC6 (Rivest Cipher 6)

2. hashing algorithms

   • is a cryptographic hash function. It is a mathematical algorithm that maps data of arbitrary size to a hash of a fixed size. A hash function algorithm is designed to be a one-way function, infeasible to invert.
     • Some common hashing algorithms
       • MD5: This is the fifth version of the Message Digest algorithm.
         • SHA-1: This is the second version of the Secure Hash Algorithm standard, SHA-0 being the first.
           • LANMAN: Microsoft LANMAN is the Microsoft LAN Manager hashing algorithm.
             • NTLM: This is the NT LAN Manager algorithm. The NTLM algorithm is used for password hashing during authentication.
     • What do we use it for?
       • Cryptographic hash functions are widely used in IT. We can use them for digital signatures, message authentication codes (MACs), and other forms of authentication. We can also use them for indexing data in hash tables, for fingerprinting, identifying files, detecting duplicates or as checksums (we can detect if a sent file didn’t suffer accidental or intentional data corruption).