Mary Amakihi 
Comparing Cryptographic Techniques: Symmetric vs. Asymmetric Algorithms
Cryptography is a discipline of cryptology that is in charge of securing data against unwanted access and reading. This article will be comparing two cryptographic techniques, symmetric and asymmetric algorithms.
What is Cryptography?
Cryptography conceals or codes information so only the intended recipient can read it.
For thousands of years, the art of cryptography has been used to code messages, and it is still employed in bank cards, computer passwords, and e-commerce.
Algorithms and ciphers that enable the encryption and decryption of information, such as 128-bit and 256-bit encryption keys, are examples of modern cryptography approaches.
Modern ciphers, such as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), are thought to be nearly impenetrable.
A typical definition of cryptography is the activity of coding information so that only the person to whom a message was written may read and process it.
This cyber security approach, also known as cryptology, integrates computer science, engineering, and mathematics to develop complex codes that conceal the true meaning of a message.
Cryptography can be traced back to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, yet it is still essential for securing communication and information in transit and preventing it from being read by untrusted parties.
It protects data privacy, credit card transactions, email, and online browsing by transforming messages into difficult-to-decipher codes using cryptographic techniques and digital signing techniques.
First, you should know there is no way to secure your message that works for everyone. There are many different ways to do it, each with pros and cons.
Public key cryptography and symmetric key cryptography are the most popular types of encryption used today.
As a result of their use in other areas, like digital signing schemes or encryption methods for safe online transactions over public networks like the Internet, many cryptographic techniques come about on their own.
For instance, RSA cryptosystems were first created to solve the integer factorization problem.
Criminals sometimes use encryption to avoid being caught and send illegal messages without being hacked. This is also used by public-key cryptosystems like RSA, which are used in many security protocols.
Encryption Algorithm
An algorithm in cryptography is a way to encrypt and decrypt data that uses math to change plain text into cipher text and back again.
Cryptography encryption is a cipher used to keep computer data safe and private. It takes plaintext and turns it into ciphertext using an encryption key.
The ciphertext is then sent over a network, like the Internet, to a target, which the receiver will decrypt.
Cryptography encryption algorithms are often used in online banking, business e-commerce, and other situations where privacy is essential.
Data Encryption Standard (DES), Triple DES, Blowfish, and CAST-256 are some encryption methods.
How Data Encryption Works
The data that must be encrypted is referred to as plaintext or cleartext. The plaintext must be passed via encryption techniques, essentially mathematical operations performed on raw data.
There are numerous encryption algorithms, each of which differs depending on the application and security index.
Aside from the algorithms, an encryption key is also required. The plaintext is turned into the encrypted piece of data, also known as ciphertext, using the stated key and an appropriate encryption technique.
The ciphertext is transferred over insecure communication channels instead of delivering the plaintext to the receiver.
When the ciphertext reaches its intended recipient, it can use a decryption key to transform it back to its original readable format, plaintext.
This decryption key must always be kept secret and may or may not be the same as the key used to encrypt the message.
Cryptographic Techniques
Cryptographic algorithms all employ the same fundamental process to generate a key, which is then used to encrypt and decode data. Depending on the algorithm, these techniques might be;
- Symmetric Algorithm
- Asymmetric Algorithm
Symmetric Encryption
Symmetric algorithm is a popular data encryption technique that uses a single, secret cryptographic technique to encrypt and decrypt data.
The key is specifically used to encrypt plaintext (the data’s pre- or post-decryption state) and decrypt ciphertext (the data’s post-encryption or pre-decryption state).
The symmetric cryptographic technique is one of the most extensively used and oldest encryption algorithms, dating back to the days of the Roman Empire.
Caesar’s cipher is a notable historical example of symmetric encryption in action, named after Julius Caesar, who employed it to encrypt his military correspondence.
The purpose of a symmetric algorithm is to protect sensitive data. It is utilized daily in many major industries, including defense, aerospace, banking, and health care, where the security of a person’s, business, or organization’s sensitive data is critical.
How Does Symmetric Algorithm Work?
Symmetric cryptographic technique employs either a stream cipher or a block cipher to encrypt and decrypt data.
A stream cipher converts plaintext into ciphertext one byte at a time, whereas a block cipher uses a fixed key length, such as 128, 192, or 256 bits, to convert entire units, or blocks, of plaintext.
Senders and recipients using symmetric algorithms to transfer data to each other must know the secret key to encrypt the data they intend to share with recipients.
The recipients must know the secret key to decrypt and read the encrypted data the senders share with them, as well as encrypt any necessary responses.
Here’s a simplified example of a symmetric algorithm: if Claire, the sender, wants to send a confidential document to Jacqueline, the recipient.
Claire would encrypt the file with the secret key and send it to Jacqueline, who would be unable to read its contents until she entered the same key that Claire had just used to encrypt the file.
If Jacqueline makes modifications to the document and wants to share them with Claire, she’ll use the same key to re-encrypt it and send it back to Claire, who will decrypt it and view its contents, and the process will repeat itself.
Please remember that this is simply an illustration of how symmetric cryptographic technique works. Manual or automatic symmetric encryption is possible.
However, a symmetric algorithm is not confined to data transmission between a single sender and recipient.
Anyone with the secret key can access symmetrically encrypted material, including Claire, Jacqueline, their coworker Frank, their employer, Jennifer, and others.
That is why keeping the shared cryptographic key hidden from unauthorized parties is critical to the success of symmetric encryption and the integrity of symmetrically encrypted data.
Asymmetric Algorithm
Asymmetric encryption, also called public-key cryptography or public-key encryption. This is one of the cryptographic techniques that encrypts sensitive data using mathematically linked pairs of public and private keys.
This differs from the symmetric cryptographic technique, which uses the same secret key to encrypt and decrypt sensitive information.
In an asymmetric algorithm, the plaintext is still changed into ciphertext and back again during encryption and decryption.
Asymmetries are different because they use two sets of keys that are not the same.
How Does Asymmetric Algorithm Work?
The asymmetric algorithm as one of the cryptographic techniques is often considered safer than symmetric encryption because two or more parties don’t have to share the same encrypt-decrypt key.
Even though public keys are shared, each user sharing data in an asymmetric cryptosystem has a unique set of public and private keys.
Their public keys are only used for encryption, so hackers can’t decrypt the data even if they get their hands on them. Hackers don’t know the users’ private keys and can’t decipher the data.
In contrast to the symmetric algorithm, the asymmetric algorithm also lets you verify digital signatures.
Private keys are used to digitally sign files or messages; their matching public keys ensure the notes come from the right, verified sender.
For a simple example of an asymmetric algorithm, let’s say, Claire, the sender, and Jacqueline, the receiver, want to keep sending a private file back and forth.
They will each give the other their unique public key. Claire will then encrypt the file with Jacqueline’s public key because it’s only for Jacqueline and send it to Jacqueline.
When Jacqueline gets the file, she will use her “private” key to decrypt it and get to its information. With “private,” no one else knows it but Jacqueline. No one can open this file but Jacqueline, not even Claire.
This is because only Jacqueline knows her secret key. When Jacqueline wants to return the file to Claire, she must follow the same steps.
It is linked to Claire’s public key by Jacqueline. Claire then uses her private key to open the file.
Keep in mind that this is a simplified version of the asymmetric algorithm. Asymmetric encryption can be done by hand or automatically, like symmetric encryption.
Are you beginning to see why an asymmetric algorithm might be considered safer than a symmetric one?
Technically, whether a symmetric or asymmetric cryptographic technique is safer depends a lot on the size of the key and how safe the medium is that keeps or sends the key.
This is an interesting question, but there are better ones to ask.
Conclusion
Speed and security choices are the primary distinctions between symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic techniques.
The symmetric cryptographic technique is generally faster and easier to use, but it is frequently seen as less safe than the asymmetric cryptographic technique
But, as previously said, encryption comes down to two factors: key size and the security of the media used to store encryption keys.
