Introduction
Research explores the strengths and weaknesses of public key cryptography, examining potential flaws and methods of correcting them. The study will reflect on the history of public-key encryption as a way of defining its development as a way of understanding some of the critical issues that this technology was expected to handle. The technology that the research will seek to discuss is encryption, which is a type of technology that focuses more on coding information into a series of binaries. The long-term expectation is that this would help in ensuring that the information remains private, as it seeks to provide that hackers are not able to gain access to unauthorized data. The research will focus on evaluating usage of public key cryptography with the focus being on highlighting how usage of encryption helps towards building on privacy.
Public key encryption remains as one of the most used types of data encryption technology today based on its ability to offer some form of guarantee that data will remain private (Savage, 2016). The technique focuses on the generation of public and private keys through an encryption software or technology. The public keys are disseminated widely on a public network while the owner of the information only knows the private keys. The study will evaluate usage of public key encryption through a series of cases and facts with the focus being on trying to ensure that readers gain an in-depth understanding of uses, as well as, strengths and weaknesses associated with the use of this type of encryption. In other words, the study seeks to evaluate whether indeed usage of the public key cryptography is expected to build on a positive security outcome concerning data privacy.
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History of Public-Key Cryptography
The history of cryptography can be viewed thousands of years back during which time people used pen and paper to create codes or keys that they would later use in sending information privately. Different parties involved in the communication process had access to the keys that they would use in their bid to decoding a specific message based on the key provided. The focus of having to create such keys was to eliminate the possibility of a third party having to intercept the transmission of information, as the keys helped towards keeping the information private at all times. However, in the early 20 th century, the invention of the Enigma rotor machine was viewed as one of the critical steps towards boosting overall efficiency towards the introduction of the fundamental public concept in electronics and computing as a way of keeping private data private.
The Enigma rotor machine introduced a mechanism that worked towards ensuring that information intended to move through electronics or computers is encrypted in a manner that seeks to support the general positioning of privacy. It is equally important to take note of the fact that the evolution of cryptography has also given rise to the development of cryptanalysis. Cryptanalysis focuses more on the idea that hackers can use codes and ciphers with the focus being to decrypt information, which is viewed as one of the critical aspects that have played a key role in changing the course of history. One key example that can be seen where private information has been decrypted is the Zimmermann Telegram, which is viewed as a trigger for the United States to join World War I.
Before the 1970s, the concept of cryptography remained as a preserve for governments, as they had the knowledge and understanding of how to create such keys to help in maintaining the privacy of information. However, two subsequent events in the 1970s helped towards changing this fact with the focus being towards ensuring that the public would be able to use encryption as part of maintaining the privacy of their data. Firstly, the development of a public encryption standard (DES) was viewed as a critical accomplishment in ensuring that people would be able to use encryption as part of building on the privacy of their information. The standard played a crucial role in shaping modern data encryption, as it has worked as a tool that seeks to define effective approaches to help determine effectiveness in encoding with the focus being towards reducing access to private data.
The second event that changed the concept of encryption was the invention of public-key cryptography, which sought to give the public access to keys that they would use as part of their approaches to data interpretation. Clifford Cocks was the first individual to come up with an asymmetric key algorithm focused on encrypting data, which introduced a new dynamic to data encryption in electronics and computing. Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman’s publication “An Asymmetric Key Cryptosystem” is also viewed as having shaped usage of the public fundamental encryption concept. The publication influenced Ralph Merkle to create a public key distribution method, referred to as Diffie-Hellman key exchange (DH), which sought to build a channel that would be of value in exchanging cryptographic keys (Hellman, 2017). The outcomes of these events helped towards increasing demand for public key encryption with the focus being towards improving the privacy of information.
Use of Encryption/Security
Considering the complexity of the encryption based on the computational aspects, the public key cryptography has some applications that focus on enhancing security measures on data. The encryption scheme is considered one of the secure elements based on the nature of complexity presented within the encryption because of its use of presumed difficult mathematical elements to offer security.
Typical Use
One of the uses of public key cryptography is enhancing on the security measures of electronic communication. The encryption plays a significant role in securing communication within open networked environments by ensuring that no hidden or covert channels are used. Based on the aspects of the open networked environment, there are security issues that relate to enhancing proper communication within the environment thus the need to capitalize on strategies that heighten security. According to Hellman (2017), securing electronic communication is paramount based on the fact the open networked environment is susceptible to a wide range of security issues relating to violations of individual rights. Communication security mandates that any form of communication within a networked environment must be confidential and maintain highest levels of confidentiality. In this case, the public key cryptography focuses on the implementation of some security measures that help in enhancing the integrity of communication within a given open networked environment.
The encryption capitalizes on authenticating the sender of any information within a network as part of providing a secure platform for communication. The public key cryptography involves the aspect of message verification, which is a critical element when dealing with the use and manipulation of data on the online platform. Considering that manipulation of data in the web is a standard issue, it is necessary to focus on enhancing message encryption in a bid to capitalize on securing data and information stored. The public key cryptography provides different techniques that implement the use of asymmetric key algorithms to provide a platform for message verification thus protecting data from malicious manipulation. According to Boneh, Sahai, & Waters (2012), the asymmetric key algorithms used in creating the different technique implements the use of a single key that is used by one party to perform the encryption. The public key cryptography ensures that each user trying to access specific information within a given platform uses cryptographic keys that provide easy access to encrypted data.
Security
The aspect of security involving data is a critical element that requires the implementation of measures that enhance encryption of the information to prevent it from malicious use and manipulation. Some encryption strategies have been developed to encrypt information in different platforms as part of strengthening data security. The public key cryptography capitalizes on improving data security measures through the use of discrete logarithms that are presumed to manipulate thus making the encryption to be considered as one of the most secure forms of encryption. Although the term security in data has a precise mathematical meaning, multiple definitions help in understanding the level of protection presented in any given encryption scheme. One of the elements that enhance the security of public key cryptography is the use of digital signature. The digital signature helps in authenticating and verifying access to various encrypted locations as part of enhancing confidentiality in the use of data and during electronic communication in the open networked environments. To increase the security level in the use of digital signature, public key cryptography implements the use of critical algorithms that cannot be manipulated.
Practical Considerations
When evaluating the practical considerations of public key cryptography, the focus is to evaluate some of the critical methods adopted in the encryption process, as well as, providing a precise analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of using the public fundamental encryption concept. The following are some of the practical considerations:
Enveloped Public Key Encryption (EPKE)
Usage of the Enveloped Public Key Encryption (EPKE) is considered as one of the essential methods used in computing today with the focus being towards ensuring that data is transmitted privately and confidentially. One of the critical challenges that users of electronics experienced concerning securing their data revolved around the inability to obtain data within an open networked environment. In most cases, this resulted in instances where the data encryption process would fail to meet its expected standards, thus, resulting in leakage of private and confidential information.
However, the introduction of EPKE was viewed as one of the notable approaches towards improving overall capacity for data encryption with the focus being towards reducing the whole possibility of data leakage. EPKE introduces a model of encoding in which every individual in the network has a unique pair of keys, which are public and private keys. The key is developed using a well-known asymmetric encryption algorithm based on RSA cryptosystem (Roettger & Williams, 2012). The focus is to ensure that the private key remains private at all times regardless of the fact that the public key can be published on public directories. Usage of this model of encryption acts as a guarantee that every individual in the network would be able to interpret encrypted data while ensuring that the data remains private.
Public Key Encryption
When focusing on the usage of public key encryption, the focus remains towards ensuring that the data remains private and confidential taking into account that any loss of data may have severe impacts on the network users. Public key encryption works towards ensuring that individual users can use their public and private keys with the focus being on trying to interpret data (Emura, Hanaoka, Sakai, & Schuldt, 2014). The center is trying to reduce instances where data is transmitted to a wrong individual and can be interpreted, as this may have severe impacts especially focusing on the nature of the data. Public key encryption introduces a platform from which to use two linked key simultaneously in the process of data interpretation with the focus being towards improving overall efficiencies in maintaining data privacy.
Certification Authority
The effectiveness of EPKE regarding ensuring that encrypted data remains private depends wholly on the idea of finding what would be considered as a ‘gatekeeper’ for the public and private keys. Thus, this introduces the concept of having a certification authority, which is responsible for ensuring that the public and private keys are certified. Lack of certification of public and private keys may result in a situation where a third party may introduce a new pair of keys into the system that does not have any certification (Lu & Li, 2013). The long-term effect of this is that it may result in severe loss of private data, thus, creating the need for having to embrace the idea of using a certification authority.
Analogy
In an analogy to help in understanding how the public key encryption system operates, one may take an example of two individuals that intend to send private information using a sealed message box. The box can only be unlocked using a specific combination with the focus being towards ensuring that the data within the table remains private. When dealing with a symmetric key system, the center is that both the sender and receiver tend to have the same combination that they would use to gain access to the box. However, this introduces the risk of a third party individual gaining access to the table through the combination, which is similar for both parties. In an asymmetric key system, each of parties has his or her separate combinations, which, in turn, introduces a new dynamic towards promoting overall privacy of information within the message box.
Strengths of Public Key Cryptography
The main advantage associated with the idea of using public key cryptography is that it paves the way for enhanced data security taking into account that each in a network has access to his or her own set of keys. Thus, this means that the possibility of encountering situations where encryption systems tend to fail in their bid to promoting or defining data privacy reduces significantly. When using the public key cryptography system, the critical element of focus is trying to come up with a comprehensive approach from which to define or determine overall efficiency in promoting privacy of data as a way of building on positive outcomes with the focus being towards reducing unauthorized access to data (Li, Zhang, Wang, & Li, 2018).
Another notable strength associated with the public key encryption system is that it introduces the idea of a secret-key algorithm mechanism that helps towards promoting effectiveness in the generation of encryption keys. In most cases, lack of efficiency in generation of encryption keys acts as a significant challenge when dealing with encryption considering that it results in a situation where only single parties can access specific data (Zhou, Li, & Huan, 2015). However, this changes significantly when dealing with public key encryption considering that multiple parties have their pairs of keys that they would use as part of interpreting data. On the other hand, they would also use their keys with the focus being towards ensuring that they would be able to minimize unauthorized access to private information from third parties as a way of reducing data leakage.
Weaknesses
Although usage of the public key encryption system is useful in promoting privacy of data, one of the key aspects to note is that is that it also projects several notable weaknesses, which are essential to evaluate and analyze. The crucial first weakness arises due to lack of a proper exchange of private keys. That means that although the keys may be considered as being private, lack of a system that would help in the transfer of these keys increases the risk of interception from a third party network user (Sepahi, Steinfeld, & Pieprzyk, 2014). Some of the multinational companies have experienced significant challenges in trying to create effective avenues for having to share private keys. The long-term effect that this has had is that is has exposed the companies to severe risks of private data access.
The second notable weakness can be seen from the perspective of intrusion from a third party, who may send out his or her own set of public keys with information that it is from the original sender (Singh, Rangan, & Banerjee, 2016). In most cases, other users of the network will access the public keys without their knowledge that this is from a third party. When dealing with symmetric-key cryptography, the critical aspect to note is that the key presented is similar for all parties involved. However, this also portends its own set of challenges but is viewed to minimize the third of a third party sending out keys that would match those sent out by the original sender. The focus for the third party is to gain access to the network considering that users will send data and information through the mirrored public key, which, in turn, exposes them to the risk of data losses.
Conclusion
In summary, public key encryption remains as one of the most used types of data encryption technology today based on its ability to offer some form of guarantee that data will remain private. The history of cryptography can be viewed thousands of years back during which time people used pen and paper to create codes or keys that they would later use in sending information privately. The development of a public encryption standard (DES) was viewed as a critical accomplishment in ensuring that people would be able to use encryption as part of building on the privacy of their information. Encryption plays a significant role in securing communication within open networked environments by ensuring that no hidden or covert channels are used. Public key encryption works towards providing that individual users can use their public and private keys with the focus being on trying to interpret data.
References
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