The first people to describe RSA were Leonard Adleman, Ron Rivest and Adi Shamir from Massachusetts Institute of technology in 1977 (Saper, 2013) . RSA is an electronic cryptosystem that is used for encrypting public-key (Saper, 2013) . RSA is mainly used to secure and protect sensitive data that is sent over digital networks, the internet. When someone is unsure of the security of the network in use, RSA can be used to protect the information from unauthorized personnel.
The RSA technology uses asymmetric cryptography which means that it has two keys that are mathematically linked; one is a public key, and the other is private key (Ashioba & Yoro, 2014) . Just from the names of the key, the public key is available for anyone accessing the internet while the private key is kept as a secret. Only the person with the private key has access to the encrypted message that is digitally transferred . RSA technology has widely used in many countries around the world because of the assurance of integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity of electronic transfer of messages, storing of data, and for classified communications. Some of the protocols that rely on digital signatures and RSA encryption are SSL/TLS, SSH, S/MIME, and OpenPGP (Ashioba & Yoro, 2014) .
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The Mathematics behind the RSA Technology
Since the keys in RSA technology are mathematically created , encryption of a public key can only be decrypted by the corresponding private key. For example, if person A wants to send a highly classified information to person B, person A will encrypt the data with the person B’s public key. This means only person B will be able to decrypt the encrypted message and get the original copy. To maintain confidentiality , person B’s private key is not shared with any other person.
Legal Status in Developed Nations
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST ) issues the Federal Information Processing Standards Publications (FIPS PUBS) after the Secretary of Commerce approves the publications (Saper, 2013) . One of the legal status issued by NIST is about the Digital Signature Standard on the subcategory of computer security and cryptography. This act ensures that the digital signatures are created as a string of bits and the integrity of the signature is maintained . The public keys can be shared with anyone while private keys are confidential and a secret. Only the individual with the private key can access the encrypted digital document.
During the hash function generation, the hash functions should be generated according to the Secure Hash Standards (SHS) (Saper, 2013) . This means that the digital signature can be appropriately used with the Hash functions. The NIST has a transition strategy that is used for validating and checking the standards of algorithms and cryptographic modules.
In a country like India, it does not have a comprehensive law on regulating encryption. On 29 th June 2016, the Supreme Court in India turned down the petition of banning WhatsApp and other communication applications that use end to end encryption technologies (Saper, 2013) . WhatsApp is a widely used communication application that has attracted many questions regarding encryption. In 21 st September 2015, a draft of Encryption National policy of the Information Technology Act, 2000 was published and was later withdrawn on 23 rd September 2015. However, India has minimal regulations on encryption technology used in finance, banking, and telecommunication industry to secure different transactions.
The United States has the most restrictions on encryption. If one is to carry a computer with encryption software to the US must seek proper authorization. If not, it will be a violation of import regulations and is subject to penalties or fines. Anyone traveling to a country with import regulations, it is important to get the appropriate permissions. The main reason as to why the US is strict with encryption regulations is because of terrorist activities and to secure their high-tech industries to compete favorably in the international markets. The country needs to monitor the exchange of communication within the country to make sure there is no compromise of the national security. However, domestic use of encryption is allowed.
In China, National Commission on Encryption Code Regulations (NCECR) regulates cryptography use. Encryption products and software cannot be imported or exported in China without prior approval of the NCECR. Consequently, international firms that are operating a business in China must receive validation from NCECR to use the encryption products (Saper, 2013) .
The international laws have been facing a challenge because different states have different rules governing encryption products and services. State’s laws also affect the intellectual property, and privacy is they are not allowed to use certain encryption software to protect their information. This undermines the competitiveness of international firms operating in foreign countries. Because of the harsh and penalties associated with encryption laws, businesses should comply with such regulations.
Future for RSA Technology
Since the RSA technology was published in 1976, it has been used to solve a lot of online communication problems. Businesses and organization can secretly exchange information without the fear of leaking information to unauthorized personnel (Ashioba & Yoro, 2014) . The idea of encryption has also attracted many questions from different states as well as international law makers.
RSA technology has become the most secure tool to use on the internet today. The use of private and public key has been used to secure information and stored data. Consequently, the technology is being used to validate the authenticity of software, data and official documents transferred through the internet.
Even though RSA technology is providing a secure transmission technique, there is need to develop stronger keys in the future to maintain the authenticity. The great concern should be given to RSA without assuming that it will continue being the most secure technology by default. With the increasing terrorist activities, RSA should continue improving its security. However, RSA has proven to be the most reliable and secure way of transferring encrypted information over the years.
References
Ashioba, N. C., & Yoro, R. E. (2014). RSA Cryptosystem using Object-Oriented Modeling Technique. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Research , 57-61.
Saper, N. (2013). International Cryptography Regulation and the Global Information Economy. Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property , 674-688.
