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There are two basic types of cryptography:
| Security Key |
Secret key, conventional or symmetric cryptography
requires each party communicating with each other party to either
meet beforehand or arrange the secure transport of secret keys (numbers)
with which to encrypt data. Distributing secret keys is cumbersome
and essentially infeasible, except in very limited circumstances
such as bank-to-bank transactions, when applied to e-commerce systems
where millions of users need to communicate daily with hundreds
of thousands of merchants and banks. It is the equivalent of sending
paper messages in a locked box to which each of the parties all
have the same key.
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Public Key |
| Public key cryptography operates analogous
to standard padlock. The intended recipient of messages could give
an unlocked padlock to friends. The friends could then snap this
padlock shut on a box containing a secret message. Only the key
holder can then open the box. |
Read about the security
of modern cryptography.
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