Public-key cryptography

Public-key cryptography uses mathematically related public and private keys for operations such as encryption, decryption, and digital signatures. The public key can be shared openly, while the private key is kept secret.

RSA: A public-key cryptosystem whose security rests on the difficulty of factoring large composite integers. It illustrates encryption and signatures built from a public and private key pair.
Public key: A cryptographic key intended to be distributed openly and used for operations such as encryption or signature verification. It is the shareable half of the key pair at the center of this cryptographic model.
Transport Layer Security: A protocol that protects network communications using authentication, key establishment, and symmetric encryption. TLS uses public-key mechanisms to authenticate servers and establish session keys.
Post-quantum cryptography: Cryptographic methods designed to resist attacks by both classical and quantum computers. It seeks replacements for public-key schemes vulnerable to sufficiently capable quantum computers.
Whitfield Diffie: An American cryptographer who helped introduce public-key cryptography and key exchange. His work with Martin Hellman articulated the public-key approach in the 1970s.
Elliptic-curve cryptography: Public-key cryptography based on algebraic operations on elliptic curves over finite fields. It achieves compact keys and signatures using a different mathematical structure from RSA.
Private key: A secret cryptographic key used for operations such as decryption or digital signing. Its secrecy preserves the control that public-key operations are designed to provide.
Secure Shell: A protocol for secure remote login and other protected network services. SSH uses public-key authentication as an alternative to password-based login.
Quantum key distribution: A method for establishing cryptographic keys using quantum states and measurements. It offers a different approach to key establishment, relying on quantum communication rather than computational hardness.
Martin Hellman: An American cryptographer who co-developed the Diffie–Hellman key exchange. His collaboration helped make public key exchange a practical and public research topic.

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