Symmetric key encryption is a method of scrambling data by pressing the same key to both encrypt and decrypt it. This is different from asymmetric encryption, also known as public key encryption, where you use different keys to encrypt and decrypt. With symmetric key encryption, also known as secret key encryption, you have to keep the key secret, while asymmetric encryption lets you share the encryption key with anyone, since you keep your decryption key to yourself. Show
Advantage: Extremely SecureWhen it uses a secure algorithm, symmetric key encryption can be extemely secure. One of the most widely-used symmetric key encryption systems is the U.S. Government-designated Advanced Encryption Standard. When you use it with its most secure 256-bit key length, it would take about a billion years for a 10 petaflop computer to guess the key through a brute-force attack. Since, as of November 2012, the fastest computer in the world runs at 17 petaflops, 256-bit AES is essentially unbreakable. Advantage: Relatively FastOne of the drawbacks to public key encryption systems is that they need relatively complicated mathematics to work, making them very computationally intensive. Encrypting and decrypting symmetric key data is relatively easy to do, giving you very good reading and writing performance. In fact, many solid state drives, which are typically extremely fast, use symmetric key encryption internally to store data and they are still faster than unencrypted traditional hard drives. Disadvantage: Sharing the KeyThe biggest problem with symmetric key encryption is that you need to have a way to get the key to the party with whom you are sharing data. Encryption keys aren't simple strings of text like passwords. They are essentially blocks of gibberish. As such, you'll need to have a safe way to get the key to the other party. Of course, if you have a safe way to share the key, you probably don't need to be using encryption in the first place. With this in mind, symmetric key encryption is particularly useful when encrypting your own information as opposed to when sharing encrypted information. Disadvantage: More Damage if CompromisedWhen someone gets their hands on a symmetric key, they can decrypt everything encrypted with that key. When you're using symmetric encryption for two-way communications, this means that both sides of the conversation get compromised. With asymmetrical public-key encryption, someone that gets your private key can decrypt messages sent to you, but can't decrypt what you send to the other party, since that is encrypted with a different key pair. References
Writer Bio Steve Lander has been a writer since 1996, with experience in the fields of financial services, real estate and technology. His work has appeared in trade publications such as the "Minnesota Real Estate Journal" and "Minnesota Multi-Housing Association Advocate." Lander holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Columbia University. Both asymmetric and symmetric encryption are being used by businesses to protect their information. But what are the differences? Read to find out.  The growth in information security has given rise to many patterns and techniques for protecting valuable information from being deciphered by cybercriminals and wrong recipients. Every organization deals with information and data transfers from one point to another. As a result, a lot of effort is being spent on securing this information. That’s why today we hear terms like encryption, cryptography, encoding and decoding — terms that point toward the security of transmitted data from one end to another. Although these terms are related, this article presents an exposition of two main encryption paths organizations use to ensure the transfer of important information from one point to another. SEE: Mobile device security policy (TechRepublic Premium) Jump to: What is encryption?Encryption is the process of turning human-readable texts into encrypted data to protect the data from being decoded easily. Put more technically, encryption involves encoding plain texts into another form known as ciphertext. Encrypted data makes it safe for individuals, organizations or teams to pass information to one another without fear of exposing the data to unintended recipients. Encryption comes in two main forms: Asymmetric and symmetric. What is asymmetric encryption?Asymmetric or public key cryptography is the form of encryption that involves using public and private keys for encryption and decryption. In asymmetric encryption, the sender uses the public key to encode the information in a non-readable form, which can only be decrypted or read with a secret key. In sending encrypted data from the public key scheme, the receiver needs a secret key to access the encrypted data. With asymmetric encryption, there is no worry about what a malicious individual can do to your encrypted data as long as you have the secret key for the decryption. Some popular asymmetric key encryption include DSA, RSA, PKCS and EIGamal. Must-read security coverage
Pros and cons of asymmetric encryptionPros of asymmetric encryption
Cons of asymmetric encryption
What is symmetric encryption?Symmetric encryption, also dubbed single key encryption, is the type of encryption where a single key can be used to encrypt and decrypt information. In this form of encryption, the receiver uses an agreed shared secret key to decrypt the encrypted data. Symmetric encryption is the oldest form of encryption and is still relevant in organizations that value the speed of information transmission over security authentication. Pros and cons of symmetric encryptionPros of symmetric encryption
Cons of symmetric encryption
Key differences between asymmetric and symmetric encryptionDifferencesSymmetric encryptionAsymmetric encryptionNumber of keys usedUses a single key for encryption.Uses two keys for encryption: A public and private key. Resource utilizationLow usage of resources for encryption. High resource utilization for encryption. Size of dataMost suitable for the transfer of big data. Most efficient for the transfer of small data. Length of key usedSymmetric encryption can take 128 or 256-bit key sizes. Asymmetric takes more key sizes of RSA 2048-bit or more. SecuritySymmetric encryption is considered less secure because it uses a single key for encryption. Asymmetric encryption remains safer because it uses two keys in encryption and decryption. Algorithms usedAES, RC4, DES and 3DES.Diffie-Hellman, RSA, ECC algorithms. Factors to consider before settling for an encryption methodType of dataIt’s vital to consider the type of information to be encrypted before deciding on the type of encryption that suits your organization. For instance, classified or highly valued information should be encrypted with asymmetric encryption as it offers better security. Consider speed and efficiencyThere is a need to consider if your organization needs to move encrypted information faster. If this is the case, symmetric encryption could be a better option. Security of informationIf your organization is in the business of transmitting highly-classified information, you should go the way of asymmetric encryption, as it offers more information security. Cybersecurity Insider NewsletterStrengthen your organization's IT security defenses by keeping abreast of the latest cybersecurity news, solutions, and best practices. What are the main advantages and disadvantages of asymmetric encryption compared to symmetric encryption?Symmetric cryptography is faster to run (in terms of both encryption and decryption) because the keys used are much shorter than they are in asymmetric cryptography. Additionally, the fact that only one key gets used (versus two for asymmetric cryptography) also makes the entire process faster.
What are two advantages of asymmetric encryption?Some of these advantages are:. No key sharing: Asymmetric key cryptography overcomes the biggest flaw of symmetric key cryptography since it doesn't need to exchange any keys that can decrypt data.. Proof of owner: Since it links the private and public keys together, a message is decrypted using a private key.. Which one is better between asymmetric and symmetric encryption?Asymmetric Key Encryption: Asymmetric Key Encryption is based on public and private key encryption techniques. It uses two different key to encrypt and decrypt the message. It is more secure than the symmetric key encryption technique but is much slower. It only requires a single key for both encryption and decryption.
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