Understanding asymmetric encryption algorithms
Asymmetric encryption has two main goals – one is to support a secure key exchange/agreement process, while the other is to support non-repudiation through the use of digital signatures. It is not used for bulk encryption as the key sizes (compared to symmetric encryption) are large. This would mean that it could be thousands of times slower to encrypt large amounts of data. Asymmetric encryption uses a key pair that is mathematically related; there is a public key and a private key. You can think of the public key as your bank details that you can share with a customer (who wants to make a payment). Your private key is used to securely access your funds. In this analogy, your bank card + pin + CVC code would be your private key. You would not share your private key with anyone.
Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman (RSA)
RSA is used for secure key exchange and digital signatures. It was developed and published in 1977, so it is one...