What is Asymmetrical Encryption?

Asymmetrical encryption, also known as public key encryption, is a type of encryption algorithm that uses a pair of keys, a public key and a private key, for encryption and decryption. Asymmetrical encryption is called "asymmetrical" because the two keys used for encryption and decryption are not the same.

In asymmetrical encryption, the public key is used to encrypt the data, and the private key is used to decrypt it. This means that the private key must be kept secret and secure, while the public key can be shared with others. When a message is encrypted using the recipient's public key, it can only be decrypted using the corresponding private key.

Asymmetrical encryption is often used for secure communication over the internet, because it allows users to exchange encrypted messages without the need to exchange a shared secret key beforehand. The public key can be used to encrypt the message, and the private key can be used to decrypt it.

Some examples of asymmetrical encryption algorithms include RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman), DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm), and ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography).