RSA Encryption Scheme: Asymmetric Cryptography and Public-Key Infrastructure
Overview
This paper provides an educational overview of the RSA encryption scheme, an asymmetric cryptography algorithm fundamental to modern secure communication. It explains the historical development of RSA, its mathematical principles based on trapdoor functions and prime factorization difficulty, and demonstrates the step-by-step process of key generation and message encryption with worked examples.
What this coursework covers
- Introduction and historical context of RSA invention and adoption
- Body section explaining RSA security principles and asymmetric key functionality
- How the system works: trapdoor functions and practical implementation details
- Key generation process using prime numbers p and q to derive modulus n
- Public key generation and ciphertext computation using modulo operations
Preview
RSA Encryption Scheme
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Introduction
RSA is an encryption algorithm that facilitates communication in situations where an opportunity for distributing keys safely has not been available. It is an asymmetric cryptography algorithm that works on two keys; Public Key and Private Key. The algorithm was invented in 1977 and is named after the inventors: Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Len Adleman. Clifford Cocks discovered the basic technique in 1973, but this remained a secret until 1997. The age of the internet saw RSA gain widespread adoption as an essential security tool. Today, the RSA cryptosystem is the most popular public-key cryptography algorithm available.
RSA encryption may be implemented in different systems such as wolfCrypt, OpenSSL, cryptlib among other cryptographic libraries. It was the original algorithm used in PGP encryption and TLS. Today, the system is seen in a broad range of VPNs, web browsers, chat, email, and other communication channels. It can be used for both digital signatures and public-key encryption.
Body
RSA encryption systems are often combined with other encryption schemes or for digital signatures. The security of this system is formed based on the difficulty in factoring large integers. A message is encrypted with a code known as a public key, which may be shared openly. The unique mathematical properties of this encryption system allow messages encrypted with the public key to only be encrypted with the private key.