What makes symmetric encryption superior to asymmetric

This indicates that the remaining communication involving any bulk data transfer will be done using symmetric keys by applying encryption standards such as AES over a secure encrypted channel. For instance, symmetric encryption is used to protect file content or comes into the picture in disk encryption, and asymmetric encryption is used with digital signatures. Apart from SSL, a combination of both these techniques is used in many other scenarios. Messaging applications such as Signal or WhatsApp use end-to-end encryption where asymmetric encryption is used to initialize the encrypted communication channel, and the rest of the conversation proceeds using symmetric encryption.

Manage Certificates Like a Pro. Contact details collected on InfoSec Insights may be used to send you requested information, blog update notices, and for marketing purposes. Learn more Lumena is a cybersecurity consultant, tech writer, and regular columnist for InfoSec Insights.

She is currently pursuing her masters in cybersecurity and has a passion for helping companies implement better security programs to protect their customers' data. Leave a Reply Cancel reply. Your email address will not be published.

Info missing - Please tell us where to send your free PDF! Manage your certificates like a pro. November 9, 0. November 3, 0. November 1, 0. October 28, 0. October 25, 0. October 22, 0. October 19, 0. July 6, 0. July 1, 0. June 23, 0. October 10, 0. September 13, 0. July 20, 0. July 8, 0. May 31, 0. The public key is accessible by anyone, while the private key must be kept a secret from everyone but the creator of the key.

This is because encryption occurs with the public key, while decryption occurs with the private key. The recipient of the sensitive data will provide the sender with their public key, which will be used to encrypt the data. This ensures that only the recipient can decrypt the data, with their own private key.

Asymmetric and symmetric encryption are each better used for different situations. Symmetric encryption, with its use of a single key, is better used for data-at-rest. Data stored in databases needs to be encrypted to ensure it is not compromised or stolen. This data does not require two keys, just the one provided by symmetric encryption, as it only needs to be safe until it needs to be accessed in the future.

Asymmetric encryption, on the other hand, should be used on data sent in emails to other people. If only symmetric encryption were used on data in emails, the attacker could take the key used for encryption and decryption and steal or compromise the data.

With asymmetric encryption, the sender and recipient ensure only the recipient of the data can decrypt the data, because their public key was used to encrypt the data. Both types of encryption are used with other processes, like digital signing or compression, to provide even more security to the data.

The private keys of the code-signing certificate can be stored in an HSM to eliminate the risks associated with stolen, corrupted, or misused keys. Client-side hashing ensures build performance and avoids unnecessary movement of files to provide a greater level of security. Robust access control systems can be integrated with LDAP and customizable workflows to mitigate risks associated with granting wrong access to unauthorized users, allowing them to sign code with malicious certificates.

Support for InfosSec policies to improve adoption of the solution and enable different business teams to have their own workflow for Code Signing. Validation of code against UpToDate antivirus definitions for virus and malware before digitally signing it will mitigate risks associated with signing malicious code. What is the difference between Symmetric and Asymmetric Encryption? Which is better for data security?

Select Questions. Companies in every sector must comply with standards and regulations, and one of the best ways to do this is to utilize encryption. Asymmetric vs Symmetric Encryption. Uses for Asymmetric and Symmetric Encryption.

Common Asymmetric and Symmetric Encryption Algorithms. This includes: generating, using, storing, archiving, and deleting of keys. Therefore, a robust encryption key management system and policies includes:. This is an interactive graphic, click on the numbers above to learn more about each step. Now that we have the definitions in place, below is a step by step example of how an authorized user accesses encrypted data:.

The encryption key life-cycle, defined by NIST as having a pre-operational, operational, post-operational, and deletion stages, requires that, among other things, a operational crypto period be defined for each key. A crypto period is the "time span during which a specific key is authorized for use" and in Section 5. But, since an organization may reasonably want to encrypt and decrypt the same data for years on end, other factors may come into play to when factoring the crypto period:.

The general rule: as the sensitivity of data being secured increases, the lifetime of an encryption key decreases. Given this, your encryption key may have an active life shorter than an authorized user's access to the data.

This means that you will need to archive de-activated keys and use them only for decryption. The encryption key is created and stored on the key management server. The attributes stored with the key include its name, activation date, size, instance, the ability for the key to be deleted, as well as its rollover, mirroring, key access, and other attributes.

The key can be activated upon its creation or set to be activated automatically or manually at a later time.

The encryption key manager should track current and past instances or versions of the encryption key. You need to be able to choose whether or not the key can be deleted, mirrored to a failover unit, and by which users or groups it can be accessed. The key manager should allow an activated key to be retrieved by authorized systems and users for encryption or decryption processes.

It should also seamlessly manage current and past instances of the encryption key. For example, if a new key is generated and the old one deactivated or rolled every year, then the key manager should retain previous versions of the key but dispense only the current instance and activate previous versions for decryption processes.

Previous versions can still be retrieved in order to decrypt data encrypted with such versions of the key. The key manager will also roll the key either through a previously established schedule or allow an administrator to manually roll the key. An administrator should be able to use the key manager to revoke a key so that it is no longer used for encryption and decryption requests.

A revoked key can, if needed, be reactivated by an administrator so that, In certain cases the key can be used to decrypt data previously encrypted with it, like old backups. But even that can be restricted. NIST Section 8. If a key is no longer in use or if it has somehow been compromised, an administrator can choose to delete the key entirely from the key storage database of the encryption key manager.

The key manager will remove it and all its instances, or just certain instances, completely and make the recovery of that key impossible other than through a restore from a backup image. This should be available as an option if sensitive data is compromised in its encrypted state. If the key is deleted, the compromised data will be completely secure and unrecoverable since it would be impossible to recreate the encryption key for that data. The practice of Separation of Duties reduces the potential for fraud or malfeasance by dividing related responsibilities for critical tasks between different individuals in an organization.

It is common in the financial and accounting procedures of most organizations. For example, the person who prints the checks at a company would not be the person who signs the checks. Similarly, the individual who signs checks would not reconcile the bank statements. A company would ensure that business critical duties are categorized into four types of functions: authorization, custody, record keeping, and reconciliation. In a perfect system, no one person should handle more than one type of function.

Regarding information security practices, the implementation of Separation of Duties is critical in the area of encryption key management. To prevent unwanted access to protected data, it is important that the person who manages encryption keys not have the ability to access protected data, and vice versa. This is no more difficult to accomplish in an information technology context than in a financial context, but is often overlooked or misunderstood in complex computer systems.