How Asymmetric Key or Public Key Encryption Works
Plus Tips on Verifying Public Keys and using Digital Signatures When Encrypting Messages Message encryption is the process of converting a message into an undecipherable form so that only the person who it is intended for can read it. In this age of hacking, high-tech snooping and intelligence gathering that is carried out even by governments of some countries, message encryption may be a reasonable option for many people. Message encryption here will refer to methods of encoding or decoding messages that is used with desktop mail clients like Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook. This is in contrast to encrypted web-based mail like HushMail. Encryption may be carried out using symmetric key encryption also known as single-key encryption or it can be done using asymmetric encryption popularly called public key encryption. This article will explain public key encryption. Public key encryption is also known as public key cryptography and it involves the gene...