{"id":1845,"date":"2017-08-03T09:21:05","date_gmt":"2017-08-03T14:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rapidsslonline.com\/blog\/?p=1845"},"modified":"2022-04-22T01:09:08","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T06:39:08","slug":"public-key-private-key-encryption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rapidsslonline.com\/blog\/public-key-private-key-encryption\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Keys, Private Keys, Batman and Some Stuff About Encryption"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t ever let someone else touch your private key without your consent.<\/h2>\n

Today we\u2019re going to discuss Public Keys, Private Keys and Encryption. Unfortunately, a lot of the literature on this topic around the internet is needlessly complicated. And when I say needlessly complicated I mean some developer or programmer wrote it using nomenclature that only another developer or programmer would know.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s kind of like how academics and modern philosophers write dense, difficult to understand texts as a way of both showing off their intelligence and to try and one-up their contemporaries. And in these philosophical personal pissing matches, the layman is just kind of caught in the middle saying, \u201cwhaaaat?\u201d There may be some good information in those texts, but to most of us\u2014we\u2019re just getting rained on.<\/p>\n

I am not like that. I am conscientious of my readers. Call me Conscientious Carl. And I\u2019m going to explain these concepts to you in basic English, using terms you can understand. I don\u2019t get off on using big words or fancy tech-speak like some people do. Though, now that I think about it, that would make for a good Silicon Valley phone sex line. \u201cYeah baby, tell me how you\u2019re going to side-jack me by using your packet sniffer on my cookies.<\/em>\u201d [Editor\u2019s Note<\/strong>: Carl\u2026]<\/p>\n

Anyway, let\u2019s talk about Public and Private keys.<\/p>\n

Batman, A Horse\u2019s Rear and Two Types of Encryption<\/h2>\n

There are two kinds of encryption, symmetric and asymmetric. Do I need to explain symmetry? Would that be patronizing? [Editor\u2019s Note: Only a little] Ok, I\u2019ll just use an image. This is an example of symmetry:<\/p>\n

\"Batman<\/a><\/p>\n

See how you could draw a line right down the middle and it would be the exact same (though mirrored) on both sides? That\u2019s because the Batman logo is both bad ass and completely symmetric. And thank you for humoring me, I have been looking for an excuse to use this image since I took the blog over.<\/p>\n

This is an example of asymmetry:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Notice how if you drew a line down the middle of this picture the two sides are not mirror images of one another? They\u2019re not the same. You could say this is ass-ymmetric. This picture is actually doubly relevant because if you legitimately needed me to explain symmetry to you then you are indeed a horse\u2019s [Editor\u2019s Note<\/strong>: Yeah\u2026 I\u2019m not going to let you finish this sentence, Carl]<\/p>\n

Ok, we\u2019ve gone too far into the weeds, something I would not advise doing around this horse lest you\u2019re wearing boots. And even then\u2026 [Editor\u2019s Note<\/strong>: CARL!]<\/p>\n

So how does this apply to encryption? I\u2019m glad you asked. As we already established, there are two kinds of encryption. The first type, symmetric encryption, occurs once a secure connection has been established. It uses symmetric session keys that can both encrypt and decrypt communication. That\u2019s another discussion for another time, though.<\/p>\n

Then there is asymmetric encryption, that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to be talking about today. This occurs during the SSL handshake and helps your web browser to authenticate the website\u2019s SSL certificate in order to establish a secure connection.<\/p>\n

Asymmetric Encryption is a lot Like My Marriage<\/h2>\n

Asymmetric encryption occurs during the SSL handshake and uses a Public Key and a Private Key. Here\u2019s how it works:<\/p>\n