Public Key Encryption  Illustration  Uses  Importance  RSA  Cryptcard

Illustration  Julie wants to send a message to Jason.  Julie looks up Jason’s public key in a directory.  Julie uses it to encrypt message and send it.  Jason uses his private key to decrypt message and read it. No-one listening in can decrypt the message, anyone can send and encrypt a massage to Jason, only Jason can read it (because only Jason has Jason’s private key).

Uses  Secure communication  Identification and Authentication  Secret sharing  Electronic Commerce  Certification  Key recovery  Remote access

Importance The increase of information and availability of private information transmitted electronically has led to an increased reliance on cryptography. Cryptography is the study of techniques and applications that depend on the existence of difficult problems. (Cryptology: Greek meaning “hidden word”)

RSA  What is RSA?  How can it be cracked?  The challenge.

Cryptcard  Specifically designed for government agencies  A standard PC card that slides into any PCMCIA slot on a notebook computer  Used on enterprise level with tight controls over user permissions  Similar to IBM security kit  Your laptop will not even boot without the card installed  Two degrees of file encryption – partial and full