Rsa

Okay, studying...for Security + actually taking the class. Having a hard time understanding RSA..

can someone explain it to me in "plain old english."

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cnorton

no takers...awl shucks...Okay, I'll read it over another 87 times...

dynamik

You need to be more patient; you didn't even wait 90 minutes.

Are you having a difficult time with RSA or asymmetric encryption in general?

Specifically, where are you getting hung up.

Plantwiz

Maybe he/she solved it, it has been 1hour07 minutes

****

RSA - Rivest, Shamir and Adleman

However, as Our resident security/cryptology guru has chimmed in...what are you not understanding? And where are you 'reading' this information, perhaps your source is just vague??

cnorton

great responses!! I didn't quite get it just yet.

I have been trying to create an example, but its kinda of weird just trying to figure out the formula that creates the public key...after reading and reading and then actually trying to figure an actual public key...I think I am reading too much

dynamik

You're more than likely not going to truly understand the math behind it (honestly, I don't).

Just understand that the public and private keys are mathematically related and what can be encrypted with one can be decrypted with the other.

If you want someone to send you something encrypted, you'd want them to use your public key. Since that is accessible to everyone, anyone can send you encrypted information, but only you will be able to decrypt it since you're the only one that has the private key (unless you've been compromised

).

On the other hand, if you want to digitally sign something, you'd use your private key. Since you're (hopefully) the only one that has that, there's a pretty good guarantee that the message actually came from you. Other users will use your public key to decrypt the signature and verify your identity. It should be obvious that this does not provide confidentiality since it's your public key, which is widely available, that is used to decrypt the information.

cnorton

excellent. "plain old english" I love this place.

thks dynamik..

diwakarc

The Math for this could be understood to some extent. The best example I've seen in in Code Book by Simon Singh...refer to the Appendix that explains the math.

dynamik

diwakarc wrote: »

The Math for this could be understood to some extent. The best example I've seen in in Code Book by Simon Singh...refer to the Appendix that explains the math.

Oh I agree. I was just speaking in terms of what's expected on the Security+. I personally plan on diving into that someday; thanks for the reference. Another good one is: Amazon.com: Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C, Second Edition

phantasm

dynamik wrote: »

Oh I agree. I was just speaking in terms of what's expected on the Security+. I personally plan on diving into that someday; thanks for the reference. Another good one is: Amazon.com: Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C, Second Edition…

I've read Applied Cryptography cover to cover several times and will agree that it is an excellent read. However a bit outdated it is still good quality material. Well worth reading!

Plantwiz

cnorton wrote: »

excellent. "plain old english" I love this place.

thks dynamik..

He's good

only don't let him know I said that

Sec+ is a 'basic' understanding of the concepts, so if you find the time and wish to take it further, that's fantastic, but not necessarily what is needed for this certification. More of a 'fun reading material' for a summer day.

Plantwiz

For fun,
I've picked up a copy of:
Shon Harris' Sec+
Amazon.com: Security+ SY0-201 Video Mentor (9780789740243): Shon Harris: Books

Interesting explanations.
The audio is very patchy...but the videos are all .FLV, but you may find some clarification with the material and it is not very expensive (IMO).

I liked the TrainSignal videos, but for a quick review, Shon's material is...interesting.
I'm going to need to review a few more of her kits as time goes on, but she seems to use a different approach and I think may have some merit...

we shall see...