Asymmetric Key Cryptography explained

Can you have access to your friend's room if you don't have their room keys?

Let's go over Asymmetric Key Cryptography; a type of Cryptography.

In asymmetric key cryptography, two keys are used to encrypt and decrypt data (a public key and a private key).

A public key is a shareable key that is used to encrypt the contents of a file.

A private key is a non-shareable key used to decrypt the contents of a file. These keys are usually in pairs, so whatever public key is used, one must use the corresponding private key as it allows for secure communication over insecure channels.


Let's use a quick example 👇

Michael and Sarah are living together in an apartment building. They both have their own private rooms within the apartment and to enter the building, they use a general public key, which is available to both of them because it's a public key. The public key allows them to unlock the main door of the apartment building like we do in our houses.😅

Once Michael and Sarah are in the building, they each have their own private keys that only they possess. These private keys are used to unlock their individual rooms and cannot enter each other's rooms using this public key. They rely on their private keys for security while the public key is generally used.


So yeah…that's basically how asymmetric key cryptography works. Did you get the gist?