Public Key Encryption

Encryption is the process of disguising information by transforming plain text into gibberish, otherwise known as cyphertext, which cannot be understood by unauthorized persons. Likewise, decryption is the process of transforming cyphertext back into plaintext that can be read by anyone. Examples of encryption can be found throughout history. In the cold war era, the Soviet Union and United States would send electronic messages from a specific military installation to another, but only on an …

…in cyphertext. When the store receives the cyphertext, it is then decoded with their private key. With the age of digital communication expanding everyday, the use of public key cryptography will become part of our lives just as using an envelope has become yesterday's way of encrypting a letter. BIBLIOGRAPHY Network Associates, Inc., "An Introduction to Cryptography", Santa Clara, California, Copyright 1990-1998. William Stallings and Richard Van Slyke, "Business Data Communications", Simon & Schuster Publishing, Copyright 1998.