Hybrid Encryption
Hybrid Encryption
is a cryptographic approach that combines the benefits of both symmetric and asymmetric encryption.
- Symmetric: the same secret key is used for both encryption and decryption.??
- Asymmetric: uses a pair of keys; public (encrypt) and private (decrypt).??
- Common steps:??
- 1. The sender obtains the recipient's public key (ex: Browser from a web server).??
- 2. A random and temporary symmetric key is generated by the sender (to encrypt the data).??
- 3. The sender encrypts the data with the symmetric key.??
- 4. The symmetric key is encrypted with the recipient's public key.??
- 5. The encrypted data and the encrypted symmetric key are sent to the recipient.??
- 6. The recipient decrypts the symmetric key using their private key and uses it to decrypt the data.??
- Examples: SSL/TLS (HTTPS), PGP, SSH, IPsec, S/MIME