Practical Cryptography in Python: Learning Correct Cryptography by Example

© Seth James Nielson, Christopher K. Monson 2019

S. J. Nielson, C. K. MonsonPractical Cryptography in Pythonhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-4900-0_4

4. Asymmetric Encryption: Public/Private Keys

Seth James Nielson¹  and Christopher K. Monson²

(1)

Austin, TX, USA

(2)

Hampstead, MD, USA

 

Asymmetric encryption is one of the most important advances in cryptographic security ever made. It underpins all of the security on the Web, in your Wi-Fi connections, and in secure email and other communication of all kinds. It is ubiquitous, but it is also subtle and easy to implement or use incorrectly, and a lack of correctness means a sometimes drastic reduction in security.

Perhaps you’ve heard of “public keys,” “public key infrastructure,” and/or “public key ...