Key Management : Symmetric Key Exchange

Question 1

Why do we use asymmetric encryption for symmetric key exchanges?

Answer 1

Symmetric encryption is more practical for repeated communication due to being less computationally expensive. However, we need to use public key encryption to distribute the shared symmetric key in order to open up a secure communication channel.

Question 2

Explain the process of the symmetric key exchange…

Answer 2

1. Alice generates a RSK.
2. Alice encrypts the message with the RSK.
3. Alice encrypts the encrypted message and the RSK with Bobs public key.
4. Bob decrypts Alices message.
5. Bob and Alice now have the shared symmetric key.