Definition of Public Key Cryptography in the Network Encyclopedia. The private key is known only to your computer , while the public key is given by your computer to any computer that wants to communicate securely with it. Definition of public key certificate in the Definitions.net dictionary. What does public key certificate mean? Meaning of public key certificate. An encryption key that can be made public or sent by ordinary means such as an email message. Unlike symmetric key algorithms that rely on one key to both encrypt and decrypt, each key performs a unique function. What is Public Key Cryptography? Also known as asymmetric-key encryption, public-key encryption uses two different keys at once -- a combination of a private key and a public key. A secret key that can be used to decrypt messages encrypted with the corresponding public or private key. Public-key definition is - a cryptographic element that is the publicly shared half of an encryption code and that can be used only to encode messages. It can be used to encrypt while the private key can be used to decrypt. The keys are asymmetric, the public key is actually derived from the private key. Public-key cryptography, or asymmetric cryptography, is an encryption scheme that uses two mathematically related, but not identical, keys - a public key and a private key. One of the two keys is a public key, which anyone can use to encrypt a message for the owner of that key. Public Key vs Private Key : Public Key: Private Key: Definition: A published key that can be used to send a secure message to a receiver. An encryption method that uses a two-part key: one private; the other public. public key certificate: A public key certificate is a digitally signed document that serves to validate the sender's authorization and name. Public key cryptography is actually a fairly recent creation, dating back to 1973, it uses a public/private key pair. Public key encryption is a type of cipher architecture known as public key cryptography that utilizes two keys, or a key pair, to encrypt and decrypt data. The encrypted message is sent and the recipient uses his or her private key to decrypt it. Definition of public key in the Definitions.net dictionary. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. See private key for more details. Applies to : … Information and translations of public key in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Public Key Cryptography, also known as asymmetric cryptography, is a popular encryption method developed by Martin Hellman and Whitfield Diffie in 1976 that is used for securing the transmission of data over distrusted networks such as the Internet. A Definition of Public Key Cryptography. 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