These ciphers are used in symmetric key cryptography.A symmetric algorithm uses the same key to encrypt data as it does to decrypt data. This page walks you through the basics of performing a simple encryption and corresponding decryption operation. Additionally, the fact that only one key gets used (versus two for asymmetric cryptography… Types of encryption: Symmetric Encryption . Both the sender and the receiver need the same key to communicate. Symmetric-key requires that you know which … Symmetric encryption (or pre-shared key encryption) uses a single key to both encrypt and decrypt data. Just like two Spartan generals sending messages to each other, computers using symmetric-key encryption to send information between each other must have the same key. First up, we have symmetric cryptography. These types of encryption algorithms are called symmetric because they use the same key to encrypt and decrypt messages. 1. The former is symmetric encryption, while the latter is called asymmetric encryption. Symmetric Encryption. In symmetric-key encryption, each computer has a secret key (code) that it can use to encrypt a packet of information before it is sent over the network to another computer. The most popular Symmetric Algorithms are DES, Triple-DES, AES, Blowfish, RC2, RC4(ARCFOUR), RC5, RC6. References and Further Reading. Let's take a simple example of a symmetric key encryption algorithm to walk through the overall process of encrypting and decrypting a message. 3DES is Officially Being Retired (2018), by Jasmine Henry; Trends in Cryptography Part 1 – Algorithms and Encryption (2018), by Rob Stubbs In order to perform encryption/decryption you need to know: Use Case of Symmetric Key Cryptography. In the final article in this series we will look at the use of encryption modes with symmetric block ciphers, including the need for padding and initialization vectors. The AES encryption is a symmetric cipher that uses the same key for encryption and decryption. Symmetric Encryption. Symmetric ciphers use symmetric algorithms to encrypt and decrypt data. Here is an example of the AES encryption code (check comments in the code for details): x Symmetric key sizes are typically 128 or 256 bits—the larger the key size, the harder the key is to crack. The libcrypto library within OpenSSL provides functions for performing symmetric encryption and decryption operations across a wide range of algorithms and modes. For example, a symmetric algorithm will use key k k k to encrypt some plaintext information like a password into a ciphertext. Below you can see the code of an application that uses Symmetric-Key Cryptography to encrypt or decrypt a pre-set directory. 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