Re: RSA key length and more

Paul Leyland <paul@leyland.vispa.com> writes:

>> Literatures state that you should use a public key to encrypt and a private
>> key to decrypt. Can you switch (that is, use a private key to encrypt and a
>> public key to decrypt) and obtain the same result?

Depends on what you mean by the "same result" Since everyone has the public
key, everyone can decrypt your message. Not very secure.

>Consult your set text for the answer to this one

>> And the last question is security implication of distributing a private key.
>> Can you keep a public key private and distribute a private key instead
>> without compromising the security?

Almost always no. The public key is chosen so as to be easy to encrypt
with. That makes it easy to figure out what that key is

>Again, consult your set text for the answer to this one.

>Paul
Received on Tue Jan 17 16:50:55 2006