156-215.80 · Question #276
Which of the following uses the same key to decrypt as it does to encrypt?
The correct answer is D. Symmetric encryption. Symmetric encryption uses a single shared secret key for both the encryption and decryption operations, distinguishing it from asymmetric systems that use separate public and private keys.
Question
Which of the following uses the same key to decrypt as it does to encrypt?
Options
- AAsymmetric encryption
- BDynamic encryption
- CCertificate-based encryption
- DSymmetric encryption
How the community answered
(23 responses)- A4% (1)
- B4% (1)
- D91% (21)
Why each option
Symmetric encryption uses a single shared secret key for both the encryption and decryption operations, distinguishing it from asymmetric systems that use separate public and private keys.
Asymmetric encryption uses a mathematically linked key pair - a public key to encrypt and a private key to decrypt - meaning the encrypt and decrypt keys are always different.
Dynamic encryption is not a standard cryptographic classification and does not describe a real encryption paradigm based on key usage.
Certificate-based encryption relies on asymmetric PKI infrastructure, where the certificate's public key encrypts and the holder's private key decrypts.
In symmetric encryption, the same key is used by both the sender to encrypt plaintext and the recipient to decrypt ciphertext. Algorithms such as AES, DES, and 3DES are symmetric - any party who holds the key can both encrypt and decrypt. This property makes key distribution the primary security challenge of symmetric systems.
Concept tested: Symmetric vs asymmetric encryption key usage
Source: https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/symmetric_key_algorithm
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