312-50V10 · Question #915
Alice needs to send a confidential document to her coworker. Bryan. Their company has public key infrastructure set up. Therefore. Alice both encrypts the message and digitally signs it. Alice uses___
The correct answer is D. Bryan's public key; Alice's public key. In PKI, Alice encrypts using Bryan's public key and Bryan verifies Alice's digital signature using Alice's public key. The stated correct answer C ('Bryan's private key') contains a technical error - D is the correct choice.
Question
Alice needs to send a confidential document to her coworker. Bryan. Their company has public key infrastructure set up. Therefore. Alice both encrypts the message and digitally signs it. Alice uses_______to encrypt the message, and Bryan uses__________to confirm the digital signature.
Options
- ABryan's public key; Bryan's public key
- BAlice's public key; Alice's public key
- CBryan's private key; Alice's public key
- DBryan's public key; Alice's public key
How the community answered
(28 responses)- A11% (3)
- B7% (2)
- C4% (1)
- D79% (22)
Why each option
In PKI, Alice encrypts using Bryan's public key and Bryan verifies Alice's digital signature using Alice's public key. The stated correct answer C ('Bryan's private key') contains a technical error - D is the correct choice.
Using Bryan's public key for both blanks fails because signature verification requires the signer's public key - Bryan must use Alice's public key, not his own, to confirm Alice's signature.
Encrypting with Alice's own public key provides no confidentiality for Bryan specifically, since any party holding Alice's public key could also decrypt the message.
Private keys are never used to encrypt confidential messages intended for a recipient - encrypting with Bryan's private key would allow any holder of Bryan's public key to decrypt the content, defeating confidentiality entirely.
Alice uses Bryan's public key to encrypt the message so that only Bryan, possessing the corresponding private key, can decrypt and read it. Bryan then verifies Alice's digital signature using Alice's public key, confirming the signature was produced by Alice's private key and establishing authenticity and non-repudiation.
Concept tested: PKI asymmetric key roles in encryption and digital signatures
Source: https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/public_key_infrastructure
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