Back method11.shtml Next Public-Key Encryption Algorithms : RSA RSA algorithm Considered the "de facto" standard in public key encryption algorithms desgined by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, Leonard Adleman 2 phases to the algorithm Grean generates the public and private key and makes public the public key Tim encrypts the sent message with the public key Grean decrypts the received message with the private key the algorithm Grean generates two large numbers p and q and chooses a number e, prime with (p-1)(q-1) (in practice the value of e is 65337). Grean computes the private key (d = e-1 mod ((p-1)(q-1))) and the public key (n = p * q , e) Grean sends the public key to Tim; Tim encrypts the message with Bob's public key: c = me mod n and sends the message to Grean; Grean decrypts the message with the private key: m = cd mod n. For two-way communication, Tim generates his public/private key pair as well. RSA is used in many applications and with the advent of the Web, has gotten much attention as it is used in web browsers like Netscape Navigator for secure transactions. (ie: SSL - secure sockets layer) Copyright 1997 by Slackers Union. Comments should go to any of the group members. Opinions reflected on this page are by no means opinions of UCSD. Go sue somebody else. Last Modified: June 1, 1997