A company wants employees to securely send confidential reports to management over the internet. The company decides to use asymmetric encryption.

Which TWO statements about asymmetric encryption are correct?

Question

A company wants employees to securely send confidential reports to management over the internet. The company decides to use asymmetric encryption.

Which TWO statements about asymmetric encryption are correct?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Asymmetric encryption uses a pair of keys: a public key and a private key.

1. Relevant knowledge points and concepts
- Asymmetric (public-key) cryptography: each user has a key pair—one public, one private. Algorithms include RSA and ECC.
- Confidentiality: anyone can encrypt data with the recipient’s public key; only the recipient’s private key can decrypt.
- Key secrecy and distribution: the public key is intended to be widely distributed; the private key must be kept secret and protected.
- Authentication vs confidentiality: asymmetric encryption provides mechanisms (e.g., digital signatures) to authenticate senders, but simply encrypting with a public key does not on its own remove the need for authentication or key validation (certificates, CA).

2. Step-by-step reasoning process
- Management generates a key pair: PublicKey_M and PrivateKey_M.
- Management publishes PublicKey_M to employees (can be shared openly).
- Employee encrypts a confidential report using PublicKey_M.
- Encrypted report sent over the internet; only PrivateKey_M can decrypt it.
- If PrivateKey_M is exposed, confidentiality is lost; hence PrivateKey_M must remain secret.

3. Intermediate steps / illustrative flow
- Generate keys → Distribute public key → Employee: CipherText = Encrypt(PlainText, PublicKey_M) → Management: PlainText = Decrypt(CipherText, PrivateKey_M).

4. Why the correct answers are correct
- "The public key can be shared openly": True, because public keys are meant to be distributed so senders can encrypt messages.
- "The private key must remain secret": True, because only the private key holder can decrypt messages; if leaked, security is compromised.

5. Why the other options are incorrect
- "The same key is used for both encryption and decryption": Incorrect; that describes symmetric encryption, not asymmetric.
- "Asymmetric encryption removes the need for authentication": Incorrect; encryption alone doesn’t authenticate the sender or validate keys—authentication mechanisms (certificates, signatures) are still required.

6. Conclusion
Both correct statements are: "The public key can be shared openly" and "The private key must remain secret" — matching the provided answer.

A company wants employees to securely send confidential reports to management over the internet. The company decides to use asymmetric encryption. Which TWO statements about asymmetric encryption are correct?Multiple choice

Similar Questions

Which of the following best encapsulates a fundamental difference between PKE and SE regarding key management and encryption operations?

Question at position 14 Which of the following are common problems described in the manual when using GPG during the lab.Encrypting with RSA instead of AESIncorrect network settings in the VMSSH service not runningUsing “su” to switch user instead of proper loginIncorrect IP address of the VM

Public key and private key are used for

Public-key encryption is more secure from cryptanalysis than symmetric encryption.

Asymmetric encryption can be used for __________ .

Unlike RSA, DSA cannot be used for encryption or key exchange.

The most widely used public-key cryptosystem is __________ .

More Practical Tools for Students Powered by AI Study Helper

Homework AI Solver

Stylized AI Paper Writer

Plagiarism Checker Assistant

Citation AI Academic Writing Tool

In-Class Translation Assistant

AI Note Generator

AI Quiz Answers

Past Exam Questions from University Test Bank

Smart Practice Assistant

Adaptive Practice

Making Your Study Simpler