Devry University
SEC 280 – Principles of Information Security
Professor
Date
, Case Study
ABC Institute of Research has sensitive information that needs to be protected from its rivals.
The Institute has collaborated with XYZ Inc. to research genetics. The information must be kept
top secret at any cost. At ABC Institute, the researchers are unsure about the type of key
(asymmetric or symmetric) to use. Please formulate a possible solution, and describe the
advantages and disadvantages of any solution employed.
One of the key concerns in today’s technological world is the issue of maintaining data
security and privacy. One sure way of dealing with these concerns is by the use of
what we call cryptography or encryption.
Encryption is basically the conversion of electronic data from one form called plaintext,
into another form, called ciphertext, which cannot be easily understood by anyone
except authorized parties with the correct encryption key. Once data is encrypted into
a ciphertext, an authorized person who want to read the data in its original form will go
through a process called decryption. Decryption is simply the inverse of encryption,
following the same steps but reversing the order in which the keys are applied.
There are many different types of encryption schemes employed in cryptography
based on what we call a cryptographic algorithm. This algorithm is the step-by-step,
recursive computational procedure for solving a problem in a finite number of steps.
Encryption algorithms are divided into two main categories: symmetric and asymmetric.
Symmetric encryption is the oldest known encryption method and involves the use of
same key, or secret, for encrypting and decrypting a message or file. Symmetric-key
encryption is much faster than asymmetric encryption, but the sender must exchange the
key used to encrypt the data with the recipient before he or she can decrypt it. This is the
SEC 280 – Principles of Information Security
Professor
Date
, Case Study
ABC Institute of Research has sensitive information that needs to be protected from its rivals.
The Institute has collaborated with XYZ Inc. to research genetics. The information must be kept
top secret at any cost. At ABC Institute, the researchers are unsure about the type of key
(asymmetric or symmetric) to use. Please formulate a possible solution, and describe the
advantages and disadvantages of any solution employed.
One of the key concerns in today’s technological world is the issue of maintaining data
security and privacy. One sure way of dealing with these concerns is by the use of
what we call cryptography or encryption.
Encryption is basically the conversion of electronic data from one form called plaintext,
into another form, called ciphertext, which cannot be easily understood by anyone
except authorized parties with the correct encryption key. Once data is encrypted into
a ciphertext, an authorized person who want to read the data in its original form will go
through a process called decryption. Decryption is simply the inverse of encryption,
following the same steps but reversing the order in which the keys are applied.
There are many different types of encryption schemes employed in cryptography
based on what we call a cryptographic algorithm. This algorithm is the step-by-step,
recursive computational procedure for solving a problem in a finite number of steps.
Encryption algorithms are divided into two main categories: symmetric and asymmetric.
Symmetric encryption is the oldest known encryption method and involves the use of
same key, or secret, for encrypting and decrypting a message or file. Symmetric-key
encryption is much faster than asymmetric encryption, but the sender must exchange the
key used to encrypt the data with the recipient before he or she can decrypt it. This is the
