Cryptography: Fundamentals of the modern approach

28 June 2023 DSP, Micros & Memory

Analog Devices has compiled an online resource detailing a series of application notes on cryptography. Designed to be a quick study guide for a product development engineer, it takes an engineering rather than a theoretical approach.

The first segment describes the fundamental concepts behind modern cryptography. Keeping cryptographic applications secure relies upon symmetric and private keys that are continually kept secret. The method used to keep them secret is also protected.

Asymmetric and symmetric keys are two basic types of algorithms used in modern cryptography. Asymmetric key algorithms use a combination of private and public keys, while symmetric algorithms use only private ones, commonly referred to as secret keys.

The first part of this resource takes the reader through a section explaining how confidentiality is provided using symmetric key algorithms. It then moves on to explain asymmetric key algorithms and how they differ from symmetric algorithms.

Identification and authentication are then detailed using:

• A symmetric key algorithm.

• An SHA-3 algorithm.

• An asymmetric key algorithm.

• ECDSA asymmetric keys.

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