Assignment 1: Computer Security Using The Web Or Other Resou

Assignment 1 Computer Security1 Using The Web Or Other Resources W

Using the Web or other resources, write a brief paper about RSA, its history, its methodology, and where it is used. Send a brief message (ten words minimum) using the Caesar Cypher.

Paper For Above instruction

Introduction

Cryptography is a cornerstone of modern cybersecurity, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of digital information. Among various cryptographic algorithms, RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) stands out as one of the most widely used public-key cryptosystems. Developed in the 1970s by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman, RSA has revolutionized secure communications over the internet and remains integral to many encryption protocols today.

History of RSA

RSA was created in 1977, emerging from academic research into one of the fundamental problems in number theory—the difficulty of prime factorization. The algorithm was devised by Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman at MIT, leveraging their expertise to produce a practical method for secure digital communication. Initially, RSA was implemented for securing electronic messaging, digital signatures, and key exchange mechanisms. Its first notable application was in securing email and establishing secure online transactions, contributing significantly to the development of the modern internet security infrastructure.

Over time, RSA's robustness has been tested against evolving cryptographic attacks. Although the core concept remains secure when implemented correctly with sufficiently large key sizes (such as 2048 bits or higher), advances in computational power and algorithms continue to challenge its long-term security. Despite this, RSA remains prevalent due to its simplicity and the widespread adoption of its protocols in various security standards.

Methodology of RSA

RSA operates on the principle of asymmetric cryptography, involving two keys: a public key used for encryption and a private key used for decryption. The setup begins with generating a pair of keys. This involves selecting two large prime numbers and computing their product, which serves as the modulus. The key generation process also involves choosing a public exponent and computing the corresponding private exponent based on modular arithmetic principles.

To encrypt a message, the sender uses the recipient's public key, transforming plaintext into ciphertext through modular exponentiation. The recipient decrypts the message using their private key. The security of RSA hinges on the difficulty of factoring the large composite number generated during key creation. This computational difficulty ensures that, while the public key can be shared openly, the private key remains secure.

RSA can also be used for digital signatures, where a sender signs a message with their private key, and recipients verify the authenticity using the sender's public key. This process ensures data integrity and non-repudiation, critical aspects of secure communications.

Uses of RSA

RSA is widely integrated into numerous security protocols and standards, including SSL/TLS for secure web browsing, PGP for email encryption, and digital certificates used in public key infrastructure (PKI). It underpins secure online banking, e-commerce transactions, and VPNs. Governments and organizations depend on RSA for authenticating identities and securing sensitive data due to its robustness and proven security model.

In addition to encryption and signatures, RSA is often used during the initial stages of establishing a secure communication channel, exchanging symmetric session keys securely before symmetric encryption takes over for efficiency.

Conclusion

RSA remains a fundamental component of network security, trusted for its ability to secure data over insecure channels. Its historic significance as the first practical public-key cryptosystem and ongoing relevance in digital security illustrate its importance. As computational power increases, larger key sizes and alternative schemes such as elliptic-curve cryptography are being adopted, but RSA's impact on securing digital communication continues unwaveringly.

References

7. Menezes, A. J., van Oorschot, P. C., & Vanstone, S. A. (1996). Handbook of Applied Cryptography. CRC Press.
8. Katz, J., & Lindell, Y. (2014). Introduction to Modern Cryptography. Chapman and Hall/CRC.
9. Paul, E. (2002). Public key cryptography: RSA. In Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, 2nd Edition (pp. 2294–2299). IGI Global.
10. Stallings, W. (2020). Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practice. Pearson.