-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: RIPEMD160 Sven Radde wrote: > The actual "bulk" data processing is done by a symmetric algorithm > / hash function. You only encrypt the key to the symmetric > algorithm / sign the hash value. Both are typically 256bit or > smaller. > > In fact, the larger the data you want to process, the *smaller* the > impact of a larger key is. (If it takes minutes to hash a few > gigabytes, it doesn't matter if signing the hash takes 10, 100 or > 1000 milliseconds.) I think I understand after doing a little research as suggested. Only the hash is signed, and only the key (for the symmetric encryption) is encrypted with the public key, and the message itself is encrypted symmetrically. The recipient unlocks the symmetric key with the private key that corresponds to the public key with which it was encrypted and can then decrypt the message. Large file sizes aren't an issue because the files (or messages) are encrypted symmetrically, which is much more efficient than encrypting them directly asymmetrically. Right?
- -- Windows NT 5.1.2600.2180 | Thunderbird 2.0.0.4 | Enigmail 0.95.1 | GPG 1.4.7 Key ID: 0x60A78FCB - available on major keyservers and upon request Fingerprint: 4A84 CAE2 A0D3 2AEB 71F6 07FD F88E 0340 60A7 8FCB -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (MingW32) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iQEVAwUBRnWFGviOA0Bgp4/LAQME+Qf/S8YTteXkIWKFfzZr7d3ERRSiqOz7BEJX JEKv12pve0U4WIPQW11g7nTomKVDOgk8ALMTaAkXA5x1u9KJ7KNV5y9ewMtxXPxz a1jTWUzZgrJdReWM7t7FtOaLojPwdZbOoTtlcM+skektsCMs/XdStCO4xVTzKJwI 3G2sDpMX/pVNSpKSbfs842h4Px51DkQxK4M0Hg0lzO9nxC9+mAIUfHEU0PIeFR/s ttsRA+autGY+HJOpDKwRWyDXkcOkjVZY4Dc7Jdl1OycYNbsXloyxJykBE2y1s24Z RytmUc1Qbzk/d9D6Z9sE0h3zeU5pooyR8ic7INyvcpT+4l/U5EZe4A== =RLRi -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ Gnupg-users mailing list Gnupg-users@gnupg.org http://lists.gnupg.org/mailman/listinfo/gnupg-users