On Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 2:04 PM, Walter Prins <wpr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Alexander > > > On 23 June 2013 22:46, Alexander <rhettna...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> I guess this is for testing, but I have a question. If somebody sends you >> their .pub file (email or otherwise over internet), and a villainous third >> party intercepts that .pub file, will they be able to decrypt the data sent >> over this program? > > > While I've not looked at the actual program, it appears to use standard > public key encryption techniques. The way public key encryption works is > essentially that entities always have a public and a private key. The > public keys are always published and freely available, and are used to > *encrypt* messages for given individuals. Keys are essentially one-way, > which means you cannot de-crypt a message encrypted with the same key it > was encrypted with. Instead, only the received with the corresponding > private key can decrypt the encrypted message. > > Hence, to answer you question: If a villainous third party intercepts the > pub key, that doesn't help them in decrypting messages encrypted with that > key. At best, they can also send you encrypted messages. If they wanted to > decrypt messages meant for you they'd have to somehow gain access to your > private key. > > Regards > > Walter > > _______________________________________________ > Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org > To unsubscribe or change subscription options: > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor > > Thanks for your response, Walter. -- Alexander Etter
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