Overview

Public-key cryptography uses a pair of keys: a public key and a corresponding private key. These keys can play opposite roles, either encrypting or decrypting data. Your public key is made known to the world, while your private key is kept secret.

The public and private keys are mathematically associated; however it is computationally infeasible to deduce the private key from the public key. Anyone who has the public key can encrypt information that can only be decrypted with the matching private key. Similarly, the person with the private key can encrypt information that can only be decrypted with the matching public key.

Technically, both public and private keys are large numbers that work with cryptographic algorithms to produce encrypted material. The primary benefit of public-key cryptography is that it allows people who have no preexisting security arrangement to authenticate each other and exchange messages securely.

OpenRG makes use of public-key cryptography to encrypt and authenticate keys for the encryption of Wireless and VPN data communication, the Web Based Management (WBM) utility, and secured telnet.