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What mechanism does asymmetric cryptography use to secure data?
A. a public/private key pair
B. shared secret keys
C. an RSA nonce
D. an MD5 hash
Correct Answer: A
Explanation/Reference:
Asymmetric cryptography, also known as public key cryptography, uses public and private keys to encrypt and decrypt data. The keys are simply large numbers that have been paired together but are not identical (asymmetric). One key in the pair can be shared with everyone; it is called the public key. The other key in the pair is kept secret; it is called the private key. Either of the keys can be used to encrypt a message; the opposite key from the one used to encrypt the message is used for decryption.
Reference: http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/asymmetric-cryptography
