Date: Mon, 30 Sep 96 11:05 EST From: "Robert S. Powers" <@mcimail.com> To: rjasonc <rjasonc@pobox.com> Subject: Wording error in your email

Minor wording error. Your paragraph:

random session This is a temporary key that is generated specifically for key one message. Typically, in public key cryptosystems, the message to be sent is encrypted with a symmetric key that was specifically generated for that message. The encrypted version of that message, as well as the associated session Wording error here > < key can then be encrypted with the recipient's public key. When the recipient decrypts the message, then, the system will actually decrypt the message it gets (which is the ciphertext message and the symmetric key to decrypt it), and then use the symmetric key to decrypt the ciphertext. The result is the plaintext message. This is often done because of the tremendous difference in the speed of symmetric vs. asymmetric ciphers.

...says that BOTH the message and the secret key are encrypted using the public key system. I'm sure it's just a wording error; but clearly the public key system is NOT generally used to encrypt the full message. That would take too long, as you point out; and that's why the secret key is used at all!

bp