Why isn’t asymmetric encryption used to perform bulk encryption?
- Asymmetric algorithms are substantially slower than symmetric algorithms.
- Asymmetric algorithms are easier to break than symmetric algorithms.
- Symmetric algorithms can provide authentication and confidentiality.
- Symmetric algorithms use a much larger key size.
| Explanation & Hint:
The reason why asymmetric encryption is not used to perform bulk encryption is because:
Asymmetric encryption algorithms, such as RSA, use complex mathematical operations that are computationally intensive. This makes them significantly slower compared to symmetric encryption algorithms like AES when encrypting large amounts of data. Therefore, asymmetric encryption is typically used for securing smaller pieces of data, such as the encryption of keys used for symmetric encryption or for digital signatures, rather than for bulk data encryption. Symmetric encryption, with its faster processing and less computational overhead, is more suited for encrypting large volumes of data. |