public key
A cryptographic key, used with a public key cryptographic algorithm, that is uniquely associated with an entity and may be made public. In an asymmetric (public) cryptosystem, the public key is associated with a private key. The public key may be known by anyone and, depending on the algorithm, may be used, for example, to: 1) Verify a digital signature that is signed by the corresponding private key, 2) Encrypt keys that can be decrypted by the corresponding private key, or 3) Compute a shared secret during a key-agreement transaction.
Senses
The publicly-disclosed component of a pair of cryptographic keys used for asymmetric cryptography.
A cryptographic key that may be widely published and is used to enable the operation of an asymmetric (public key) cryptographic algorithm.
See "PKI".
The public part of an asymmetric key pair that is typically used to verify signatures or encrypt data.
A cryptographic key used with a public key cryptographic algorithm, uniquely associated with an entity, and which may be made public; it is used to verify a digital signature; this key is mathematically linked with a corresponding private key.
A cryptographic key used with a public key cryptographic algorithm that is uniquely associated with an entity and that may be made public.
A cryptographic key that may be widely published and is used to enable the operation of an asymmetric cryptography scheme. This key is mathematically linked with a corresponding private key. Typically, a public key can be used to encrypt, but not decrypt, or to validate a signature, but not to sign.
No definition is given in NIST SP 800-171r3. The term is attested in use at 1 citation in that document; a definition is pending curation.
Classifications
Entity Type
Sensitivity
Information Class
Variants
- plural
- public keys
- possessive
- public key's
- pluralpossessive
- public keys'