Cryptographic key pair is a special set of matched keys for digital security. The pair consists of two related keys:
- A public key, which is shared with others to encrypt data or verify a digital signature.
- A private key, which is kept secret to decrypt data or create a digital signature.
They work together in encryption, authentication, and digital signatures. The system is used to ensure secure communication – meaning that others can send you messages that only you can read; and to ease authentication – meaning you can prove you’re really you in the digital world.
How the cryptographic key pair works:
- Messages locked with your public key can only be unlocked with your private key.
- You can use your private key to “sign” messages, and others can verify it was really you using your public key.
The keypair used by trace:original needs to be of ECDSA type (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) using the curve secp256r1.
For more information on how trace:original technology works and its technical characteristics, click here.