RSA & Related Concepts

I am a cryptographic system relying on the difficulty of factoring the product of large prime numbers; my security depends on the computational effort needed to reverse this process.

RSA

Exam Tip: Questions often test recognition of “prime factorization hard problem” → think RSA.

I allow computations to be performed on encrypted values without decrypting them first; the results will match what you would get if operations were performed on the original data.

Homomorphic encryption

Exam Tip: Common in secure cloud computations. Look for “operate on ciphertext without decrypting.”

I describe a weakness where a popular asymmetric system is extremely demanding on processing power and memory, making it less suited for embedded or low-power devices.

RSA limitations (processor-heavy)

Exam Tip: If a question asks “which system is processor-intensive?” → answer = RSA.

I am a public key system that allows homomorphic operations and supports mathematical computations on encrypted values; often paired with secure voting or private computations.

Paillier Cryptosystem

Exam Tip: Look for “homomorphic” + “public key” keywords.