Encryption Demo

Compare symmetric (AES) and asymmetric (RSA) encryption with interactive examples

Overview

The Encryption Demo provides hands-on experience with both symmetric (AES) and asymmetric (RSA) encryption. AES uses a single shared key for both encryption and decryption and is fast for large amounts of data, while RSA uses separate public and private keys, enabling secure key exchange but is slower and limited to smaller data sizes. Understanding when to use each type is essential for building secure systems.

Tips

  1. Compare Encryption Speeds: Encrypt the same long message with both AES and RSA to see how much faster symmetric encryption is for bulk data
  2. Understand Key Relationships: Generate new keys and try to decrypt previously encrypted messages - you’ll see that without the correct key, decryption is impossible
  3. Test Hybrid Encryption: Use RSA to encrypt a short AES key, then use that AES key to encrypt a large message - this demonstrates how HTTPS and other protocols combine both methods
  4. Experiment with Key Sizes: Try different AES key lengths (128, 192, 256 bits) and RSA key lengths (2048, 3072, 4096 bits) to understand the security vs. performance tradeoffs
  5. Verify Data Integrity: Modify just one character in encrypted text before decryption - observe how the entire decryption fails, demonstrating that encryption also helps detect tampering