Package Crypto :: Package Cipher
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Package Cipher

Symmetric- and asymmetric-key encryption algorithms.

Encryption algorithms transform plaintext in some way that is dependent on a key or key pair, producing ciphertext.

Symmetric algorithms

Encryption can easily be reversed, if (and, hopefully, only if) one knows the same key. In other words, sender and receiver share the same key.

The symmetric encryption modules here all support the interface described in PEP 272, "API for Block Encryption Algorithms".

If you don't know which algorithm to choose, use AES because it's standard and has undergone a fair bit of examination.

Module name Type Description
Crypto.Cipher.AES Block Advanced Encryption Standard
Crypto.Cipher.ARC2 Block Alleged RC2
Crypto.Cipher.ARC4 Stream Alleged RC4
Crypto.Cipher.Blowfish Block Blowfish
Crypto.Cipher.CAST Block CAST
Crypto.Cipher.DES Block The Data Encryption Standard. Very commonly used in the past, but today its 56-bit keys are too small.
Crypto.Cipher.DES3 Block Triple DES.
Crypto.Cipher.XOR Stream The simple XOR cipher.

Asymmetric algorithms

For asymmetric algorithms, the key to be used for decryption is totally different and cannot be derived in a feasible way from the key used for encryption. Put differently, sender and receiver each own one half of a key pair. The encryption key is often called public whereas the decryption key is called private.

Module name Description
Crypto.Cipher.PKCS1_v1_5 PKCS#1 v1.5 encryption, based on RSA key pairs
Crypto.Cipher.PKCS1_OAEP PKCS#1 OAEP encryption, based on RSA key pairs
Submodules