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Can you encrypt using the private key?
Only the owner of the private key can encrypt data so that the public key decrypts it; meanwhile, anyone can encrypt data with the public key, but only the owner of the private key can decrypt it. Therefore, anyone can send data securely to the private key owner.
How do I encrypt a message key?
The key acts as a shared secret between two (or more) parties that can be used to send private information that cannot be read by anyone without a copy of the key. As seen above, Alice and Bob share the same secret key. Alice can use the key to encrypt any message before passing it over a public channel.
How to encrypt private keys before sending them?
Encrypt the hell out of the key/s to be transferred before it/they ever leave your facilities, using a unique “outer” key created only for one transfer and then destroyed. If that protective encryption key is generated from a password or pass-phrase, the password or phrase meets very high strength requirements. (2.)
Can a message be decrypted without the public key?
A message encrypted with the public key cannot be decrypted without using the corresponding private key. The public and private key are not really keys but rather are really large prime numbers that are mathematically related to one another.
What can public and private keys be used for?
Public and private keys can also be used to create a digital signature. A digital signature assures that the person sending the message is who they claim to be. Typically, we use the recipient’s public key to encrypt the data and the recipient then uses their private key to decrypt the data.
Can you add a passphrase to a private key?
Of course you can add/remove a passphrase at a later time. the -aes256 tells openssl to encrypt the key with AES256. As ArianFaurtosh has correctly pointed out: For the encryption algorithm you can use aes128, aes192, aes256, camellia128, camellia192, camellia256, des (which you definitely should avoid), des3 or idea