ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC) Practice Question

Symmetric encryption employs one shared secret key for both the encryption and decryption processes. This single-key approach makes the algorithms computationally fast but creates a key-distribution challenge because the same key must remain confidential between parties. Asymmetric encryption, by contrast, uses a mathematically linked public/private key pair, runs more slowly due to complex operations such as modular exponentiation, allows the public key to be shared openly, and can support non-repudiation features like digital signatures.