CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 (V7) Practice Question

Symmetric encryption uses one secret key that is shared by all authorized parties. The same key is applied to transform plaintext into ciphertext and to reverse the process. In contrast, asymmetric (public-key) encryption relies on two mathematically related keys: a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption. Because only one key is involved, symmetric algorithms are generally faster but require secure key distribution, do not provide non-repudiation, and are less scalable for large user populations.