Question 5 (b)

Private key and public key

5 marks

Time to write: About 10 minutes

From an older CBCS paper

Question

Question 5 (b) · 5 marks

Differentiate between private and public key.

Reworded from the university paper; the task is the same. The original paper belongs to the University of Delhi. See DU's question bank.

Before you write

Read off the question and its marks

10 minfor 5 marks

Read from the question

Differentiate betweenSet the differences out in a table, basis by basis, not as two separate essays.

What the paper leaves open

This older-course question examines the Information Technology Act, 2000, which the current UGCF Business Laws syllabus does not name; it is answered as printed.

Write it in this order

Read; underline the asks; jot your points 1 min
1 Key pair and the two definitions 3 marks 5 min
2 Points of difference 2 marks 3 min
Check: every ask answered, key terms underlined 1 min

Short on time? Trim steps 1 and 2 evenly rather than skip one: each is capped at its own marks.

Try it first. About 10 minutes for 5 marks. Write it out, then open the solution.

Solution

Hover or tap a marked figure, like 72,000, to see how it is made and where else it appears.

Key pair. In an asymmetric crypto system, a key pair “means a private key and its mathematically related public key, which are so related that the public key can verify a digital signature created by the private key” (section 2(1)(x) of the Information Technology Act, 2000).

Private key (section 2(1)(zc)): “the key of a key pair used to create a digital signature”.

Public key (section 2(1)(zd)): “the key of a key pair used to verify a digital signature and listed in the Digital Signature Certificate”.

Difference:

Basis	Private key	Public key
Use	Creates the digital signature	Verifies the digital signature
Who uses it	The subscriber alone	Any person relying on the signature (section 3(3))
Publication	Kept by the subscriber	Listed in the Digital Signature Certificate

Any person can verify an electronic record by the use of the subscriber's public key, while the signature can be created only with the corresponding private key.

Where the 5 marks sit

#	Component	Marks
1	Key pair and the two definitions	3
2	Points of difference	2
	Total	5

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