Cryptographic Algorithms
Overview of symmetric, asymmetric, hashing, and key exchange algorithms.
Widely used cryptographic algorithms grouped by purpose: symmetric ciphers, public-key systems, hashing, message authentication and key exchange, with the use case for each. Extra rows cover authenticated encryption, password hashing, modern signatures and the post-quantum algorithms standardized by NIST.
Use it when
- You need the current default algorithm for a purpose and the situations it fits.
- You are reviewing a design for outdated primitives.
Watch out for
- Recommendations change as cryptanalysis and hardware advance. Treat the rows as a snapshot and check current guidance (NIST, IETF) for new designs.
- Algorithm names are not enough: modes, parameters and key sizes decide whether a use is secure.
The data
17 rows
| Type | Algorithm | Description | Use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Symmetric (AES) | AES-128/192/256 | Same key for encryption and decryption. Block cipher, 128-bit blocks. | Bulk data encryption |
| Symmetric (ChaCha20) | ChaCha20-Poly1305 | Stream cipher with built-in authentication. Efficient on mobile. | Mobile and IoT devices |
| Asymmetric (RSA) | RSA-2048/4096 | Public key encryption based on factoring large primes. | Key exchange, digital signatures |
| Asymmetric (ECC) | ECDSA, Ed25519 | Elliptic curve cryptography. Smaller keys than RSA for equivalent security. | TLS certificates, cryptocurrency |
| Hashing | SHA-256, BLAKE3 | One-way functions producing fixed-size digests. | Integrity verification, passwords |
| Key Exchange | X25519, DH | Agreed shared secret over an insecure channel. | TLS handshake |
| MAC | HMAC-SHA256 | Message authentication code using a secret key and hash. | Message integrity and authenticity |
| Authenticated Encryption (AES-GCM) | AES-GCM | AES in Galois/Counter Mode, providing confidentiality and integrity together; nonces must never repeat under one key. | TLS, disk and storage encryption, general-purpose encryption |
| Hashing (SHA-256) | SHA-256 | A member of the SHA-2 family producing a 256-bit digest. | Integrity checks, signatures, certificates, content addressing |
| Hashing (SHA-3) | SHA-3 / Keccak | A sponge-based hash standardized as an alternative to SHA-2. | Applications wanting a structurally different hash from SHA-2 |
| Password Hashing | Argon2id | A memory-hard password hashing function and the winner of the Password Hashing Competition. | Storing user passwords |
| Password Hashing (bcrypt) | bcrypt | A deliberately slow adaptive password hash based on the Blowfish cipher. | Storing user passwords where Argon2 is not available |
| Signature (EdDSA) | Ed25519 | A fast, compact elliptic-curve signature scheme with deterministic signatures. | SSH keys, software signing, modern protocols |
| Key Exchange (X25519) | X25519 | Elliptic-curve Diffie-Hellman over Curve25519. | TLS 1.3 key agreement, secure messaging |
| Post-Quantum KEM | ML-KEM (Kyber) | A lattice-based key-encapsulation mechanism standardized by NIST in FIPS 203. | Key establishment designed to resist quantum attacks |
| Post-Quantum Signature | ML-DSA (Dilithium) | A lattice-based digital signature scheme standardized by NIST in FIPS 204. | Signatures designed to resist quantum attacks |
| Deprecated (Triple DES) | 3DES | Applies DES three times; small 64-bit blocks make it vulnerable to birthday-style attacks and it is being retired. | Legacy systems only; avoid in new designs |
Fields
The shape of this dataset, read from the data itself: every column, its type and a real value. Agents can use this to plan a query without fetching the whole document.
| Section | Field | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| data | type | string | Symmetric (AES) |
| data | algorithm | string | AES-128/192/256 |
| data | description | string | Same key for encryption and decryption. Block c… |
| data | use_case | string | Bulk data encryption |
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