[openssl-users] When to use a key or password

[Michel]

Hi,

 

You need to remember a password. Passwords should never be stored.

Keys are binary data (even if they look as text because they are hexa or base64 encoded). 

Secret keys can be 'derived' from a password to be used when encrypting or decrypting.

Sometime you need to store an ENCRYPTED secret key (generally using another password).

see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_(cryptography).

 

IV means 'Initial Vector', which is random binary data needed to 'start' encryption or decryption.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initialization_vector

 

Hope it helps,

Regards,

 

Michel.

 

De : openssl-users [mailto:openssl-users-bounces at openssl.org] De la part de Warron French
Envoyé : jeudi 7 juillet 2016 22:37
À : openssl-users at openssl.org
Objet : [openssl-users] When to use a key or password

Is there any good rule of thumb for when to use:

-k <password> versus

-K <key>

Also, what does the term IV refer to in reference to -iv IV?

Thanks in advance,

Warron

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