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I am trying to understand the application of SHA384withRSAEncryption. SHA-384 is a message digest algorithm and RSA is used for public key cryptography (secure communication).

RSA involves a public private key pair, so there are 2 ends of communication. One who encrypts the message using the public key and the other one decrypting it.

What is the use of both SHA384 and RSA Encryption together?

Now, how is SHA384withRSAEncryption used for storing data in a Database securely?

Is there an application of SHA384withRSAEncryption in "Data in Rest" Applications?

Thanks.

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This corresponds to an RSA PKCS#1 signature with SHA384 hash. This means that the data is hashed using SHA384, and that hash is signed with the RSA private key from a PKCS#1 certificate.

In terms of securing data in a database, this would be pretty unusual. However, it could be used to ensure that data entered into the database was generated by the owner of the RSA private key. In the case of an attacker that has access to the database and nothing else, this prevents them from forging records.

The same sort of idea fits in with long term data storage. It proves that the data was not tampered with after being signed.

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  • Thanks. So, does that mean if someone has access to the hashed data in my database, they still need the private key to crack it? Or the private key is used only to verify the integrity of the data? For instance, if I store data by hashing it using SHA-384, will SHA384withRSAEncryption help in preventing hash cracking?
    – Neon Flash
    Jul 21, 2012 at 3:07
  • It's not used to store password hashes. It's used to verify the authenticity and integrity of arbitrary data in the database. For passwords, use bcrypt.
    – Polynomial
    Jul 21, 2012 at 7:23
  • It is used for session security, and this is in certificate which is used to authenticate and establish ssl session which gets into data. SQL Server for example has it explained here: mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/1319/… Jul 22, 2012 at 19:43

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