When it comes to the basics of cryptographic algorithms, one of the most fundamental distinctions is whether an algorithm is symmetric or asymmetric. Symmetric cryptography uses a single shared key for both encryption and decryption for example, AES. The operations are simple, and this makes symmetric algorithms fast and cheap, which is why it’s the right tool for bulk data. The catch is key distribution. Both sides need the same key before any secure communication can happen, and getting that key to the other party over an untrusted network is the problem symmetric cryptography cannot solve on its own.
Asymmetric cryptography solves this by using a mathematically linked key pair, where the public key can be shared freely, and the private key never leaves its owner. This enables key agreement and digital signatures, which is how TLS authenticates a server and establishes a session key before any application data moves. wolfCrypt supports RSA, ECC, Curve25519, and Ed25519, as well as the NIST post-quantum standards ML-KEM and ML-DSA. Asymmetric operations are orders of magnitude slower than symmetric ones, so real protocols use both. TLS uses asymmetric cryptography during the handshake to authenticate the peer and negotiate a shared secret, then switches to symmetric cryptography for the rest of the session.
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