Symmetric encryption vs asymmetric encryption in multimedia communication

The principal aspects of the two encryption methods ( symmetric and Asymmetric key) are compared in the table below ( Reference Mohamed Abomhara, Khalifa, Othman  Zakaria Omar, Zaidan A. A, Zaidan B. B. and Alanazi, Hamdan O. (2010), Journal of Applied Sciences))  

Using symmetric key algorithms to secure online video streaming

Symmetric keys can provide confidentiality but they cannot perform authentication, because there is no way to prove through cryptography who had actually sent a message if two people are using the same key. The following are the advantage and disadvantage of using symmetric key systems to secure the online video streaming: 

Advantages

• It is much faster than asymmetric key systems.
• Its security is dependent on the length of the key. With a large key size, the algorithm will be harder to break, because symmetric algorithms carry out relatively simplistic mathematical functions on the bits during the encryption and decryption processes.
• It does not require much computing power.

Disadvantages

• It requires a secure mechanism to deliver the keys.
• Each pair of users needs a unique key; if a user has N people to contact, then N secret keys must be maintained so that as the number of individuals increases, so does the number of keys.
• Management of the symmetric keys can be problematic.
•  Provides confidentiality but cannot authenticate, because the secret key is shared.

An Overview of the suitability of using symmetric key to secure multimedia data

With the increasing and continuous use of digital communications on the internet in recent times, security is becoming more and more relevant and important. However, special and reliable security is required for the many digital applications available such as video conferencing, digital television and mobile TV. The classical techniques of data security are not appropriate for the current multimedia usage. This study addresses the current algorithm of multimedia encryption schemes that have been proposed in the literature and description of multimedia security. It is a comparative study between symmetric key encryption and asymmetric key encryption in achieving an efficient, flexible and secure video data.(  Mohamed Abomhara, Khalifa, Othman  Zakaria Omar, Zaidan A. A, Zaidan B. B. and Alanazi, Hamdan O. (2010), Journal of Applied Sciences).  ( http://irep.iium.edu.my/5618/). 

A review on multimedia communications cryptography

Now-a-days, Due to the repaid increasing and continuous use of multimedia communications on the internet, Security is becoming more and more relevant and important. However, special and reliable security is required for the many multimedia applications available such as video conferencing, digital television and mobile TV. The classical techniques of data security are not appropriate for the current multimedia usage. This study will presents the currently algorithm of multimedia encryption schemes that have been proposed in the literature and description the effectiveness of the multimedia security. It is a comparative study between symmetric key encryption and asymmetric key encryption in achieving an efficient, flexible and secure video data.
(Salem, Yasser, Mohamed Abomhara , Khalifa, Othman, Omer Zaidan, Aos Alaa Zaidan, and Bilal Bahaa (2011), Research Journal of Information Technology) ( http://irep.iium.edu.my/2241/).