Which of the following is not a method of public key distribution ?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

NIELIT Scientific Assistant IT 5 Dec 2021 Official Paper

Answer 1

The correct answer is option 4: Private announcement

Key Points

Public Key Distribution is essential in public-key cryptography to securely share the public key with other users.
Public Announcement: A user may broadcast their public key through a channel that everyone can access. However, this method is prone to man-in-the-middle attacks.
Public Key Certificate: Issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA), this is a secure and commonly used method.
Publicly Available Directory: A central repository where users can look up each other's public keys. Proper authentication mechanisms are needed.
Private Announcement: ❌ This is not a valid or secure method for public key distribution because it defeats the purpose of using public keys for secure communication.

Additional Information

In public-key cryptography, the public key must be freely available and verifiable by anyone who wishes to communicate securely.
Any method that is private or hidden contradicts the concept of a public key.

Hence, the correct answer is: option 4: Private announcement