Pre-shared key

With pre-shared key ( PSK ; English for " pre-agreed key ") refers to such encryption method in which the key before communicating both parties have to be known, so symmetrical method . PSK encryption has the advantage that it is much easier to implement between two known participants than asymmetrical encryption . The major disadvantage of the procedure is that both participants have to secretly exchange the key before the actual communication. It follows from this that the PSK process is unsuitable for many applications on the Internet (such as online shopping), since in this case the previous key exchange is not possible or is much too time-consuming. In such a case, it is better to use the public key method .

The term PSK is often associated with wireless LAN , as the WPA-PSK encryption method is often used in wireless networks ; the password for the WPA-PSK process is often referred to as "WLAN password". For small networks such as This is a good method, e.g. in private households, as the key can easily be entered by one person on the various devices such as routers and PCs.