RSA, or Rivest Shamir Adelman, is an encryption algorithm used for decades to secure data and communications. It is a public key cryptography system that uses two keys: a private key known only by the recipient of the message and a public key that can be shared with anyone. The security of RSA lies in its ability to generate digital signatures, unique identifiers created from letters sent between two parties. These signatures help verify the authenticity and prevent tampering with the information being exchanged.

The RSA algorithm was first developed in 1977 by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman at MIT’s Laboratory for Computer Science (now CSAIL). The trio worked together on their invention until it was patented in 1983 as US Patent 4359071A – Cryptographic Communications System & Method (the patent expired in 2000). Since then, RSA has become one of the most widely used algorithms for securing data transmissions over networks such as email or banking systems due to its high levels of security compared to other methods available at that time.

RSA works by using prime numbers — large numbers composed only from factors one and themselves — combined with exponentiation operations based on Fermat’s Little theorem; this combination makes it difficult for hackers to break into encrypted files without knowing both keys involved: one secret kept safe within your organization/systems while another publicly shared among users who wish access these protected resources.

In addition, RSA also provides authentication services through digital signature verification, allowing you to verify who sent sensitive information before opening any documents received online. This prevents malicious actors from spoofing legitimate senders’ identities when attempting to steal confidential data.

Overall, thanks to innovative work done back in 1977, we now have a powerful tool like RSAs available today to protect our valuable assets against cyber criminals looking to exploit weaknesses found in standard encryption methods in earlier days computing history!