ephemeral key

cryptography

A short-lived key generated for a single session and then discarded.

Ephemeral key exchange (the E in DHE and ECDHE) is the mechanism behind forward secrecy: because the key exists only for one conversation and is never stored, there is nothing left to steal afterward. It is the routine that makes each session cryptographically independent.

Also known as: ephemeral-key, session key, DHE, ECDHE

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