Encryption is the process of transforming plaintext using a cipher to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing the key.

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What is the difference between these AES encryption methods

I am using AES encryption (Rijindael) with Base-64 encoding in Obj-C and VB. I am currently using the following two projects to achieve this: Obj-C: ...
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4answers
395 views

Is my pseudo-random initialization vector secure?

How can I know if I am generating a secure pseudorandom initialization vector? Currently I am planning to generate a pseudo-random initialization Vector using current date and time - is this secure ...
2
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4answers
234 views

What is the actual difference between security through obscurity and true encryption?

In an abstract sense, aren't both the same? Don't their definitions boil down to the following? security through obscurity: trying to make sure some information cannot be obtained without knowing ...
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1answer
94 views

Digital Certificate Chain Verification

Does a certificate contain the complete chain of all certificates up to the trusted root certificate, or does the program that verifies certificates have to fetch each parent certificate individually ...
3
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1answer
322 views

AES CCM vs CCMP

Are the terms AES CCM and AES CCMP are equivalent, or is there any technical differences between the two?
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358 views

Why can't the IV be predictable when its said it doesn't need to be a secret?

I heard multiple times not to reuse the same IV and IV should be random but doesn't need to be secret. I also heard if the IV is something like sequential numbers or something predictable I should ...
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2answers
744 views

Secure private key storage

I'm developing application in Java that has to store RSA keys in software for foreseeable future (that is, at least 10 years). The two most common standards of storing private keys are PKCS12 and JKS ...
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6answers
891 views

Is there a secure cryptosystem that can be performed mentally?

I, myself, do not plan on getting into a situation where I would be unable to use a computer in order to communicate securely. However, I can think of many practical situations in which mental ...
5
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1answer
110 views

How to turn adversary against encryption of zeroes into adversary against random bits?

I recently read the article Nonce-Based Symmetric Encryption by Rogaway, where he presents two different notions of indistinguishability, which he calls ind$ and ind, respectively. Here's the ...
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2answers
160 views

Is it possible to match encrypted documents using user-defined search terms?

Suppose I am storing a number of encrypted documents in a database. I would like to make it possible to identify the subset of documents whose contents match user-specified search terms without a) ...
3
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3answers
465 views

Which of these 3 AES 128 symmetric encrypt/decrypt routines is most secure?

I am developing a symmetric en-/decryption routine written in c# for a database containing user-specific, sensitive information. I have narrowed down the implementation to 3 different approaches, ...
2
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1answer
108 views

Aes encryption -The relevance of static matrix in mixcolumns operation

Can someone explain to me the relevance of the static matrix used for the mixcolumns operation in aes encryption.i.e the relevance of why the byte is multiplied by 2 + next byte multiplied by 3 + next ...
8
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3answers
446 views

What is the best way to put a backdoor in an encryption system?

How can you put a backdoor into an encryption algorithm? Are there any techniques that can be used to reduce the time it takes to break a key? I am looking for practical examples encryption schemes ...
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3answers
147 views

Can I jettison MAC if I already have SHA1(M)?

I'm currently using SSL with AES-CBC and HMAC for a file transfer containing string M. Now suppose Alice already knows SHA1(M) (and the adversary does not), and she downloads M from Bob using only ...
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1answer
424 views

Advantages of each encryption mode [closed]

What is the advantages of each encryption mode to other encryption mode.. for example what are advantages of CBC to PCBC, CBC to CFB just like that. so that I can filter what would be the best ...
1
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1answer
906 views

Cipher Feedback Mode

I can't understand what CFB really is. It said in Wikipedia that CFB is same as CBC, but I find that CFB is more difficult than CBC. Can someone explain to me how CFB works. Such as how ...
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3answers
182 views

Is there a way to break this encryption?

I was wondering about making up a simple system to encrypt a file: ...
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3answers
266 views

Encryption vs. decryption of same plaintext

Does the same encryption algorithm given the same plaintext always produces the same ciphertext? Does this cause any security flaws?
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3answers
271 views

Can I pre-define the points in Shamir's Secret Sharing algorithm

With Shamir's secret sharing is it possible to pre-define the points returned by the algorithm? For simplicity if I have (k, n) where k=2, and n=4, and I have the points X,Y,Z, and Q. Can I create ...
1
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1answer
141 views

Generating a cryptographically secure, many-time use, symmetric encryption key

I need to generate a 256 bit encryption key described by the adjectives in the title. Currently I intend to create the key using this RNG. Is this a secure manner of creating the key, given that it ...
5
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3answers
428 views

Encryption algorithm that produces dummy output on incorrect passwords

Background: I've been thinking about using encryption in the context of backing up files to untrusted locations (to the point of making the file publicly and widely distributed for practically ...
2
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1answer
391 views

Format-preserving encryption implementations

I'm looking for a general, free implementation of Format-preserving encryption as described in this article and on wikipedia. Possibly in a well established cryptography toolkit. My intention is to ...
3
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2answers
194 views

Is there any recent cryptographic algorithm especially designed for low-level processors?

Most modern algorithms require relatively large amount of resources. Is there any recent (and freely usable) encryption/decryption algorithm which is specially designed for low-level microcontrollers ...
0
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1answer
116 views

RSA Signature - Multiple Use Weakness

I cite from Fundamentals of Computer Security (Chapter 7 on Digital Signature, Paragraph 7.3 on RSA Signatures, page 289): Multiple uses of the RSA Signature scheme tend to weaken it. The way out ...
0
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1answer
317 views

How to hack the new save encryption on ipad for uplink? [closed]

The new iPad version of Uplink appears to be using some new saving mechanic than the PC/Mac Version. Macs and PCs use 'RedShirt' but the iPad appears to instead be using 'SAV62' at the start of saves, ...
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2answers
593 views

How can I break REDSHIRT / REDSHIRT2 encryption?

Recently, a user on Gaming.SE asked a question about whether the user password in the video game Uplink could be modified after being initially set. The game does not contain an option to change the ...
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2answers
134 views

Textbook RSA to Realworld RSA

Is there a paper or link where it explains , how the plain vanilla Textbook RSA is actually implemented in practice with all the padding and stuff ? basically i want to know the intricacies of ...
0
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1answer
77 views

Using “Additional Authenticated Data” as a secondary key

In implementing a cipher in GCM or CCM mode, you are provided the option to add "Additional Authenticated Data" (AAD). This AAD is required for decrypting the cipher text, and seems to be used when ...
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2answers
222 views

Is the encryption of a hash a good MAC?

At university we were told that it is a bad idea to implement a MAC by simply concatenating a key with the data to sign and to run it through a hash function (e.g. $s = ...
3
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1answer
111 views

How to communicate authentication tag for GCM?

I have written some code to do AES in GCM. I currently manually append the tag property to the ciphertext, is this the proper way to communicate the authentication tag?
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1answer
316 views

AES GCM implementation in c#

I am implementing an AES cipher in GCM mode in c# and have a few questions. My code is based on the code found here for reference. I'll copy in the relevant portions. ...
3
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1answer
158 views

Using a derived key for CMAC

Consider the following authenticate-and-encrypt scheme that uses AES-128 in CBC mode for encryption and AES-128 - based CMAC for authentication: Two keys are derived from the master key k (16 byte): ...
2
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1answer
408 views

Is this design of client side encryption secure?

I want to build a secure file storage web application. Users should be sure that server doesn't know how to decrypt files so encryption should take place at client side (i.e. in Javascript) and TLS ...
4
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4answers
1k views

How can one securely generate an asymmetric key pair from a short passphrase?

Background info: I am planning on making a filehost with which one can encrypt and upload files. To protect the data against any form of hacking, I'd like not to know the encryption key ($K$) used for ...
3
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1answer
178 views

How can one share information using the 'host-proof' paradigm?

I am attempting to make a web-based secure password management and sharing utility, both as an academic exercise and to fully understand and feel safe about using it. I really like the idea of a ...
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2answers
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Encryption scheme for social-network-like data sharing data via untrusted server?

I am thinking quite a lot lately abut the problem of secure, privacy-preserving social networking. Distributing the network among trusted, preferably self-hosted servers (like Diaspora, GNU Social ...
4
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1answer
209 views

I need an opinion of encryption method I thought of in High school

First, I'm really not into cryptography, but have some basic knowledge. This was a thought experiment (and later exercise for my programming skills), but even though it was long time ago and I tried ...
4
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3answers
761 views

Are there any simple and yet secure encryption algorithms?

Being very new to C++ and cryptography, I finally managed to implement a version of the Vinegere algorithm. I would like to try something a bit more complicated. I have looked at AES and DES and ...
5
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1answer
142 views

How are state wiretaps obtaining plaintext from encrypted transmissions?

According to the US 2011 Wiretap Report, encryption — on the off chance that it is encountered — has been no hurdle to retrieving the content of a conversation. Public Law 106-197 amended 18 ...
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0answers
84 views

How do I protect user data at rest? [closed]

I want to encrypt the username, email, and password fields in the database AND encrypt user files at rest. How can I do this? I am aware of software such as Gazzang and since there is not cost ...
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3answers
200 views

Getting started [closed]

I'm looking for a good place to start in cryptography and places to go to get free books etc on the topic. I have been looking online but I always get stuck at some point or another. I need something ...
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4answers
484 views

Is compressing data prior to encryption necessary to reduce plaintext redundancy?

As explained in William Stallings' Book, in PGP encryption is done after compression, since it reduces redundancy. I couldn't relate encryption strength with redundancy. Could anyone explain more on ...
3
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2answers
227 views

Is ECB mode secure if plaintexts guaranteed to be unique?

I've got a scenario where I need to encrypt many small (16-byte) plaintexts. I want to use AES-128 in ECB mode. Notably, each plaintext is guaranteed to be unique, though each may differ by only a few ...
3
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2answers
100 views

How can the Schmidt–Samoa cryptosystem uniquely decrypt large messages?

Suppose I choose $p=7$ and $q=11$. This gives a public key of $p^2·q = 539$. However, decryption occurs using a modulus of $p·q=77$. If a person chooses to encrypt $500$ using my public key, how ...
6
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4answers
1k views

Difference between encrypting something and hashing something

What is the difference between encrypting something and hashing something? in what situations would I want one or the other?
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3answers
167 views

Looking for cipher that uses one ciphertext

I'm new to Cryptography so please free to edit my question for clarity and add the appropriate tag. I'm trying to research if the following is possible. Suppose John has a message that he ...
2
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1answer
129 views

Transparent cipher

I'm trying to implement this protocol: Alice has her permanent key $K_1$. She computes $E(K_1, P)$. She wants to share $P$ with Bob, Carol and Dave. For each of them she: 2.1. Generates $K_2$. ...
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3answers
433 views

Which attacks can be avoided by the use of OFB instead of ECB?

For a file encryption program, I was told to use Output Feedback mode (OFB) instead of ECB (Electronic code book) mode. Which attacks can I avoid by this choice?
1
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1answer
455 views

How can 3DES encryption use decryption in the middle step?

I have been reading about the 3DES algorithm and I cannot understand one part. In 3DES we do following operation: $$C=E[K_3,D[K_2,E[K_1,P]]].$$ Where $C$ is ciphertext, $P$ is plaintext, $E$ is DES ...
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0answers
58 views

What is cross-certification [closed]

What does cross-certification mean? Can I program my app to accept all certificates that are cross-certified by a certain CA? How common practice is this?

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