Symmetric cryptosystems assume two communicating entities share a pre-established secret key.
1
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1answer
80 views
Requiring a “supervisor” key pair and a “user” key pair to decrypt multiple-recipient messages
I've been toying with some encryption scenarios recently. One of the hard ones I came across is a multi-party system.
So we have
Bob -- The person who sends the message (and knows it's recipients)
...
-4
votes
0answers
29 views
pseudo random sequence and permutation functions [closed]
Iam doing my Master thesis in enhancing of an encryption algorithm by using of a pseudo random sequence generators to create a 16*16 shared table and apply a permutation function on it. one of the ...
-1
votes
0answers
56 views
Perfect secrecy Proof
A symmetric cryptosystem have perfect secrecy $\iff$ for all
distribution over the messages space, $M$, and for all $m0$, $m1$ (messages) and any ciphertext $c$,
$$P(c|m0) = P(c|m1).$$
I got ...
3
votes
2answers
191 views
What is the best way to store sensitive information on the client?
I am very inexperienced with cryptography and would like some advice on how to store some sensitive information on client machines.
I have some information stored in a central database on my server. ...
1
vote
1answer
72 views
Ciphers in CBC mode reveal place of change in plaintext
Theoretically, when using a symmetric block cipher in CBC mode, the current block is dependent on the previous block. Suppose one plaintext is encrypted using CBC, and then one bit of it is changed, ...
2
votes
2answers
134 views
How can mega store my login details and still be secure?
I understand how Mega's encryption works. For a quick summary of all those in the future looking for an answer on this... here is how it works:
Upon first signing up for an account you make a ...
3
votes
1answer
90 views
When confusion is applied during encryption?
I know confusion is used in cryptography to make it more difficult to identify any
relationship between the ciphertext and the symmetric key. I want to know when the confusion is applied during ...
1
vote
2answers
211 views
Would a “Triple AES” (in the sense of how Triple Des works) serve for a dramatic increase in safety?
The system requires to be as paranoid as possible regarding security. One of the few contemplated changes to the current design is to use multiple encryption. First proposal was to use Serpent on top ...
1
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1answer
85 views
Is this method for exchanging private key using RSA sound?
Bob know's Alice's public key, and he wants to make sure he's connecting to the one which has that key. Furthermore, Alice wants to verify when she gets a connection from Bob who'll give his public ...
1
vote
1answer
82 views
Symmetric encryption mode where ciphertext size is plain text size
I've had many questions on Stackoverflow on how to minimize the output of a cipher - during encryption of course - to the same size as the input. Obviously this is possible for a single block of ...
4
votes
1answer
216 views
Why is Diffie-Hellman considered in the context of public key cryptography?
In all textbooks I used the Diffie-Hellman key exchange is under "public key cryptography".
As far as I can see it is a method to exchange a key to be used with a symmetric cryptographic algorithm, ...
0
votes
1answer
82 views
brute force attack on KDF vs KEY
if we believe 256bit keys are secure in AES against any brute force attack, is that possible we use a KDF (convert user's weak entered password in truecrypt into a fixed AES key) with too much round ...
2
votes
2answers
170 views
Why does the recommended key size between symmetric and assymetric encryption differ greatly?
In various articles it is mentioned that for secure communications, the recommended key sizes are 128-bit key size for symmetric encryption (which makes it $2^{128}$ possible keys?) and 2048-bit key ...
1
vote
1answer
127 views
What is a tweakable block cipher?
Pretty simple question - but I can't seem to find much information about it.
What exactly is a tweakable block cipher?
How do they differ from traditional block ciphers?
What is the 'tweak'? Is it ...
-1
votes
2answers
166 views
Cryptographic Symmetric Stream Cipher
Let me know a cryptographic symmetric stream cipher system with only two functions say S() and P() and it should satisfy the following conditions:
There will be two independent computers say M1 and ...
0
votes
1answer
72 views
Question about use of IV in this cipher
Main cipher objective : Generate a keyed CSPRN stream, that does not expose useful information about the state of the CSPRNG, and xor this with the plaintext. To prevent an attacked who could somehow ...
6
votes
2answers
280 views
Deriving Keys for Symmetric Encryption and Authentication
So here's the concept. Rather than storing 2 keys and using a random IV, which presents its own problems (key rotation, ensuring no key is used in more than 2^32 cycles, sharing the keys, etc), is it ...
2
votes
1answer
106 views
Why is RSA usually limited to messages up to 1 block
I'm wondering why RSA encryption usually is only used for messages that fit into one block.
For larger messages hybrid encryption in combination with symmetric ciphers like AES seem to be the solution ...
1
vote
2answers
364 views
Why is asymmetric cryptography bad for huge data?
I've been told that asymmetric cryptography requires that the message to be encrypted be smaller than its key length.
Why is this?
I know about hybrid encryption, which uses symmetric encryption to ...
3
votes
2answers
338 views
Difference between symmetric and asymmetric hash function?
The Linux kernel supports symmetric and asymmetric hash functions. E.g. sha1, sha256, ...
See tcrypt.c and search for test_hash_speed and ...
2
votes
1answer
86 views
efficient authentication with broadcast encryption?
(I am not a crypto expert, so I apologize if the terminology I use is incorrect.)
Suppose I have the following simple broadcast encryption scheme for securely sending content to $n$ authorized ...
0
votes
1answer
78 views
True 128bit secured password length?
assume we say 128bit keys are secure so a 16 character long password is safe, but if i even use lower case and upper case letters with numbers and special characters on my keyboard its about 80 ...
2
votes
1answer
255 views
Self-expiring symmetric keys, or: cryptography in absence of secure deletion
I can encrypt some data D using a random symmetric key K, obtaining a ciphertext C, and then encrypt K with my public key Pub and obtain H. So far so good: I can only decrypt C if I have H and my ...
3
votes
2answers
155 views
Is storing the hash of a key together with ciphertext encrypted with that key secure?
Is it secure to store the hash of a symmetric cipher key along with data encrypted with that key? Are there any circumstances or algorithms in which this combination could lead to potential weaknesses ...
0
votes
0answers
69 views
Cryptograpy library for Python [closed]
I was searching for libraries/modules for encryption of data and found a few such as M2Crypto and GNUTLS but both of them don't support CMAC which is what I wanted to use for authentication. Anyone ...
0
votes
2answers
128 views
Does gpg's symmetric encryption keep information about the filename?
If I encrypt a file with gpg -c file.zip, and change the filename. Is there any way I can restore the filename as I used as a password. or the name encrypted to?
3
votes
4answers
216 views
symmetric-key cryptography based key establishment techniques
Most of the current key exchange techniques are based on public-key cryptography. Are there any key exchange/establishment techniques based on symmetric-key cryptography too ?
In my setup primary ...
2
votes
2answers
203 views
Encryption scheme with equivalent keys?
I've long been looking for a symmetric encryption scheme (or algorithm) with equivalent keys. Let me define what I want:
Symmetric encryption algorithm with encryption function $E_k$ and inverse ...
3
votes
1answer
256 views
Is this a good way to encrypt a file?
I need to encrypt a file, distribute it over an insecure channel, and decrypt it later. Using a symmetric-key algorithm. Here's what I intend to do:
Get a password P from the user. Generate a 16-byte ...
0
votes
1answer
98 views
How do I calculate the maximum plain text length allowable for a certain cipher text length?
I am encrypting and storing sensitive values in the database. I have a set max length in the database, but in order to provide useful user feedback, I'd like to know the max input I should allow for a ...
0
votes
1answer
163 views
Polynomial for secure communication
Can we use a polynomial $P(x)$ to securely communicate ?
For example Alice & Bob agree on a degree of a polynomial. The value $x$ & the coeficients are generated from a seed using a hash ...
0
votes
1answer
71 views
Random decomposition of symmetric key
Considering a symmetric cipher (i.e : AES in counter mode), is it possible for any given key to be randomly decomposed into other keys without knowing the message or the ciphertext, such as :
100 = ...
3
votes
3answers
469 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, ...
0
votes
1answer
364 views
AES GCM symmetric encryption of data at rest in c#, ciphertext much longer than plaintext
I've written encryption/decryption routines using AES GCM. Code can be found here.
I recently realized that the cipher text is longer than I believe it should be. It should add the tag and IV onto ...
2
votes
1answer
414 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 ...
2
votes
2answers
415 views
Are there standards for transport layer security using only symmetric keys?
I have an embedded system with AES-128 implemented in hardware. There is very little flash/RAM and the (8-bit) CPU runs relatively slowly. Public key crypto isn't a viable option. This system is ...
2
votes
1answer
183 views
Is symmetric encryption vulnerable to plain-text-attacks?
Imagine that Bob sends a message to Alice for symmetric encryption to send to Charlie. (Only Alice and Charlie know the key.) Alice sends the encrypted message back to Bob to send to Charlie. Can Bob ...
2
votes
1answer
57 views
Separate Read and Write Keys in TLS Key Material
Why does the TLS protocol use different symmetric keys for receiving and sending data?
Isn't it enough to have a single key used for both reading and writing?
4
votes
3answers
393 views
CBC - a canonical mode, even though there are streaming modes
Why is CBC considered the canonical mode when there are streaming modes available such as CFB and OFB? One thing that I can think of is that in CBC you can easliy do range-based decryption. All you ...
1
vote
2answers
84 views
How can I protect against the failure of a block or symmetric cipher?
Can I protect against the failure of a block or symmetric cipher by chaining different techniques together? If so what implementation details should I be aware of?
Are some combination of ciphers ...
3
votes
2answers
272 views
are CFB and OFB really meant for streaming?
CFB, OFB and other modes are meant for streaming and don't require padding. Are there still limitations such as the text needs to be greater than key length?
1
vote
2answers
681 views
Symmetric vs. Asymmetric cryptographic approaches to data security
Ok. So, I now know the basic differences between them. But I'd love to know the deeper things, like:
Exactly why is the asymmetric approach slower than the symmetric?
Why does it make use of ...
9
votes
1answer
1k views
Why do we use encrypt-decrypt-encrypt (EDE) in 3DES, rather than encrypting three times?
I'm wondering why we use encrypt-decrypt-encrypt sequence in 3DES with three keys instead of three times encryption with three different keys?
2
votes
1answer
606 views
Sending KCV (key check value) with cipher text
I was wondering why it is not more common to send the KCV of a secret key together with the cipher text. I see many systems that send cipher text and properly prepend the IV to e.g. a CBC mode ...
1
vote
1answer
230 views
Can I secure my key by XORing it with a hashed password?
I'd like to build a simple password-protected symmetric key system. The key-creation process in my system operates as follows:
The system creates a 256-bit key purely at random.
The user chooses a ...
1
vote
3answers
178 views
Realize a MAC using a Pseudo-random function?
Given a pseudo-random function and assuming that we do not have any other tools,
How can we construct a MAC?
I believe this can be done. Would like to know if there is more than one way of doing ...
19
votes
3answers
881 views
Information leakage from the ecryptfs filesystem
I'm wondering what information might be leaked from the ecryptfs filesystem. This is what Ubuntu uses if you check the box for "encrypted home directory" when using the desktop installer, so is ...
2
votes
2answers
793 views
How to distribute session keys in public key cryptography?
In public key cryptography we can also use session keys which are symmetric. How do the sender (say a server) provides this session key information to its clients?
If the sender (here server) ...
6
votes
5answers
2k views
Why do we need asymmetric algorithms for key exchange?
In SSL protocols, both symmetric and asymmetric algorithms are used. Why is it so? The symmetric algorithms are more secure and easier to implement. Why are asymmetric algorithms usually preferred in ...
2
votes
2answers
243 views
What is the best way to send two floating point numbers to a server on the internet from a small device such as an arduino?
I was thinking about sending some sensitive data (temperature) from an arduino (AVR 8-bit processor) to a server on the internet.
But I would like to make sure that it would not be possible for Eve ...
