All Questions

124 views

Computing youngest person among 3 while keeping ages private

I already found a protocol to find out who is richer (older) between two parties, but Is there any protocol to find the youngest person among 3 parties, without revealing actual ages?
90 views

Can N, q be shared for multiple users when using SRP-6A

Is it considered bad practice to use the same N and q parameters for all users in an SRP-6A based authentication system? I know that q MUST be a Sophie Germain prime and N a safe prime, but can they ...
148 views

Size of p in ElGamal cryptosystem?

In the ElGamal cryptosystem, I was wondering whether the $m$ (message) should be less than $p$ (large prime). Because on decryption, we are getting $m \bmod p$. For $m \bmod p$ to be equal to $m$, ...
105 views

Decrypt a public encrypted message and Sign a signature, how the math is different?

As I understand, when you want to send a confidential message to someone, you encrypt the message with his public key. And he use his private key to decrypt the message. At the same time, one can use ...
77 views

Building cryptographic primitives using additive maps?

Suppose we have a one-way function F(x) that exhibits the property F(a + b) = F(a) + F(b). Such a function could be used as a cryptographic primitive, no?
132 views

Group Signature Scheme without Opening but with Revocation

After reading many papers about group signature schemes, I saw that basically all of them employ the possibility of "signature opening": The Group Manager (GM) can identify any signature made by his ...
128 views

Shamir's Secret Sharing of modular inverse

Given a secret $K \bmod q$ which is shared among entities $E_1,…,E_n$ using polynomial Shamir's Secret Sharing, how can the inverse of $k$ be shared without revealing $k$ and $k^{-1}$?
76 views

Cryptodefense ransom use RSA-2048. Any chance with known plaintext attack? [duplicate]

The "new" kind of ransomware invade your computer and crypt all your files using the RSA-2048. Personally, I have been victim of cryptodefense: 40000 files encrypted... I'm not going to pay anything ...
200 views

Predicting Google Authenticator OTP Codes [closed]

I use Google Authenticator to generate OTP codes for logging in. As you know, the numbers change every 30 seconds or so, and (AFAIK) use an RSA key to generate those numbers. If someone were to ...
219 views

When is it safe to not use authenticated encryption?

I have read the post Why should I use Authenticated Encryption instead of just encryption? When is it safe to not use authenticated encryption? I assumed hard drive volume encryption or per file ...
441 views

In the STS Authentication Protocol, why are the signatures encrypted?

From Wikipedia: (1) Alice → Bob : g^x (2) Alice ← Bob : g^y, E_K(S_B(g^y, g^x)) (3) Alice → Bob : E_K(S_A(g^x, g^y)) I know there should be something I'm ...
298 views

ECC partially blind signature scheme verification

Continued from Is there a flaw in this ECC blind signature scheme? The problem I needed a partially blind signature scheme for one of my projects, but couldn't find one on the internet, so I've made ...
65 views

Is container format relevant to security of encrypted message inside?

Still trying to design a fully binary cryptography container format for my mobile app, I am here asking if container is ever relevant. Thanks to Apple, I cannot use GPG directly because I can neither ...
397 views

Is knowing the private key of RSA equivalent to the factorization of $N$?

Given the RSA modulus $N$ the fastest method to factor it is of sub-exponent order. But, now if I know the private key $d$ of RSA, does that mean I can factor $N$ efficiently?. It intuitively seems ...
327 views

RSA Proof - Is Z(n) closed under multiplication

In RSA proof it can be proved that $\mathbb{Z}^*_n$ is closed under multiplication. Can it be also proved that $\mathbb{Z}_n$ is closed under multiplication? If yes, then how?
34 views

Bit strength of combining hash functions? [duplicate]

Suppose there are hash functions H1 and H2 with bit strength of H1 and H2 is n1 and n2. A new good hash function is generated by combining H1 and H2. What will be the bit strength of these combined ...
280 views

Is $G$ a secure PRG?

Is the following function a secure PRG? Given $F$ is a secure PRG and $k$ is choosen random from key space $K$. $$G(x) = F(k,x) \oplus F(k,x \oplus 1^s)$$ My solution is $x \oplus 1^s = x'$ ...
188 views

Skein is defined for three different internal state sizes: 256 bits, 512 bits, and 1024 bits – with Skein-512 as the “primary proposal”. Is there any advantage – other than potential memory or speed ...
1k views

How do RSA and ECDSA differ in signing performance?

Signature algorithms with elliptic curves have smaller output sizes compared to RSA for the same level of security. What about the processing time to generate a signature ? I've seen figures giving ...
55 views

How is an X.509 public key used for TLS?

Wikipedia's TLS article says: The client responds with a ClientKeyExchange message, which may contain a PreMasterSecret, public key, or nothing. (Again, this depends on the selected cipher.) This ...
243 views

Is there a flaw in this ECC blind signature scheme?

Recently I've found the following work on the internet: An ECC-Based Blind Signature Scheme The paper claims to be an ECDSA blind signature however it seems that their scheme has a flaw in it. The ...
230 views

PRG existance and P versus NP

how can we prove that if there is a secure PRG then P!=NP or in reverse order?(is there any reduction?) a secure PRG is a pseudo random generator that for every eficient (running in probabilistic ...
407 views

About the Rijndael/AES sbox polynomial (subBytes)

I've recently read a question about the irreducible polynomial behind the subBytes() operation in the Rijndael that has awakened and old curiosity I have: Why $\,m(x)$ was chosen as ...
264 views

Proving the possession of signature in zero-knowledge

Does anybody know an efficient mechanism to prove the possession of a digital signature (e.g. RSA) on a certain attribute (message) in zero-knowledge? That is, without revealing the actual signature ...
438 views

Security benefits of Ed25519 generating signatures deterministically

I am reading on the Ed25519 curve, and I am trying to understand a claim. Here is the claim: Foolproof session keys. Signatures are generated deterministically; key generation consumes new ...
152 views

What are the two parts of SHA1's compression function called?

SHA1's compression function has two distinct parts: one where 16 words are expanded into 80 words, and one where the 80 words are used over 80 rounds. Are there specific names or terms for each of ...
57 views

Mapping integers to Ed25519 and back again?

I would like to map integer values to points on Ed25519, and then back again. Is there a technique that takes advantage of the specific structure of Ed25519?
2k views

Difference between a nonce and IV

I know the generic difference between a nonce and an IV. I am specifically looking for a clarification on these terms as used in the "Evaluation of Some Blockcipher Modes of Operation" by Phil ...
84 views

Is there an anonymous non-interactive authorisation scheme with peer-side auth. signature generation?

I implemented a pseudonymous PKI scheme (by K. Zeng @Springer Link), where all peers can change their public keys including its signature on their own. I am looking for a way to extend it with some ...
737 views

Is RSA encryption of a cryptographic hash with a private key the same as signature generation?

It is often said that RSA encryption with a private key is the same as signing (signature generation). Will RSA encryption with a private key over a cryptographic hash give the same result as ...
159 views

Block cipher encryption of decryption with the same key

With block chipers can I assume that Enc(k,Dec(k,m))=m Meaning if I decrypt something with a key k and then encrypt the result with the same key k, do I get what ...
324 views

What is Perceptual Encryption?

What is "Perceptual Encryption", and where do we use it? I came across it whilst reading a paper on ECC in a multimedia context, from which I quote: Hence, to achieve perceptual encryption, the ...
103 views

Shor's Algorithm values

I'm working with Shor's algorithm and I have a question regarding the following step $$a^r -1 = (a^{r/2}+1)(a^{r/2}-1)=0 \pmod n$$ Now what is going to be the result if ${r/2}$ was -1? this will ...
329 views

Is ISAAC Cipher Cryptographically Secure?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISAAC_(cipher) This question was asked before but the answers seem vague, and I want to know about ISAAC specifically, not ISAAC+. It seems some cryptanalysis was ...
59 views

find $x$, given $\{c_ix = k_i + y_i\}_{i=[1,n]}$

Given $$c_1x = k_1 + y_1$$ $$c_2x = k_2 + y_2$$ $$\vdots$$ $$c_nx = k_n + y_n$$ where the values of $\{c_1 \ldots c_n \}$ and $\{ k_1 \ldots k_n \}$ are known, and $x, \{y_1 \ldots y_n \}$ are ...
176 views

Understanding hash entropy

I have been told that one advantage of using a hash function is that it spreads entropy over all input bits. But it also seems to be true that a bad hash algorithm can make things less random. But how ...
130 views

Generating the keys for the RSA cryptosystem in probabilistic polynomial time

In general every public key cryptosystem has'' a probabilistic polynomial time algorithm $G$ such that $G(1^k)=(\textrm{public key}, \textrm{private key=trapdoor})$; $G$ is called the key generator. ...
43 views

Why Distance-128 relation in Plain texts is reflected in Cipher texts

The two text having relation as "\x10\x11" → "\x90\x91" (80+10) will have relation after encryption/decryption also in RC4. Following code clearly describes the problem I am mentioning. ...
164 views

Are ZKPPs possible with server-side hashed passwords?

A basic ZKPP (Zero Knowledge Password Proof) is based on the server being able to challenge the client, and the client can then prove it knows the password (in such a way that is verifiable to the ...
932 views

HMAC-SHA1 vs HMAC-SHA256 for data storage

Reading the question “HMAC-SHA1 vs HMAC-SHA256”, I figured out that the known attacks on SHA1 don't apply to its HMAC version. So, HMAC-SHA1 is quite strong right now. In a protocol like SSL, if it ...
137 views

Recently, I have been reading some dual system encryption papers. In these systems, is the adversary able to generate “semi-functional ciphertexts”?
115 views

Back up an information as $n$ pieces and require exactly $n-1$ to recover it

Let $X\in \Bbb F_2^p$ be some information. How do I create $Y_1,\dots,Y_n \in \Bbb F_2^q$ so that having less than $n-1$ of the $Y_i$s gives you no information on $X$ but having $n-1$ of them allows ...
169 views

Does AES 256 really make sense in hybrid crypto systems when the PKI is the bottleneck?

AES 256 is used widely in hybrid crypto systems (e.g. SSL/TLS). According to keylength.com a 2048 bit public key corresponds to 112 bits of security. Does it make sense to use AES 256 in this ...
181 views

Can 64-bit “PRINCEcore” practically be brute forced?

There is a cipher called PRINCE proposed in ASIACRYPT two years ago. See the paper: “PRINCE – A Low-latency Block Cipher for Pervasive Computing Applications” The cipher divides the 128-bit key into ...
581 views

Understanding how SHA-512 achieves its design goals

The Wikipedia entry on SHA-2 contains a usable pseudocode recipe. In the hope of some deeper understanding, I implemented SHA-256 and SHA-512 from it. This was helpful, but I still don't think I have ...
60 views

Smart card Strong authentication / Verification ( fingerprints)

I'm trying to make a strong authentication software and embedded software in a java card. I have found many papers and publications about the subject… too much information to process and I'm working ...
96 views

Symmetry for finite cyclic groups (Z/pZ)∗

How well is it known that for $i$ such that $1 \leq i \leq \frac{p − 1}2$: $$g^{i+(p−1)/2} = g^{i−1+(p−1)/2} − g^i + g^{i−1} \pmod p$$ Whilst working in the finite cyclic group of prime moduli ...
549 views

How do I produce a stream of secure random numbers from AES-Counter mode?

I have just made my own program to encipher, using AES in counter mode, and have validated it using NIST data. So I know I have done it properly. I have read that AES-CTR can produce a stream of ...