# All Questions

402 views

### Webcam random number generator

I have a question about random number generators. I have read from a real random number generator, based on a webcam ("randcam"). My problem is, that I do not really understand how the generation of ...
162 views

### Messages of different lengths and one-time computationally-secret

I'm preparing myself to exam, but I have a lot of troubles with rigorous proofs. Let $\Pi=(Gen,Enc,Dec)$ be an efficient secret-key encryption scheme that is not fixed-length. That is, for any $n$ ...
392 views

### Avalanche noise RNG for one-time pad use

I came across this little HRNG widget and was really intrigued as I have been looking for a decent but afordable source for truly random bits to use in a one-time pad. The question is, would a HRNG ...
3k views

### FIPS 140-2 Compliant Algorithms

Is there any reference to check the list of encryption & signing algorithms which are compliant to FIPS 140-2. After an exhaustive search I could find only "AES". Any suggestions would be much ...
517 views

### Shortcuts / practicality of brute forcing block cipher (AES) + ECB with known plaintext

I know the plaintext (26 bytes long) and cryptotext of block cipher (suspected to be AES) in ECB mode. I can generate hundreds or thousands of such samples, but the samples are not arbitrary. What are ...
391 views

### Can I combine two of SHA-3 candidates cryptography hash functions and obtain more secure Algorithm?

For example, Is possible to combine (Concatenate or Chain or XOR) Skein SHA-3 candidate with Grostl SHA-3 candidate to increase security? Note: I just want more secure output and CPU cycles does not ...
235 views

### implications of SSH server key compromission when authenticating users against a public key

Friday we had a disagreement with a colleague of mine about the implications of SSH server key compromission The question was stated as this : What could a hacker do while provided with the SSH ...
344 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 ...
299 views

### Can I build a secure tweakable block cipher from a normal one by adding key and tweak?

Let (E,D) be a secure block cipher. Consider the following tweakable block cipher: ...
346 views

### Is there a standard for OpenSSL-interoperable AES encryption?

Many AES-encrypted things (files, strings, database entries, etc.) start with "Salted__" ("U2FsdGVkX1" in base64). I hear it's some sort of OpenSSL interoperability thing a b c. Is there some ...
103 views

### How to properly format a PGP Message Block?

As sort of a follow up to my (currently) unanswered question, if it is correct, how do i properly calculate and format the packet that actually stores the data being encrypted? I thought I knew what I ...
739 views

### Why should the RSA private exponent have the same size as the modulus?

Consider the generation of an RSA key pair with a given modulus size $n$ and a known, small public exponent $e$ (typically $e = 3$ or $e = 65537$). A common method is to generate two random primes ...
279 views

### PRNG taking advantage of very large seed

Can anyone suggest a good (CS)PRNG algorithm that takes advantage of having a very large (ideally arbitrarily large) seed? I'd like to use several kilobytes, perhaps several hundred kilobytes, of ...
243 views

### Is the Blum Blum Shub PRNG suitable to create initialization vectors?

Is it a good idea to use a Blum Blum Shub Generator to create my initialization Vector (IV) in AES-OFB (Output Feedback Mode)?
479 views

### Capacity of Advanced Encryption Standard in terms of File Encryption

what is the capacity of AES in terms of File Encryption? is it really good to encrypt a large files in AES? ex. I am encrypting a 8GB of File... is it still good to used AES? is it still good to used ...
82 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?
598 views

### How to get the keyword from a keyword cipher?

I was given a ciphertext and now I am trying to break it via looking for the keyword. This is a keyword cipher. So: PlainEnglish: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ If ...
580 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 ...
4k views

### How to use RCON In Key Expansion of 128 Bit Advanced Encryption Standard

I have a question about RCON here is my illustration... this is the 128 bit key.. ...
364 views

### reverse of md5sum

This might be out of ignorance, I apologize, but how complex of a problem might it be to generate a file of size N whose md5sum is X? For example, ...
282 views

### Offline anonymous electronic money systems and their cryptographical base

What anonymous offline electronic money systems exist and what are they based on? I know only one currently - eCash, based on RSA blind signatures.
113 views

### Combating traffic analysis over request-response protocols

Suppose I am to design a request-response protocol (similar HTTP). For the sake of simplicity let us assume that this is a "chat" protocol where the client can only perform two actions: Contribute a ...
318 views

### Is it possible to figure out the public key from encrypted text?

Suppose Alice sends messages to Bob by encrypting the messages with Bob's public key. Eve knows that the data is encrypted using RSA, but does not know the public key. Can Eve figure out the public ...
1k views

### How exactly would someone crack a private key passphrase?

Lets say for a PGP/GPG pair with a passphrase.
76 views

### Why doesn't this dummy mutual authentication protocol provide mutual authentication?

I am a student taking a cryptography course so forgive me if this comes off as a silly question. This is an assignment question: ...
57 views

### What is the difference between a bijective random oracle and a random permutation?

Assume $S$ be a finite set $O$ be a random oracle from $S$ to $S$, such that $O$ is bijective $f$ be a random permutation of $S$ Is there any difference between $O$ and $f$? Does it makes any ...
309 views

### A key-derivation function that is as strong as the stronger of PBKDF2 and scrypt

I want a key stretching system that's as strong as the stronger of scrypt and PBKDF2. The consensus now is that scrypt is by far the better system, but that might change if in the future, a weakness ...
107 views

### Is there proof to the relation between the gap Diffie-Hellman problem and the the Cha-Cheon signature scheme?

I am trying to prove that… "If the gap Diffie-Hellman problem is easy, then the Cha-Cheon signature scheme will be broken." Can you help me prove it? Is there any proof to the relation between the ...
199 views

### understanding pairing $e:G \times G \to G_T$ and ( Decision)BDH assumption

From DrLecter's comment, I know that DDH problem can be efficiently solved with this $$e(g^a,g^b)\stackrel{?}{=} e(g,g^z).$$ I have some trouble to understand this map $e:G \times G \to G_T$. Am I ...
216 views

### What is the meaning of “trapdoor” in cryptography?

I do not really understand the meaning of a "trapdoor" in cryptography, so here are my questions: What is the meaning of trapdoor and how can I convert a word or string using a trapdoor in ...
79 views

### Proof of correctness of a homomorphic ElGamal sum

Let's suppose we are using the exponential ElGamal as a public-key encryption scheme, so that we encrypt $g^m$ instead of $m$, for some generator $g$. Let $x$ be the private key, and $h=g^x$ be the ...
222 views

### Hash function based on pseudorandom functions and security

Are there hash functions that make use of pseudorandom functions. Precisely, I'm looking for a specification of a hash function based on PRF (and based on the security of such a primitive).
77 views

### What type of groups does Microsoft's U-Prove use (Schnorr… etc?)

I'm trying to learn more about the Subgroups implementation of Microsoft UProve. I'm unsure if they are Schnorr Groups or use a different foundation? Can anyone point me to the technical reading ...
484 views

### How long to bruteforce a RSA key [duplicate]

Suppose I have a 2048 bit RSA public key, and want to brute force the corresponding private key. I guess there are 2048^16 possible combinations? How long would this take me to brute force with an ...
227 views

### Help me describe/identify this challenge-response protocol/algorithm?

My area of expertise is reverse engineering, specifically embedded systems. I do attack cryptographic systems, but this largely involves key recovery or exploiting the implementation. I was asked to ...
152 views

### Indistinguishability attack example

I want solve the next exercise. The author defined the experiment for the cryptosystem $\Pi$, the adversary $A$ and the security parameter $n$ as follows $\mathsf{PRIV_{EAV}}(\Pi,A,n)$ The ...
125 views

### chaining rsa with ecies

In an answer to a previous question it was suggested that one way to protect your asymmetrically encrypted AES-256 keys, from say a solution to prime factorization, would be to chain asymmetric ...
672 views

I have eleven ciphertexts that were encrypted with the same key (which I don't know). I want to decrypt the last ciphertext. I read similar question like Many time pad attack but I can't solve my ...
233 views

### What does the expression $1^n$ mean as a function argument?

In a paper about predicate encryption or attribute based encryption, the setup function is mentioned with the $setup(1^n)$ or $setup(1^l)$. I want to know what is meant here. Is it multiples of ones ...
575 views

### Even passwords are vulnerable to hash collision attacks?

As stated in this page large documents hashed using md5 maybe vulnerable to collision attacks. My question is even passwords of 6-30 character are vulnerable to such hash collision attacks? If yes, is ...
241 views

### Brute forcing an HMAC

Given current technology such as GPUs and GPU cracking software I was wondering if anyone has an idea on how long it would take to brute force the key used to derive an HMAC?
228 views

### How to perform Multiplicative Inverse Modulo in IDEA

How to perform the Multiplicative Inverse Modulo in International Data Encryption Algorithm? I cannot understand on how to perform it... ex. I have a value of "cf80" and the value that is appearing ...
190 views

### Is it possible to determine the group order by knowing the “public” and “private” key exponents in an RSA group?

I have an RSA group with modulus $n = p \cdot q$, two safe primes $p=2p'+1$ and $q=2q'+1$ and the "public" and "private" key exponents $d$ and $e$. $\phi(n) = 4p'q'$ is the order of the RSA group. If ...
93 views

### Security relevance of random factor in Paillier

In the Paillier cryptosystem [1] the encryption of $m \in \mathbb{Z}_N$ with randomness $r \in \mathbb{Z}_n^*$ is $c = g^m r^n \bmod{n^2}$. The additive-homomorphic property of the system shows that ...
204 views

### Store hashed email and compare hash values

I have a number of different systems sending me email addresses, but I don't actually need the underlying email, just a hash of the email address. I know I can compare hash values to find matches ...
264 views

### Can a shift cipher attain perfect secrecy?

On a practice question for my intro cryptography exam, it asks the following: Assuming that keys are chosen with equal likelihood, the shift cipher provides:    A) computational security ...
236 views

### Are really, really long passwords any securer than short ones?

Just for fun, I want to encrypt a message that will take about 10 or so years to decrypt. My idea is to encrypt a message with AES-512 with a password one million decimal digits long. Knowing not ...
222 views

### How do unkeyed hash functions (for MDCs) provide security?

Unkeyed hash functions are, by definition, hash functions computed without a key. SHA-1 is an example. MDCs (message digest codes) are a subclass of unkeyed hash functions. How are unkeyed hash ...