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2answers
1k 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 ...
1answer
780 views

Weakness in using only one RSA key pair for two-way communication?

In Alice/Bob/Cindy terms (EDIT: and with a little more detail): Alice and Bob have each securely obtained one key of an RSA keypair from a trusted third party. Alice has one key ($e$ and $n$), Bob ...
1answer
118 views

Security implications of using constant string to verify AES key?

I know that you can use for example CBC-MAC to verify data integrity and thus the password upon decryption. But would there be security implications of just adding a constant string to the plaintext ...
1answer
270 views

What is an oracle adversary?

I'm trying to figure out block ciphers and this is the first time I've encountered the term "oracle adversary". It appears in the context of defining a PRP and a PRF. Can someone please explain what ...
2answers
599 views

Stopping timing attacks on AES: Why is it important to prevent the OS from interrupting the AES computation?

I read the paper Cache-timing attacks on AES (by Daniel J. Bernstein), but I don't seem to understand everything. The author dedicates a long section on how to prevent the OS to interrupt an AES ...
1answer
572 views

Exhausting the entropy of a hash function

In the case of password storage, consider the following: I have an idea that one can exhaust the entropy of input to the MD5 function by using a 128 bit random value as the password (indeed, any hash ...
1answer
476 views

What's a good P to use in ElGamal key generation?

I need to generate a 1024 bit ElGamal key on Android, and key generation takes forever (~10 minutes on a Galaxy Nexus), I suspect because it take so long to generate a safe prime. Is it dangerous for ...
1answer
964 views

AES timing attacks

I'm just interested in cryptography, so please don't expect me to be an expert. ;) I recently read about AES cache timing attacks and found it very interesting. I read the article Cache-timing attacks ...
1answer
176 views

Can someone tell if my Hand Cipher is secure? [closed]

In easy steps, this is how it works: Convert txt to numbers. mod 1-26. Generate random numbers (by my other cipher) equal to plain txt. Write random numbers under txt numbers. Like this: ...
1answer
3k views

Constructing RSA private key, given public key

As part of a puzzle I was given an RSA 256-bit public key and an encrypted message. The key itself is very weak, having exponent e = 65537 and modulus N = ...
1answer
205 views

Does a playlist of songs or movies mixed together contain enough random enough for OTP key material?

Ok hypothetical scenario. Lets say I want to generate a lot of key material quickly for a one-time pad. This key material will be divided up and used for many different messages in the future. I ...
3answers
244 views

Message authentication codes construction

I was reading the paper $[1]$ and came across the scheme that I show below. While I understand the scheme well, I don't understand why they prepend a 0 to the block containing $r$ and a 1 to all other ...
2answers
312 views

What cipher mode is suitable for independantly decryptable short messages?

I'm building a small VoIP client which transmits encrypted audio data via UDP, and some packet loss is expected, so each packet will need to be decrypted separately even if others in the stream don't ...
2answers
406 views

The security proof for Key Policy Attribute Based Encryption

My question relates to the original KP-ABE paper: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/vipul/abe.pdf I'm having trouble understanding the proof (pages 10–13) that the scheme is secure in ...
1answer
235 views

Why does Schnorr's Digital Signature scheme necessitate two prime numbers?

One of the necessary components to the Schnorr Digital Signature scheme is a pair of prime numbers p and q such that q divides p-1. However, there is never a modular inverse taken of q so why is there ...
1answer
1k views

Necessity for finite field arithmetic and the prime number p in Shamir's Secret Sharing Scheme

Shamir's original paper (PDF, 197kb) describing a threshold secret sharing scheme states: To make this claim more precise, we use modular arithmetic instead of real arithmetic. The set of ...
4answers
341 views

How to prove membership of a list without disclosing the list members?

I'm designing a messaging system where the sender A sends a message m with a signature s to n Receivers. A Receiver Ri should then be able to prove to a Verifier V that he is one of the receivers of ...
3answers
436 views

Safety of DSA key parameters sharing

I'm looking for a solution to use in a context where I need to be able to generate new asymmetric key pairs quickly (using a widely recognized algorithm, and EC-DSA is not applicable). It sounds like ...
1answer
3k views

2answers
739 views

Implementing AES in C++: 4x4 Array of unint8_t, or 4x1 array of uint32_t?

I'm implementing AES in C++, and, inspired by the way words are handled in SHA, I decided this time to handle the state as a one dimensional array of 4byte unsigned integers as opposed to a two ...

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