# All Questions

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### 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 ...
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### Montgomery Exponentiation - selecting input value R for a given BigInteger

I have Montgomery exponentiation working, but it's working quite slow. I suspect there are two reasons for this - I implemented it bit size instead of word size (I didn't realize at the time that ...
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I have the following password with a prescribed format: it starts with a fixed value of 111, followed by 2 random lower case letters and then lastly a random digit: "111""2 Random lowercase ...
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### Using pairings to verify an extended euclidean relation without leaking the values?

Let $P_i(x)$ be polynomials $i=1,...,n$, $s$ some value, and $g$ a generator of a group $G$ where the discrete logarithm is hard. Assume a prover wants to convince a verifier having access to the ...
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### Tree hash and multithreading for parallelism

I am using tree hash mode of Skein on a 16 core processor. Will it automatically employ parallelism using more than one cores or do I have to use multi-threading within the tree hash for parallel ...
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### verify contents, but not order

Is there an algorithm that can be used to verify the contents of a cyphertext, but not the order of the elements? I am thinking that a deck of cards could be shuffled, and it must be verifiable that ...
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### How can the Diffie-Hellman key exchange be extended to three parties? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Can one generalize the Diffie-Hellman key exchange to three or more parties? How can Alice, Bob, and Charlie share a common secret key using an extended version of the ...
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### Blowfish Encryptions in Bcrypt hashing algorithm

I am trying to understand the ExpandKey function used in the bcrypt hashing algorithm. As per the documentation of bcrypt hashing algorithm on USENIX here: ...
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### Recommended Books for Cryptography : Theory and Implementation [closed]

It is a great idea if experts in Cryptography from mathematicians to security engineers introduce books and textbooks which they think is helpful or instructive for all people interested in the ...
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### 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 ...
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### Design question for a service that signs messages on behalf of a user

I'm working on a messaging service that lets users author messages and have them signed with an RSA key. The key is used for identity purposes only and can be revoked, so compromising the private key ...
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### Deniability of OTR messaging

I've been looking at the off-the-record messaging protocol, and there is something about its deniability property that seems strange to me. Consider the following scenario: In the course of an ...
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### Do Quantum Key Distribution and Physical Unclonable Functions combine, and how?

I see there's a project to combine Quantum Key Distribution, Physical Unclonable Functions, and classical crypto, in order to secure a high speed (100Gb/s) optical link. While there does not seem to ...
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### Deciphering a key from XOR encrypted cypher using boolean logic

Assume there's an unencrypted message A, and an encrypted message B. You know that message B was encrypted using a simple XOR method of A with a private key K, resulting in message B. Thus, B = A ⊕ K ...
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### Expectation Value of the Index of Coincidence

Can Anybody tell me why the expectation value of the Index of Coincidence is the following? For a cipher text string of length $L$, where $n$ is the number of alphabet characters, $k_r = 1/n$, and ...
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### Incorporating known ciphertext into new message

Which ciphers $c_k$ enable one to define a joining function $f_{c,k}$ such that: $$f_{c,k}(c_k(p_1), p_2) = c_k(p_1 + p_2)$$ That is, the result of joining some known ciphertext $c_k(p_1)$ with a ...
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### How to represent a 32-byte SHA2 hash in the shortest possible string?

I'm calculating a SHA2 hash of a certain sensitive key value. I need to store files on disk using this hash a directory path prefix. So lets say I hash the key value 150023, I get a 32-byte value ...
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### Tips on conceiving safe software messaging platform

I have a personal project in mind in which I plan to use cryptography in order to let the users be confident in the fact that, even if all data get's stolen, it would be virtually impossible to crack ...
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### Brute forcing Cardan grille

Having a "rotating" square Cardan Grill with sides long n cells, how could i determinate the cost of a brute-force attack? How many configurations should be considered to perform an exhaustive ...
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### Twofish key length

I'm using twofish. Say you have a 120 bit key, is there any difference in using a 128 bit bit keylength or a 256 bit one? Since the most significant digits of the key will be allo zero in both cases, ...
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### Is this fixed length MAC unforgeable?

Consider the following fixed length MAC for messages of length $\ell(n)=2n-2$ using a pseudorandom function $F$: On input of a mesage $m_0||m_1$ ($|m_0| = |m_1| = n-1$) and a key $k \in \{0,1\}^n$, ...
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### Can you help me understand ECC Cryptography and it's algorithm?

I want to know the basic understanding of ECC algorithm for cryptography. But I am not aware of the algorithm. Can anyone provide me with a basic explanation of the algorithm?
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### How is the password sent across for verification?

I am familiar with Challenge-Response Authentication scheme. However I would like to know actual message content sent between client and server for 1 way authentication, over an insecure channel. ...
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### iSeries (AS/400) Database File: password encryption

I am helping with a project in which an old software system on an iSeries is having a brand new .NET UI applied to it. It's going well... except... In order to allow users to login and maintain ...
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### SipHash's (non-)collision resistance

I'm very new to cryptography, and I need help understanding the security claims made in Aumasson and Bernstein's paper on the SipHash. In particular, I'm trying to understand the following statement ...
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### Is it safe to use fast/small hash for key identity?

I have to roll database access keys often, but it's important to know which key each system is using in order to avoid unavailability. I want the systems to report that without exposing the key ...
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### Can we do modulus switching for number theoretic encryption?

Can we do modulus switching for number theoretic encryption such as Paillier or ElGamal?
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### Question about Cipher Block Chaining(CBC)

I'm studying at the moment the CBC Encryption method,and I was asked in an excercise how many bits would be wrong after decryption if during the transmission 2 bits are interchanged. My guess is that ...
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### One time Key Encapsulation Mechanism?

For KEM's, do you only exchange a private key once via the public key encryption and then do all further encryption with this private key, or is a fresh private key sent out with each message? The ...
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### Trying to udnerstand textbook sample solution

I am preparing for the final exam in my Data Security class so I am trying to read and understand the textbook's exercise questions. The sample solution at the end the textbook is more like a hint ...
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### Key management and derivation - Allow changing of the passphrase

I'm working on a program, which allows encrypting files before storing it on a cloud service. Currently I'm trying to figure out how to derive and store the keys. First, I wanted to use a simple ...
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### Attacks on schemes based on elliptic curves when the transmitted points are not on the curve

Some elliptic curve schemes require to send a curve point during the normal execution of the protocol. For example, ElGamal encryption and ElGamal signature require this. On the other hand, ECDSA does ...
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### Using what we already know about the data to decrypt it?

Are there any methods or tools out there that let us use what we know about the data in order to crack the encryption? For example let's say I get access to an encrypted database file but I know ...
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### How to crack unknown 8-bit encryption algorithm?

Can anyone tell me how to crack the encryption of 8 bit algorithm, when you have some clue that CBC mode is used, but the algorithm is secret. You also have some encrypted data (chosen plain text), ...
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### Multiplexed stream cipher

Consider the stream cipher that consists of 3 LFSRs, with the output of one coming being used to determine which of the other 2 is used that clock cycle. Both the IV and the polynomials are secret. ...
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### How to use AES-CBC to password-encrypt a small block of stored data

I have a small block of data (16 bytes) that I am required to encrypt, store (in an unsecure, visible location). Later I have to retrieve and decrypt it. I must use AES-CBC and a user-entered ...
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### Better security than SHA1 for signature?

An application that I maintain uses Sparkle Update to update itself. I expect attacks from high level attackers (China, USA's NSA, etc.) and have some questions about how secure the cryptography ...