# All Questions

1answer
3k views

### Calculating the inverse modularity of the determinant for Hill cipher

I'm trying to decrypt a message encrypted with Hill Cipher, but I don't understand how to find the determinant so it solves the equation $det * 1/det = 1 mod 26$. The determinant for my key matrix is ...
3answers
660 views

### Is it safe to use file's hash as IV?

I'm encrypting some files using AES in CBC mode. I'm also using file's digest (SHA-1) to check that data is decrypted correctly (so I need to store it with file). Is it safe to use this digest as ...
1answer
527 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 ...
5answers
708 views

### Are picture files “random enough” to be usable as a one-time pad?

Say you have a picture with 1 megapixels taken at random and with $2^{24}$ possible colours per pixel (RGB-24). That image would be unique and the possible combinations $(2^{24})^{10^6}$ immense. ...
2answers
89 views

### find solutions that solve the equations

I am implementing a timing attack on RSA for school and I need to generate two sets of messages $Y$ and $Z$ for which holds: $(Y^d \mod N) \cdot Y < N$ and $(Z^d \mod N) \cdot Z > N$ where ...
3answers
406 views

### Stretching passwords for encrypting small files

I would like to know how to store a sensitive file; a credential of sorts. I want to password-protect it, obviously. It would be appropriate - in my application - to prompt the user for the password ...
0answers
188 views

### Timestamping services authorities, utilizing Linked, hybrid and other than PKI schemes

What are well respected Cryptographic Timestamping authorities utilizing more sophisticated than just PKI (RFC 3161) schemes, like Linked, Linked and signed, distributed hash trees (maybe P2P?), ...
3answers
682 views

### Bitcoin Research

I have recently been assigned to advise a student on a senior thesis in math. She has taken linear algebra, introductory real analysis, basic cryptography, and abstract algebra. Her interest is in ...
2answers
808 views

### Why is the salt used only once in PBKDF2, while the password is used often?

The purpose of PBKDF2 is to create a derived key (DK) from a master password (PW) and a salt, often using a function like HMAC-SHA256. I have read that the salt should be as random as possible. But ...
1answer
245 views

### Randomized stream cipher using multivariant quadratic equations

This is an idea I had for cipher that I thought might reduce to a known hard problem. It is efficient (compared to something like BBS) in terms of time but not in terms of space. Here's the ...
1answer
387 views

### Why RC4 used constant 24bits for initial vector

Why RC4 used 24-bits constant value + 40 bits random values to generate key?
2answers
8k views

### How does a padding oracle attack work?

I am unsure of how a padding oracle attack works. What I am not getting is how changing one bit at one time allows one to exploit(get keys) ASP.NET machines. Can anyone explain this?
1answer
407 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 ...
4answers
2k views

### Is Porticor's “homomorphic” key encryption something that can really be done or is it just marketing hype?

Porticor has an interesting file encryption offering for encrypting and decrypting files in an MySQL database quickly. They are an Amazon AWS (Amazon Web Service) Partner Network technology partner ...
2answers
852 views

### Proof that lottery does not know outcome of draw

Could a variable participant lottery system cryptographically prove that they have zero knowledge of the outcome of a draw? Participants do not choose numbers in this lottery and winning numbers are ...
0answers
265 views

### Is TOTP or a timestamp encryption a better timestamp-based authentication token system?

Are there advantages to using TOTP over encrypting a timestamp with a shared secret, in cases where the readability or ease of typing the token are not important?
3answers
2k views

### How will Cryptography be changed by Quantum Computing?

I realise this isn't a 'yes or no' question, and I apologise for asking something that could be seen as a discussion thread, but I had to ask. I'm currently doing an EPQ in CS (specifically how QC ...
3answers
326 views

### How to encrypt data and know it will be secure for at least a few decades?

I want to encrypt a small amount (few kilobytes) of data and be fairly confident it will be secure against brute force decryption and advances in cryptanalysis for at least a a few decades (or more). ...
3answers
186 views

### 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 ...
1answer
8k views

### No SHA-1 collision? Yet SHA-1 is broken?

Is there a known pair of distinct bit strings (A,B) such that SHA-1(A) == SHA-1(B)? If the answer is no than how can SHA-1 be considered broken?
2answers
691 views

### Do I have to have a different salt for each password?

Should I use a different salt for each password? In my system, there are no user names, only passwords. When a user logins in, he types in one or more passwords and the server compares the results ...
1answer
2k views

### 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 ...
1answer
308 views

### Why not encrypt salt?

Assuming I had to distribute salt+ciphertext together over an insecure channel, isn't it better to store the salt encrypted? By encrypted I mean with a block cipher and with key and IV derived from ...
3answers
335 views

### Can you help me with this Random Number Generator function?

By someone's suggestion, I am posting this question from math.stackexchange.com. I want to find out a suitable function or algorithm, which can provide a random sequence like this… Input: $3$ ...
1answer
463 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 ...
1answer
356 views

### Why pairing based crypto is suitable for some particular cryptographic primitives?

Why pairing based crypto is being widely used in some special crypto primitives as ID based crypto and variations of standard signatures? I mean taking as deep as possible what makes it suitable for ...
2answers
377 views

### Secure Hash Function based on AES

How secure would a hash function be which appends an extra block of 16 zeroed out bytes to the end of the message and then AES-encrypts it with a well-known password (say the first 128 bits of pi) ...
1answer
326 views

### What are the safe ways to derive HMAC key using block cipher?

Suppose we have a state of block cipher initialized with some key unknown to us, that is, we have the state after running key schedule, but we have no access to actual key or subkeys, all we can do is ...
1answer
412 views

### Can iterated key expansion in Blowfish slow down bruteforce attacks on small key sizes?

Suppose I have to use 64-bit keys for encryption (e.g. to comply with export restrictions). For this question, assume this key is truly random, and the encryption algorithm is Blowfish. Blowfish key ...
1answer
601 views

### Storage of Private Keys

I'm building a bitcoin web application that will require all users to be assigned a wallet for adding funds to their account. I plan on exposing the public key to the user (the bitcoin address). Users ...
1answer
373 views

### How is block cipher padding verified for consistancy?

Under what circumstances is a decryption routine able to tell that the padding of a message is invalid? If a cipher text block where to be randomly modified, what is the probability that the padding ...
3answers
2k views

### Malleability attacks against encryption without authentication

Suppose there is a message that is encrypted with AES-128-CBC. The message is as follows, new lines are used to delimit the 16 byte boundary for each block: ...
8answers
23k views

### How is CipherCloud doing homomorphic encryption?

Much of the literature and latest papers suggest that homomorphic encryption is still not practical yet. How is CipherCloud able to achieve this? Does anyone have an idea? Their website does not ...
2answers
3k views

### Is there a way to make RC4 (ARCFOUR) secure, or is it completely broken?

I need a method to authenticate a process with another in order to establish interprocess communication between them, to prevent malicious processes from trying to hook onto the system. Currently I ...
1answer
723 views

### Is there another resource for Carter-Wegman-style message authentication?

I'm wondering if there are other resources that cover Carter-Wegman style message authentication, besides the sources themselves. Is there an online text or a book that covers their ideas? I'd ...
3answers
669 views

### How to submit a new method of encryption?

I came up with a truly new method of applying modulo-2-addition encryption function in stream ciphers which is inspired by a mechanism used to prove a mathematical theorem. How can I determine whether ...
1answer
251 views

### Is it OK to use a data-encryption key for key wrapping, too?

Our industry (area of cheap networked devices) has a standard that defines the usage of keys for both authentication and encryption using EAX mode of AES. This standard does not define key management, ...
1answer
986 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 ...
1answer
2k views

### Can Elgamal be made additively homomorphic and how could it be used for E-voting?

Elgamal is a cryptosystem that is homomorphic over multiplication. How can I convert it to an additive homomorphic cryptosystem? How can I use this additive homomorphic Elgamal cryptosystem for ...
2answers
754 views

### Can I make a cipher (ex: Vigenère) harder to break?

The Vigenère cipher can relatively easy be broken when the key size is small compared to the size of the message. One first finds the length of the key, and then uses frequency analysis to actually ...
2answers
315 views

### Detect tampering of data

I have the following problem: There are $n$ users and each users fills in three data points per day, this are three integers between say $-10$ and $10$. I have access to the database and hence I am ...
3answers
4k views

### How do ciphers change plaintext into numeric digits for computing?

For example, in RSA, we use this for encryption: $ciphertext = (m^e \mod n)$ and for decryption. If our message is "hello world", then what number do we have to ...
4answers
16k views

### What is the effect of the different AES key lengths?

How does a changing key length affects the ciphertext, not only in case of AES, but in general? I know that the key spaces become much larger and the number of rounds in case of AES changes, but is ...
3answers
2k views

### HRNG for One Time Pad

I have just advanced to the last grade of high school (in Denmark). In this year, we all get to do one big project, where we can build/invent/create whatever we want to "solve a problem". As I study ...
4answers
16k views

### Why is padding used for RSA encryption given that it is not a block cipher?

In AES we use some padded bytes at end of message to fit 128/256 byte blocks. But as RSA is not a block cipher why is padding used? Can the message size be any byte length (is the encrypting agent ...
2answers
349 views

### Security considerations for partially shared password databases

Programs like KeyPass and 1Password store password database files encrypted by a single password. If someone knows the protecting password ("Vault Key"), they can read the entire database ("secrets"). ...
1answer
357 views

### 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: ...
2answers
2k views

### Difference in one time key and one time pad and many time key

These terms are confusing me. One time pad is when you use one key for one message. That is what One time key is. Secondly, what is the connection of many time key, can i use one time pad many ...
1answer
400 views

### Why can't Homomorphic encryption schemes support algorithms with conditions/branching?

If it isn't already apparent from the title of my question, i should make clear that I have only a very basic understanding of homomorphic encryption. I would like to know why homomorphic encryption ...
4answers
2k views

### Is it possible to pick your Ed25519 public key?

Is it possible to generate an Ed25519 keypair that has a very similar public key as another keypair (fooling a casual visual comparison) or is this as hard as solving one of SHA-512 or the discrete ...

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