All Questions

237 views

Can I use the ChaCha core as a 256-bit to 256-bit one-way function?

I'm looking to implement Lamport signatures as a little fun project, and I need a fast one way function that maps $\{0,1\}^{256} \rightarrow \{0,1\}^{256}$. I was wondering whether I could safely use ...
7k views

PBKDF2WithHmacSHA512 Vs. PBKDF2WithHmacSHA1

I'm working on a Java authentication subsystem that specs the storage of passwords in the DB as PBKDF2-generated hashes, and I'm now trying to decide whether I ...
971 views

How much entropy is lost via hashing when you add known or low entropy data?

(I updated the title, as I think there was some confusion as to the question) Here's the question: For example, if I have a bit stream that is 64K bytes long and there is about 16 *8 bits worth of ...
555 views

Meaning of “family” in “family of hash functions”

Many definitions related to universal hashing mention the term "a family of hash functions, say $H$". What does this 'family' mean exactly? A numerical example would be appreciated. Also, what does it ...
752 views

Practical uses of Manipulation Detection Code (MDC) and IGE

I've just skimmed over most of the paper "On Message Integrity in Symmetric Encryption". I've included (the last) part of the abstract below: We show that generic compositions of ...
7k views

Finding a keylength in a repeating key XOR cipher

In an old cryptography FAQ, I found the following step described for determining a the length of the key a cipher was repeatedly XORed against: Discover the length of the key by counting ...
340 views

Low complexity implementation of a small blocksize cipher (< 64 bit)

Searching for "small blocksize cipher" finds a number of discussions on the topic, mostly refering to FPE. This one in particular suggests using AES as the round function of a Feistel network. The ...
556 views

HMAC for short messages

I am using HMAC (hmac-sha256 to be precise) message authentication without encryption. My question is, is having a short message make it easy to determine what my secret key is? My C# code is as ...
1k views

What is the progress on the MIT LCS35 Time Capsule Crypto-Puzzle?

Ron Rivest posed a puzzle in 1999. MIT LCS35 Time Capsule Crypto-Puzzle. The problem is to compute $2^{2^t} \pmod n$ for specified values of $t$ and $n$. Here $n$ is the product of two large ...
2k 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 ...
440 views

What's the reason for applying the hash twice when hashing with salt?

One of the typical approaches to computing a salted hash is this: hash(salt+hash(secret)) where hash is something like SHA-256 hash function - taking any size ...
615 views

Does omitting the first two lines of RC4's pseudo-random generation algorithm weaken the cipher?

A particular educational software program published by a U.S. government agency uses a variant of RC4 to obfuscate its data files (see Stack Overflow question). The variant of RC4 in question is ...
424 views

Useful pairings for cryptography

I've recently looked a bit at pairing based cryptography and I was wondering what properties the groups involved should have in order to be useful for cryptographic purposes? Has anything more exact ...
2k views

RSA-based authentication and key-agreement protocol

An authentication and key-agreement protocol between devices shall mutually demonstrate their identity, and establish a shared random secret $R$ suitable for securing later communications. To that ...
535 views

Deniable Encryption from simple primitives

Is there a deniable encryption scheme $M = E(p_1,k_1,p_2,k_2,...,p_n,k_n), p_j = D(M,k_j)$ of $n$ plaintexts $p_1,p_2,...,p_n$ and $n$ keys $k_1,k_2,...,k_n$, such that we can fix $D$ to be a known ...
304 views

Hermitian curves introductory references

Could you give me some reference to start on Hermitian Curves. Some papers or textbooks would be perfect, and please mention if it's math inclined or comp.sci. inclined. I've only seen hermitian ...
53 views

Software timing attack using Kocher method

What's the minimum number of random sample points needed in Kocher's timing attack, so that we can determine enough valid measurements of $A_{i,r}$ and $D_{i,r}$? I'm working from this paper: Volker ...
124 views

How can I figure out a hash algorithm?

This may be trivial, and may be impossible... this is outside my field but willing to learn. I have a hardware device that accepts a network MAC address (6 bytes of data) like this: 38-60-77-EC-1D-33 ...
198 views

Why does a non-prime DH modulus creates a “NOBUS” backdoor

can't we do a nobus backdoor with DH modulus prime? Some have argued that with a prime modulus you can just get the order by doing p-1 and then factor it, thus it is easy to reverse. I argue that this ...
84 views

Do low-entropy fingerprints actually make any sense?

I'm thinking of ZRTP and OTR in particular here. From my understanding, after a Diffie-Hellman session is initiated, the shared secret is then hashed into a 4-digit number, which the two parties can ...
38 views

Is it possible and safe to use SAKKE for signing/verification, rather than for encryption?

Is it safe to use the Sakai–Kasahara key encryption algorithm (SAKKE) for signing/verification, rather than for encryption? (Example at bitbucket.org) In particular, I want many Bobs to be able to ...
525 views

How to generate unique (random) numbers that can be traced back to a unique source number?

I need to generate unique (random) numbers that I can trace back to a unique source number. For example: source number A can generate numbers A1, A1, A3 .... Am source number B can generate numbers ...
310 views

Small subgroup confinement attack on Diffie-Hellman

I am trying to understand the small subgroup confinement attack on the Diffie-Hellman algorithm. I will present the attack and try to explain why it works. Small subgroup confinement attack on the ...
194 views

Why have round constants in hashes?

This may seem like basic crypto knowledge, but why do hash functions like SHA-2 and Whirlpool have round constants that are absorbed into their respective states? I can understand that in a cipher ...
121 views

Verifying Diffie–Hellman parameters someone else generated

I am auditing some software that includes compiled in Diffie–Hellman parameters (2048 bits). I can't be sure who generated the DH parameters or how they were generated. Question: Can DH ...
285 views

Is $f(x)\oplus x$ a one-way function?

Given that $f$ is a OWF and $|f(x)|=|x|$ for all $x$, is $g(x)=f(x)\oplus x$ necessarily also a OWF?
211 views

Hash which can be used to verify one of multiple inputs?

Is there a hash function H1 which, when given inputs a, b, etc., produces output ...
282 views

Are there cryptographic hash functions with homomorphic properties? [duplicate]

Are there cryptographic hash functions that have homomorphism-like properties? E.g. satisfying following relation $h(a || b) = h(a) · h(b)$, where $h(x)$ is hash function itself, $x || y$ is ...
245 views

Given a 'good' basis for a lattice, how can we solve the CVP?

I'm doing a little bit of reading about lattices. I read that if we can find a 'short' basis for our given lattice, we can solve CVP and SVP very efficiently. However, the paper didn't describe an ...
155 views

Is it possible to construct a secure block cipher of size $2n$ given a secure block cipher of size $n$?

Given, say, the Blowfish block cipher, which is considered secure but only has a 64-bit block size, can we construct a secure block cipher of 128-bit block size? Say we run the key through two KDFs, ...
606 views

For a one-time pad, which MAC method is information-theoretically secure?

In the the main post about MAC methods it mentions a few methods: Authenticate And Encrypt: The sender computes a MAC of the plaintext, encrypts the plaintext, and then appends the MAC to the ...
151 views

How can I find the order of the group that an elliptic curve is defined over?

I have a Weierstrass elliptic curve ($y^2=x^3+a \times x+b \mod p$) How can I find the order of the group itself? I have seen Mathematica has a GroupOrder[] ...
210 views

What functions allow for practical indistinguishability obfuscation?

Recently, there has been a major theoretical breakthrough in program obfuscation, in the area of indistinguishability obfuscation. Background: Indistinguishability obfuscation is a form of program ...
621 views

I need a 64-bit cryptographic hash for 96 bits of data

I have a situation in which I need to combine a 32-bit datum, G, and a 64-bit datum, I, to produce a 64-bit datum. No two ...
527 views

Is there a technique to confirm that a given large integer value is a product of two primes?

Given a list of 2048 bit integer values in which one or few 2048 bit integer values may be product of two prime numbers and other values may be just 2048 bit odd integers numbers. My question is - ...
692 views

AES column mixing and S-Box confusion

I am trying to understand the AES encryption algorithm. I know that we process 128 bits at a time for a 128 bit key in a 4x4 octet form, but am confused by the following: How does the substitution ...
964 views

Security proofs for CBC mode

I'm looking for different approaches to proofs for the security of CBC mode encryption. What are the best sources of information about this subject?
498 views

Initialization Vector Properties

This is a multi-layer problem, and I want to take you through the whole thing rather than just asking about IVs. Bear with me. Also, all code below is in Common Lisp because that's what I'm using, but ...
265 views

HMAC construction based on the combination of two hash functions

I would like an $\operatorname{HMAC}$ that's based on two different hash functions ($H_1$ and $H_2$), so that a break of the combined $\operatorname{HMAC}$ would imply a break of ...
417 views

What criteria make the theta step of Keccak's round function reversible?

From what I've been reading, Keccak's round function is reversible. That's pretty obvious for the $\rho$, $\pi$ and $\iota$ transforms. For $\chi$ to be reversible, $x$'s range has to be odd — but ...
376 views

Toy encryption system that provides “hints”

I'm looking for a toy encryption system that has a specific property that when decrypting it with a key that is close enough to the key used in the encryption, it will produce some of the original ...
428 views

Secret sharing scheme with possibility to change the secret

Here's a scenario I want to handle with a secret sharing scheme: Alice wants to share the secret $S$ with Bob, Charlie and Dave. Alice generates private shares based on $S$ for Bob, Charlie and ...
1k views

Security of authenticated encryption modes GCM & CCM

I have two questions for Clarification for AE mode choice criteria GCM : it appears to be actually the most popular and widely used AE mode of operation. however it is also well-known to be highly ...
463 views

What do $0^n$ and $1^n$ mean in cryptography?

Let $f$ = $\{f_k\}$ be a pseudorandom function family. Let $G(x)$ be a pseudo-random generator such that: $G(x) = f_x(0^k)f_x(1^k)$ where $k=|x|$. I don't understand the meaning of $1^n$ ...
333 views

md5: is reverse length-extension attack possible?

If I know H = md5( SECRET_KEY | DATA ) then I can calculate H' = md5( SECRET_KEY | DATA | DATA' ) That's length-extension ...
747 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 ...