All Questions

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What is the Geometric Generalised T' Method?

This page by Nicolas T. Courtois mentions Geometric Generalised T' Method. It is described as an advanced geometric algorithm, never published, for finding extra linearly independent equations at ...
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Entropy when iterating cryptographic hash functions

Consider a cryptographic hash function that maps $n$-bit strings to $n$-bit strings:  \DeclareMathOperator{\H}{H} \DeclareMathOperator{\SHA}{SHA-256} \H(x) : \left\{0,1\right\}^{n} \mapsto ...
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Private set intersection, using a semi-trusted server

Alice has a set $S$ of words. Bob has a set $T$ of words. They want to compute the intersection $S \cap T$ of their words, with the help of a semi-trusted third party Trent. Trent runs a central ...
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Is there a standard way to extend the output of a hash?

Say I have a hash function, a state-of-the-art hash function that we would all approve of that produces a fixed number of bits (n) as output. (I'll call it HASH.) Is there are a standard way to ...
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Reason for difference in assumptions for practical private-key and public-key crypto

Theoretical cryptography tells us that everything in the world of private-key cryptography (CCA-secure symmetric encryption, message authentication codes, etc.) can be built from one-way functions and ...
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Encrypting a TCP connection between two unknown nodes

I'm writing an application for controlling computers from a client. I'd very much like it if the connection is secure and only authenticated clients are allowed access. The workflow will be ...
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Brute Force on 3DES with Reduced Keyspace and Unknown IV

I'm trying to brute force a 3DES problem given a reduced keyspace (ie I know the first half of the key) but with an unknown IV. The code decrypts to plaintext. My first thought was that I could set ...
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Cryptanalysis of AES on SSD with TRIM enabled

Attack scenario: SSD physically retrieved from a computer that is turned off. The entire disk is encrypted with AES 256-bit (GNU/Linux, LUKS). The SSD has had TRIM enabled for several years and the ...
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Keyed digest function with odds of collision below the birthday bound?

I wonder if it is possible to devise a function $F(K,S,R_S)\mapsto D$ where: $K$ is some key (I have freedom on $K$, it could even be generated by a trusted party); $S$ is in $\{0,1\}^s$, say ...
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RSA least significant bit oracle attack

I have been reading up on RSA attacks and came across one that could be called a least-significant-bit (LSB) oracle attack. For the sake of clarity lets define RSA primes $(p, q)$, private key $d$ ...
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What is the definition of “security beyond the birthday paradox”?

I'm reading a paper about MACs and I would like to be sure about the meaning of a security beyond the birthday paradox. Is there a definition?
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What security do digital signatures provide (like used when signing PDFs)?

I want to ask you one question about digital signatures as they are (for example) used when digitally signing PDFs. We know that if our document has a digital signature, we can detect if the original ...
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How to choose keys for a block cipher?

AES and DES are block ciphers. Mathematically, its the mapping from plaintext space to ciphertext space using the keys i.e. $\{{0,1}\}^k$ x $\{{0,1}\}^l \longrightarrow \{{0,1}\}^l$ I know that these ...
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Can a PRNG with a fixed amount of entropy always be detected?

Given a fixed seed (i.e. no ongoing source on entropy), is there (practically or theoretically) any PRNG algorithm that can generate an infinite sequence of random numbers such that an observer cannot ...
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What is it meant by a “hybrid argument”?

Can anyone explain (or point to a reference for) what a hybrid argument is in a security proof, and when it's convenient or preferable to use it? Among some of the places where I've seen it ...
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How Were secp*k1 elliptic curve generators chosen?

The Koblitz elliptic curves specified in the SEC2 document https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.secg.org%2Fcollateral%2Fsec2_final.pdf all have the nice feature that the parameters are ...
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Why elgamal is still discussed

As I understand, if two users have a shared key, it is possible to encrypt a message using symmetric key encryption. So when a secret key is shared through Diffie-Hellman asymmetric key exchange, it ...
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Is my identity exposed when publishing my public key or encrypting with PGP?

Let's say I create my PGP keys with my appropriate name and email address. Will these personal information be exposed if I publish my public key? When I encrypt a message for sending it to my ...
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Does any public key crypto support and/or allow a 3rd party “control-key”?

My question is based on the following situation: Bob and Alice work for a company that expects them to exchange data encrypted. They could do so using regular public-key cryptography, but Joe (their ...
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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 ...
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Decrypting files with an unknown method but a known result

I am assuming there is a very simple way of working this out by brute force, but I am not sure if there is a better way. I have a file of data that I wish to get (my data, generated by a machine). ...
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How do you find the inverse degree of a hash function?

I am trying to learn cryptanalysis on the Keccak hash function. One of the papers on zero sum distinguishers talks about Keccak having inverse degree of 3. I am unable to figure this out: how do you ...
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Can two cipher letters per plaintext letter easily defeat character frequency analysis?

For a class 5 years ago I wrote a paper about "defeating character frequency analysis by using two cipher letters per plaintext letter" ...
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How hard is it to generate a partial RSA fingerprint collision?

When I use SSH to log into a new system, I get asked to verify that the fingerprint (a 32 hex digits string) of the hosts's RSA key is correct. How much if it must I actually compare (by hand/eye) to ...
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low-exponent RSA

I have questions from http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F3-540-68339-9_1 Suppose we have 2 messages $m_1$ and $m_2$ related by a known relation $m_2=m_1+1$. Suppose further the messages are ...
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Questions about the ideal cipher model

I've read that we can study the security of modes of operation by assuming the use of an ideal block cipher. I've also seen a paper suggesting that the ideal cipher model could be something else than ...
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Trying to better understand the failure of the Index Calculus for ECDLP

So I'm going to give you guys my understanding and then if you would be so kind as to tell me where I'm off the mark (hopefully I'm not completely wrong). So basically the index calculus for the ...
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'Hybrid' encryption, where we combine symmetric encryption with public-key cryptography, is pretty 'tried and tested'. To summarise, we generate a symmetric key and encrypt it using RSA. We would ...
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Is this authenticated one-way communication protocol secure?

I am looking to see if this one-way communication protocol is secure. Assume Alice wants to send Bob a message (and doesn't need Bob to reply in the same session/channel - think email). Bob knows ...
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In a lattice, how can one define a good basis and a bad basis?

When it comes to lattice based cryptographic systems, all the literature talks about, good bases and bad bases. How does one define what a good basis is and what a bad basis is?