All Questions
2
votes
1answer
491 views
ANSI X9.9 Cryptography Standards
I'm trying to create a ISO8583 Rev93 message.
What is the standard way of generating MAC key in ANSI X9.9
DES-CBC encryption algorithm is used to encrypt the ...
7
votes
2answers
546 views
How should I store passwords that need to be available in plain text?
Suppose I need to store login information for a third-party website for a few users, how would I go about doing it?
Since I am logging into a third party website, I need the password in plain-text, ...
3
votes
4answers
374 views
Why isn't the alternating step generator used more often?
According to the Wikipedia entry for the Alternating Step pseudorandom number generator, there is no public cryptanalysis for this device since it was invented back in 1987 by C.G. Gunther. I have ...
10
votes
3answers
577 views
Where do I securely store the key for a system where the source is visible?
I have a customer with an Access database (ugh!) in which credit cards are stored in plaintext (yikes!), so amongst other changes I'm doing in the app, I'm applying some encryption in there.
I've ...
7
votes
1answer
3k views
How does the index of coincidence work in the Kasiki test?
I'm starting to learn about cryptanalysis and I am having a bit of difficulty understanding the Kasiski test's index of coincidence. I have a book (Cryptography Theory And Practice by Douglas Stinson) ...
1
vote
2answers
280 views
How exactly are GPG keys mathematically related, and prime numbers inside of GPG general
Before anyone suggest it, I've yet to pick up "Applied Cryptography" I'm planning on picking it up the next time I visit amazon.
I know that the keys are somehow mathematically related, and I know ...
14
votes
2answers
683 views
How secure is the Bitcoin protocol?
Are there any evidence (other than not being cracked so far) that the Bitcoin protocol is secure? "How secure" is it?
(I realize that this might not qualify as a meaningful question - feel free to ...
0
votes
1answer
390 views
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 ...
2
votes
1answer
196 views
Is the logic for how the enigma machine worked documented somewhere?
I know that there is a formula to calculate the result of any input but is the logic of how the machine actually worked documented?
I have seen schematics for the circuitry and even a how to make ...
9
votes
1answer
396 views
Mapping points between elliptic curves and the integers
My primary question is:
Is there an easy way to create a bijective mapping from points on an elliptic curve E (over a finite field) to the integers (desirably to $\mathbb{Z}^*_q$ where $q$ is the ...
14
votes
2answers
645 views
Is HTTPS secure if someone snoops the initial handshake?
Let's say I'm on an open wireless network that's being actively sniffed and I connect to an HTTPS site. Even though my subsequent traffic is encrypted, couldn't the sniffer use the data from the ...
11
votes
2answers
541 views
Is SHA-512 bijective when hashing a single 512-bit block?
It's been said that CRC-64 is bijective for a 64-bit block.
It the corresponding statement true for SHA-2?
14
votes
3answers
1k views
Reverse engineering a hash?
I understand this may not be the best place to ask a question like this, but I believe that this community may be the best/only place I can ask such a question.
I have inputs and outputs from an ...
7
votes
3answers
758 views
Is it okay to use a hash of a timestamp as the IV for AES?
The message format includes a datetime field in the clear. Is it okay to also use this field (or some hash thereof) as the initialization vector?
In this case, CBC is the mode being used.
14
votes
5answers
5k views
How does asymmetric encryption work?
I've always been interested in encryption but I have never found a good explanation (beginners explanation) of how encryption with public key and decryption with private key works.
How does it ...
1
vote
1answer
160 views
ID-Secret Scheme
I have an ID-Secret scheme and I'd like to hear if there are any vulnerabilities present.
Party 1 and Party 2 hold some credentials, an ID and a Secret.
Party 1 Creates this message:
...
5
votes
4answers
994 views
What alphanumeric string length can be used to guarantee no hash collisions from CRC-64?
If I'm hashing alphanumeric strings (chars in the set 0-9, a-...
12
votes
4answers
540 views
Can an Enigma-style cipher of sufficient complexity be considered secure in today's world?
Regarding the German Enigma machines, if I recall correctly, the reason they were defeated was because the Allies were able to generate a massive database of possible rotor settings, and because the ...
8
votes
4answers
609 views
Properties of PRNG / Hashes
There are a lot of quite elaborate PRNG's out there (e.g. Mersenne Twister et.al.), and they have some important properties, especially when it comes to crypto applications.
So, I was wondering how ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Is there any opensource white-box implementation of AES or DES?
I googled it and give me no result. There is a binary executable of white-box implementation of DES (scroll down), but no source code provided.
The same page also links various papers about ...
27
votes
5answers
2k views
Guarding against cryptanalytic breakthroughs: combining multiple hash functions
Assume I want to design a protocol (or data format or similar) including some cryptographic hash, and want it to be as future-proof as possible, i.e. I want to avoid that breakthroughs in cryptography ...
10
votes
1answer
337 views
Security of N bit HMAC
Lets say that I am using 128 bit HMAC. How many operations are needed to find "non secure" message. Is birthday attack possible?
5
votes
3answers
458 views
How can my application make sure the right symmetric key is used for decryption?
I am developing an Encryption/Decryption Utility using Adobe AIR. I have chosen the AES algorithm and currently use the as3crypto library for this. My query is in ...
10
votes
4answers
474 views
About Cryptography in a Character Language
Suppose I had a message in Chinese (or another non-phonetic language) and I wanted to encipher it.
Some of the simplest encryptions in English are substitution ciphers, but such ciphers don't seem ...
7
votes
2answers
896 views
Unpredictability of X.509 serial numbers
About X.509 certificates serial numbers the RFC 5280 says:
The serial number MUST be a positive integer assigned by the CA to each certificate. It MUST be unique for each certificate issued by a ...
6
votes
1answer
136 views
Are more complex algorithms easier to break with timing attacks?
Is there a point where increasing the complexity of an encryption algorithm will make it easier to break using a timing attack?
Or is there no connection here at all?
5
votes
1answer
289 views
XSL on serpent and rijndael - which is most affected?
So I've often looked at serpent and thought it was a very strong contender in AES. Not so long ago I was looking for evidence as to why it didn't beat rijndael. So far, the closest I've got answering ...
9
votes
2answers
517 views
Design properties of the Rijndael finite field
So we've already had a question on replacing the Rijndael S-Box. My question is - can we use a different finite field other than the one given by $x^8 + x^4 + x^3 + x + 1$ in $GF(2^8)$. In other ...
5
votes
1answer
137 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 ...
11
votes
3answers
324 views
What exactly is the impact of the hidden subgroup problem on cryptography?
I understand my group theory (allegedly), so I can make partial sense of The Hidden Subgroup problem:
Given a group $G$, a subgroup $H \leq G$, and a set $X$, we say a function $f : G \Rightarrow ...
8
votes
3answers
388 views
UMAC: to what extent is it in use today?
Inspired slightly by the Encrypt-then-MAC question. The most obvious message authentication code is probably HMAC or RFC 2104 which is basically a hash of the input, an xor with a key... you get the ...
9
votes
1answer
345 views
Does unbalancing a feistel cipher always improve security? Does it improve security at all?
So according to wikipedia unbalanced feistel ciphers provide greater provable security. Specifically, they state:
The Thorp shuffle is an extreme case of an unbalanced Feistel cipher in which one ...
5
votes
1answer
119 views
Are there security issues with discrete logarithm keys not being uniformly distributed?
Generally, algorithms based on discrete logarithm specify that private keys are chosen as scalars between 1 and the order of the group (denoted q here). For instance IEEE P1363 and FIPS 186-3 both ...
10
votes
1answer
996 views
What is a white-box implementation of a cryptographic algorithm?
What is a white-box implementation?
Does a white-box implementation have specific properties?
7
votes
1answer
368 views
Change in probability of collision when removing digits from MD5 hexadecimal hash values
I am aware that MD5 has a known collision vulnerability and should not be relied upon when uniqueness is required, but in the environment I am working on I only have access to MD5 hash function. ...
11
votes
3answers
750 views
How robust is discrete logarithm in GF(2^n) ?
"Normal" discrete logarithm based cryptosystems (DSA, Diffie-Hellman, ElGamal) work in the finite field of integers modulo a big prime p. However, there exist other finite fields out there, in ...
11
votes
4answers
4k views
Should I use ECB or CBC encryption mode for my block cipher?
Can someone tell me which mode out of ECB and CBC is better, and how to decide which mode to use? Are there any other modes which are better?
8
votes
2answers
552 views
Are any of the major asymmetric ciphers distinguishable (EG, RSA, ECC) ?
Related to this question.
Given ciphertexts generated by any of the major asymmetric ciphers (RSA, ElGamal, ECC, etc..) can these ciphertexts be distinguished from random noise? Justify why, why ...
53
votes
5answers
6k views
Should we MAC-then-encrypt or encrypt-then-MAC?
Most of the time, when some data must be encrypted, it must also be protected with a MAC, because encryption protects only against passive attackers. There are some nifty encryption modes which ...
7
votes
3answers
372 views
Asymmetric cryptographic algorithms that are not based on integer factorization and discrete logarithm
In the computer security class (in which cryptography is a big chapter) that I took, I remembered the professor said about current asymmetric cryptography algorithms are based on integer factorization ...
8
votes
4answers
190 views
Tactics available to help prove security of a new system?
I believe that the accepted tactic to "prove" a system as secure is to allow the crypto-community to review it and if no vulnerabilities are found over a long period of time (5 or 6 years), then a new ...
7
votes
1answer
361 views
Should I use the first or last bits from a sha-256 hash?
I have the need for a hexadecimal token that is smaller than the normal length of the hexadecimal representation of a sha-256 hash.
Should I take the first bits or the last bits? Which of them ...
8
votes
3answers
240 views
Is it possible to create an asymmetric cryptosystem where the private keys are not easily verifiable as such?
Plaintext that consists of an RSA key is easily recognizable as such, because it satisfies certain mathematical properties, in particular (See the answer for Why can an encrypted private key be brute ...
8
votes
2answers
310 views
Why is there an enormous difference between SAT solvers?
SAT solvers are very important in algebraic attacks, for example walksat and minisat.
However, when solving the benchmark problems available here there is an enormous performance difference between ...
8
votes
5answers
265 views
Reduction from signatures to encryption?
Is it possible to construct an (asymmetric) encryption scheme from a signature scheme?
If the signature scheme is deterministic and allows existential forgery (e.g. RSA), then the answer is yes ...
3
votes
2answers
530 views
Encrypted text length in AES
I have created an application that will be able to read any file and encrypt it using AES Encryption. For efficiency, I am reading a block of data, encrypting it and so on. So for decrypting, I just ...
8
votes
1answer
278 views
Can one efficiently iterate valid bcrypt hash output values?
bcrypt is an intentionally slow hash algorithm. In my last protocol idea, I wanted to use it to expand a password and then only transfer the bcrypt-hashed password.
An efficient attack on this would ...
16
votes
3answers
2k views
Identifying encryption method from encrypted string
Is it possible to identify the encryption method or atleast rule out some, by looking at the encrypted text?
For example, if you have 3 encrypted strings where the first 10 characters are the same on ...
10
votes
5answers
632 views
Why does PBKDF2 xor the iterations of the hash function together?
The definition of PBKDF2 states that I obtain a derived key* by calling a pseudorandom function a bunch of times recursively:
...
7
votes
3answers
293 views
Is key size the only barrier to the adoption of the McEliece cryptosystem, or is it considered broken/potentially vulnerable?
A recent paper showed that the McEliece cryptosystem is not, unlike RSA and other cryptosystems, weakened as drastically by quantum computing because strong Fourier sampling cannot solve the hidden ...
