# All Questions

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### Using a hash (like SHA-256) vs AES as the source for pseudo-random values in Feistel network?

This question is in relation to Wikipedia article on Format Preserving Encryption It says the following It is also possible to make a FPE algorithm using a Feistel network. A Feistel network ...
292 views

### Formula for the number of expected collisions

Say we have a hash function that produces $n$ bit outputs. From the birthday problem that after around $\sqrt{2^n}$ different inputs to the has function, we can expect a collision. Say instead that ...
285 views

### Why calculate pi to estimate randomness?

Why do testing suites calculate $\pi$ (pi) using the Monte Carlo method to determine if a series of numbers are random? As far as I can tell, the Monte Carlo method can be used to estimate $\pi$ ...
163 views

### Randomness re-use in LWE encryption scheme

Let me describe the scheme first, it is the scheme proposed by O. Regev when he introduced the LWE assumption. $sk = \textbf{s} \in \mathbf{Z}_q^n$ $pk = \textbf{A}\textbf{s}+\textbf{e}$ where ...
226 views

### Given $g^a, g^b, g^c, g^{1/b}$, is it hard to distinguish $e(g, g)^{abc}$ from a random value?

where $g$ is a group element in bilinear group $\mathbb{G}$. I understand it is very similar to the conventional DBDH problem, but $g^{1/b}$ is also known, possibly making it easier? Does anyone know ...
224 views

### Why are we not using multiple ciphers per message?

I am aware of at least rsa, elgamal-encryption, and variations of elliptic-curves relying on different problems and that those problems are considered hard. However, if someone figures out a way to ...
234 views

### Spoofing protocol nonce

Amy and Betty have a shared key $k$, and the protocol below is to provide a mutual authentication for both Betty and Amy. A sends B : $n_a$ B sends A : $n_b \;\|\; E(k, n_a)$ A sends B : $E(k, n_b)$ ...
260 views

### Solving Vignere Encryption

I'm currently trying to crack a cypher that I believe is Vignere Encrypted and I'm currently stuck. I calculated the key length by finding repeated sequences in the cypher and calculating the the ...
407 views

### One time pad: why is it useless in practice?

The symmetric cryptosystem One time pad (OTP) seems to be very beautiful since it is perfectly secret according to Shannon. Many books, however, point out that the main drawback is that one must ...
727 views

### Does AES-128 have the same strength as AES-256 with a padded key?

When I use the same 128-bit key for AES-128 and AES-256 with a known/public padding for the latter, is there some weakness in AES-256 that is not present in AES-128 with essentially the same key? ...
538 views

### Is Chaocipher a secure cipher under ciphertext-only attack?

Chaocipher was invented by John F. Byrne in 1919. The algorithm was recently revealed – see Moshe Rubin's Chaocipher Revealed, the Algorithm (PDF). While a known plaintext attack successfully finds ...
883 views

### How secure is the AES master key if Round Keys are found

If an attacker finds some round key of AES256, is it possible to find the master key? How safe is the master key if an attackers finds multiple round keys?
2k views

### Why does Openssh use only SHA1 for signing and verifying of digital signatures?

I am learning SSH protocol. With my current understanding of SSH protocol, I think that message digest algorithms for using in digital signature should be derived from Key Exchange. But Openssh ...
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I want to encrypt data and protect its integrity and confidentiality. However, I cannot increase the length of the data. Are there any cipher modes of operation which provide confidentiality and ...
162 views

### Does Runge phenomenon affect Shamir's secret sharing scheme?

Lagrange interpolation seems to be affected by the so-called Runge phenomenon when one tries to interpolate polynomials of high degree from a set of equidistant points. Lagrange interpolation is ...
237 views

### Is the following symmetric design secure?

Assume: $O$ be a reversible random permutation oracle on a finite set and $O^{-1}$ the inverse permutation (pretty much equivalent to a random permutation: What is the difference between a bijective ...
191 views

### Difference between computational and statistical indistinguishabilities

What is the difference between the two notions of computational and statistical indistinguishability?
7k views

### HMAC SHA256 vs RSA SHA256 - which one to use

Salesforce recently announced they are moving away from HMAC SHA256 to RSA SHA256. Why did they make that move?. Any technical factors? Is HMAC really easy to break? ...
554 views

### Security considerations on “expand 32-byte k”-magic number in the Salsa20 famility of stream ciphers?

I'm currently examining the NaCl library written by Daniel J. Bernstein and I noticed that the library hard codes the sigma: ...
281 views

### how to iteratively calculate a^emod n with modulus n sized 4096 bits

In most sites the exponent of the RSA public key is 24 bits. But the modulus can get to 4096 bits size. I have an accelerator that can get max. 2112 bit size modulus. It calculates ...
2k views

### Why does second pre-image resistance imply pre-image resistance

I am studying hash functions. I can understand why collision resistance implies second preimage resistance, but I don't get why second preimage resistance should imply first preimage resistance. ...
190 views

### Can S/MIME be still considered secure?

Previoulsy I had asked this question at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18235983/can-s-mime-be-still-considered-secure but I feel this forum is topic-wise the right place. Recently there has been ...
5k views

### Is javascript RSA signing safe?

I'm currently working on a secure open source messaging system (https://github.com/DSMNET/DSMNET). I'm currently using the cryptico.js (https://github.com/wwwtyro/cryptico) library to encrypt all the ...
19k views

### What is the “shared secret” used for in IPSec VPN?

Can somebody explain what the "shared secret" and "password" do when opening/creating a VPN tunnel? In this specific case I setup a VPN to my Fritz!Box and I had to provide a shared secret (which was ...
454 views

### Does SRP reduce to DH key exchange when shared password is not secret?

I can find JavaScript implementations of SRP (Secure Remote Password protocol), but nothing that inspires confidence for Diffie-Hellmen key exchange. I also have a separate need for SRP later. I ...
815 views

### How do I unpack the x and y values from the BITSTRING in a DER ECDSA public key?

In ASN.1, the X and Y values for a 256-bit elliptic curve key are stored as a single 66-byte ASN.1 BITSTRING. Are the values just the first and second half of this bitstring? The private key is an ...
720 views

### Is it feasible to break Diffie-Hellman key exchange when the implementation uses a poor-quality PRNG?

I've come across an implementation of DH in Java that uses the Random class to generate the secret integer value $a$, as shown in in Wikipedia's description of the ...
944 views

### Is there a practical security difference between XXX-bit encryption?

I know I'm treading in dangerous waters asking this - my comprehension of cryptography math is sorely lacking. On the flip side it gives me massive admiration for what many of you are able to do. ...
3k views

### what kind of hash function can provide a short hash and be collision resistant?

When you try to connect via SSH, you see a signature which is short but I heard it is even stronger than sha256. It is perhaps stronger because it uses more rounds. Is there a hash function or a ...
446 views

### Source for examples with broken cryptography

I've heard again and again that many crypto systems have been broken in the past for one reason or another and that it is best to use one that has been peer reviewed, etc etc. However, I've yet to see ...
5k views

### AES-GCM and its IV/nonce value

I was reading about the differences between the GCM and the CBC more here and I have a follow up doubt on the same. In the CBC mode the person who performs the encryption is the one who provides the ...
628 views

First, just to make sure I understand "salting" correctly: You randomly generate a string to append to the password before hashing it, so as to increase its length and make precomputed tables much ...
533 views

### How secure is my OTP program?

I'm writing an One-Time Pad encryption program, because I got really interested in the idea of " encryption which has been proven to be impossible to crack if used correctly". I'm writing the program ...
242 views

If we have a hash function $h(x)$ and then a hash function $H(X) = h(h(X_0) || h(X_1))$ where $X_0$ is the first half of $X$, $X_1$ is the second half of $X$ and $||$ is concatenation. Then assuming ...
14k views

### How to use RCON In Key Expansion of 128 Bit Advanced Encryption Standard

I have a question about RCON here is my illustration... this is the 128 bit key.. ...
1k views

### If you had to implement the BGN Cryptosystem, how would you do it?

If you had to implement BGN, how would you do it? I'm looking for an implementation of the public-key cryptosystem due to Boneh, Goh, and Nissim (aka BGN), or at least some suggestions on ...
434 views

### Provable Encryption

Is it possible to encrypt data in a way that it can be proven that the data is encrypted, without revealing the key? Alice chooses some plaintext, then she encrypts it with a certain scheme. She ...
1k views

### Why is ElGamal considered non-deterministic?

One difference between RSA and ElGamal is that ElGamal isn't necessarily deterministic (while RSA is). What makes it non-deterministic? Is this advantageous to security? How else does this property ...
644 views

### Does the XML Encryption flaw affect SSL/TLS?

A "practical attack against XML's cipher block chaining (CBC) mode" has been demonstrated: XML Encryption Flaw Leaves Web Services Vulnerable. Does this weakness of CBC-mode which is used here also ...
187 views

### When is an asymmetric scheme considered broken?

Does the following quote imply that valid encrypted data can be created and decrypted by someone other than the owner of a private key: An asymmetric encryption scheme is considered to be broken ...
43 views

### Multiplying two additively shared values

Alice has $p_a,q_a$ and Bob has $p_b,q_b$, all elements of a ring $R$. They want to obtain shares of the value $pq$ where $p=p_a+p_b$, $q=q_a+q_b$. How do they do this ? Does revealing their shares of ...
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### RSA 3072 is 65,536 more difficult to factor than 2048?

If RSA 3072 is equal to 128 bit symmetric and 2048 is equal to 112 bit symmetric then 128-112= 16 and 2^16= 65,536. In that case wouldn't this make 3072 more future proof against quantum computers or ...
64 views

### Strength of $H(k\|H(m))$ as a MAC algorithm

What is the strength of $H(k \| H(m))$ compared to HMAC? Compared to $H(m \| k)$? What is the strength in bits of a given key/output size?
127 views

### For what does “Rcon” stand for in Rijndael/AES?

How do we expand the abbreviation “Rcon” used in the Rijndael key schedule? I know what it is, I know how it works; I just do not know for what it is a shortcut for. I mean: if "Sbox" is ...
333 views

### What is considered a “weak key” in AES?

I need to construct an AES key from an array of bytes (in Java), but I first I have to check if the key created from these bytes would be weak. Java can check for weakness for DES, but not for AES. ...
113 views

### What is Deterministic Authenticated Encryption?

I came across something known as deterministic authenticated encryption in my studies and a lot of people were associating it with Synthetic IV mode. I am having trouble what exactly DAE is because I ...
84 views

### Why are obfuscators generally defined to be probabilistic algorithms, rather than deterministic ones?

One possible explanation is, randomness is not going to hurt you, so might as well use it. Also, if we are hoping to prove impossibility, it only makes the result stronger. One other explanation is ...
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### Importance of random number generation in Schnorr's signature

In Schnorr's digital signature protocol (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schnorr_signature), the signing process (as described in wikipedia) requires the generation of a random bit $r$. I am wondering ...