# All Questions

1answer
90 views

### Symmetry for finite cyclic groups (Z/pZ)∗

How well is it known that for $i$ such that $1 \leq i \leq \frac{p − 1}2$: $$g^{i+(p−1)/2} = g^{i−1+(p−1)/2} − g^i + g^{i−1} \pmod p$$ Whilst working in the finite cyclic group of prime moduli ...
3answers
279 views

### How do I produce a stream of secure random numbers from AES-Counter mode?

I have just made my own program to encipher, using AES in counter mode, and have validated it using NIST data. So I know I have done it properly. I have read that AES-CTR can produce a stream of ...
1answer
135 views

### AES and One Time Passwords

I have used AES to secure my short term wireless network(1 day lifetime). The same symmetric key is used for securing entire network traffic. is it possible to improve security with onetime password ...
1answer
51 views

### From Factorisation of semiprimes to breaching confidentiality

If someone or some group found an efficient way to factor large composites with two distinct prime divisors, would this make it easier to decode any messages?
1answer
257 views

### Analyzing ECB's and CBC's resistence to a known-plaintext attack

I'm trying to analyze the strength of a block cipher with CBC mode or with ECB mode on the scenario of an exhaustive search attack with knowledge of pairs of plaintext – ciphertext (known plaintext ...
1answer
321 views

### PRF and hash functions

Is there a difference between PRF and a hash function? For example: Creation of a secret key is using PRF and creating a secret key is using hash function.
2answers
211 views

### in Bilinear pairings, what is the difference between Type 2 and Type 3?

in Bilinear pairings, what is the difference between Type 2 and Type 3? I understand in Type 2, there exists an efficiently computable homomorphic function $\phi : G_2 \rightarrow G_1$ , which is not ...
0answers
50 views

### Does not using padding mean a lack of security?

I've read several texts which say that if the entire plaintext is a multiple of the block-size padding is not required (and not using padding would not mean a loss of security). I generally disagree ...
1answer
32 views

### Is the CONF key sharing Problem equivalent to discrete log problem?

If there a proof in the literature which says the CONF Problem is equivalent to solving the discrete log ? Let $g$ be a generator of a cyclic group $\mathbb{G}$ of prime order $q$ CONF problem: ...
3answers
104 views

### About using mistakes as part of a code

Could a code be developed where one uses intentional errors say in english, as a text to encode? For example someone might have a message 'Agent X must report to station 5'. This could be distorted ...
0answers
93 views

### Accelerated hashing on consumer-grade CPU?

Question is a follow-up to this one. The question was about accelerating SHA1. I am writing an application, where I do have a choice of hash algorithm, as long as it's a strong one. I want to be able ...
1answer
40 views

### Undefined $E_y(1,r_{i,j,1})$ notation in cryptography paper, suspect ElGamal-like

I'm trying to understand a paper that uses the notation $E_y(1,r_{i,j,1})$ (full text available in link, used just once on Page #35, 6th page of pdf, Section 3.3, Step 1c) in the context of an ...
1answer
115 views

### How do you test the security of your cipher? [closed]

I got asked this question and I didn't know what to answer. How do you test the security of your cipher? What comes to my mind now would be to test it with famous attacks: padding attacks, ...
1answer
204 views

### Why must IV be sent with each packet?

I was reading about Encrypt-then-MAC and everywhere I go it seems people include the IV with the ciphertext generated for each message then MAC that and send all the information concatenated. Why do ...
1answer
2k views

### Why is Triple DES not vulnerable to meet in the middle attacks?

Consider the Triple DES encryption calculated as: $$C= E_{K_1}(D_{K_2}(E_{K_1}(P))).$$ For a chosen plaintext attack, given plaintext $P$, we compute the result of $D_{K_2}(E_{K_1}(P))$ and store ...
1answer
200 views

### Can XEX or XTS modes be used with only one tweak?

XEX Mode (with two tweaks) is the following scheme: $X = E_{k}(I) \otimes \alpha^j \\ C = E_{K}(P \oplus X) \oplus X$ where $I$ and $j$ are both tweaks (sector number and block number respectively). ...
1answer
135 views

### Performance for Subbytes in AES

I´m implementing the AES-encrypt algorithm for the SSE2 instruction set. For the Subbyte function i use movzx, having loaded ...
2answers
493 views

### How do decryption algorithms determine whether your attempted passphrase is correct?

Judging by the algorithm on the Blowfish Wikipedia article, there is no way for the process to fail with an error. How then does GnuPG know when to tell you your password is correct when decrypting a ...
1answer
62 views

### What cryptographic paradigm is appropriate for this use case?

This is a very newbie question... I have to quickly implement a solution for our application that works like this... We have a binary executable that is given a configuration file. I need to encrypt ...
1answer
469 views

### ECC public key encryption and authentication - ECIES with ECDSA vs ECDH with AES

I'm currently working on a project where I want to establish a secure and authenticated communication channel between to entities, using Elliptic Curve Cryptography. Now I'm not really sure how to ...
1answer
137 views

### How to implement a Cryptographic Pseudo Random Function

I need three pseudo random functions which all take a seed S (t-bits long). The functions should map from $d$ bits to $d$ bits $d$ bits to $1$ bit $d$ bits to $t$ bits $d$ is $10$ bits $t$ is ...
4answers
538 views

### How to argue to a paranoid that RSA is safe?

From today's standpoint, most people would claim RSA to be secure. However, to my knowledge, this is purely based on the speculation that no one knows a computational feasible way to find a $d$ for ...
1answer
154 views

### How can I validate my implementation of Ansi 9.19?

I implemented an Ansi 9.19 mac generator in java, but now I don't know how to validate its functionality. I couldn't find any sample of a {plain text,key,mac} on the internet, and I want to know if ...
1answer
87 views

### Diffie Hellman Key Exchange (Finding # of bits/digits of secret key)

As we know that in DH key exchange, both Alice and Bob would agree on the parameter $p$ and $g$. Next, Alice would choose a secret key $A$ while Bob would choose a secret key $B$. Alice would compute ...
1answer
74 views

### x509 CA trust question

I'm trying to understand the logic of CAs, trust and client certificates. I have a general understanding but am having a tough time bridging some gaps. In a hypothetical situation a software system ...
2answers
2k views

### What is the MD5 collision with the smallest input values?

I am interested in MD5 collisions for small input messages. The collision examples given at http://www.mscs.dal.ca/~selinger/md5collision/ show two different strings, where only a tiny amount of data ...
1answer
145 views

### Can I make a PRNG that is secure even when state can be modified by user?

I am interested in making a PRNG which, after being initially seeded, can accept and incorporate client data as the only ongoing source of "entropy". It is not directly for a cryptographic purpose, ...
1answer
293 views

### Is pairing based cryptography ready for productive use?

I'm currently testing one among those many interesting cryptographic protocols based on bilinear maps. It's quite hard to understand the underlying fundamentals, especially since there are several ...
4answers
902 views

### Pseudocode for constant time modular exponentiation

I'm looking to implement modular exponentiation (for RSA) in constant time, but most of the examples I've found are more mathematical descriptions of the operations. Are there any references with ...
0answers
124 views

### Paper about this secure P2P idea?

Two or three years ago, I was reading something interesting, but then I lost the paper. The paper described building secure and fast P2P networks (not like tor or I2P). Unfortunately, I only remember ...
1answer
200 views

2answers
199 views

### Zero-knowledge proof of a product

I have non-negative integers $x,y,z$. I'm going to give you commitments $C(x),C(y),C(z)$ to them. Then, I would like to prove in zero knowledge that $xy=z$. I can choose the commitment scheme to ...
1answer
112 views

### Are the RFC3526 MODP groups Schnorr groups?

I was wondering if a group like the 1536-bit MODP Group from RFC 3526 was a Schnorr group? A Schnorr group must apparently have: $p$ and $q$ being primes $p = q\cdot r+1$ $1 < h < p$ ...
1answer
55 views

### Is the product of two primes only factorisable by those two primes? [closed]

The question is as per the subject line. Does the fundamental theorem of arithmetic imply (prove?) that if I multiply two primes, then those two primes are the only factors of the product? I.e. 17 x ...
1answer
193 views

### FHE over the Integers - reduction to approximate gcd problem

I have three quick questions concerning the reduction of the scheme to the approximate gcd problem: What exactly do the authors mean by $q_p(z_1')$ being the odd part of the gcd? (last line of step ...
1answer
178 views

### Can Skein be used as a secure MAC in format H(k || m)?

Can Skein be used as a secure MAC in format H(k || m)? I understand it can work with HMAC, but it is fine as a one-pass MAC in the format above and resists length extension attacks. Is this ...
1answer
62 views

### Why does knowing the number of points on a curve help solve ECCDLP?

Perhaps, this is a really obvious question, but I am still having trouble understanding how this all fits together. Why is knowing the number of points on an Elliptic Curve helpful in cracking it? ...
2answers
398 views

### DES with actual 7 byte key

Do we have any library or any mechanism where we can use true 7 byte key for DES instead of 8 byte key. I need it for keys analysis in DES and 8 byte key requirement for associated library is creating ...
1answer
123 views

### Pairings in Identity-based encryption vs. Attribute-based encryption

The bilinear map in Identity-based encryption should satisfy $e(aP,bQ)=e(P,Q)^{a\cdot b}$ whereas Attribute-based encryption schemes use $e(P^a,Q^a)=e(P,Q)^{a\cdot b}$ with $a,b\in\mathbb{Z}_p$ and ...
1answer
96 views

### difference between leveled FHE and normal FHE scheme

What is/are difference/s between leveled Fully Homomorphic Encryption and normal Fully Homomorphic Encryption?

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