# All Questions

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### How a file is encrypted?

I thought encryption algorithms(like AES) are used to encrypt texts,so how a file or folder(containing pictures,videos,...) is encrypted?What is encrypted exactly?
3k views

### What is the most secure hand cipher?

By "hand cipher", I mean a symmetric cipher for which encryption and decryption can can both be performed with a pencil on graph paper, consuming about 10-20 seconds per character by a proficient ...
43 views

### Blowfish ECB mode: Tools for known-plaintext attack?

I'm currently dealing with multiple blowfish-encrypted files that share the same key. All are encrypted using ECB mode judging from their appearance. I don't know what the key is but I know 64 byte ...
112 views

### Are modified implementations of cryptographic algorithms a good idea?

Are modified implementations of standard cryptographic algorithms better that the standard versions? Since the algorithm is not standard, is it harder to break? Is it safer?
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### CSPRNG's (ELI5) What's the purpose of multiple seeds/ regenerating sources of entropy (i.e. /dev/random)?

Why is there a need to generate more than one high entropy seed? It would seem like if the original source of entropy is high quality, than some 512 bits should be more than enough to seed a CSPRNG ...
36 views

### Permutation parity after cycle-walking

Let $E$ be a random even permutation of the set $\{0\dots n-1\}$. We construct a permutation $P$ of the set $\{0\dots m-1\}$, for some $m\le n$, using cycle-walking; that is, computing $P(x)$ is as ...
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### Are post-quantum cryptographic ciphers *also* secure if the P=NP conjecture holds true?

First of all, I only understand the P versus NP debate on a rather shallow level as I am not a computer scientist. So perhaps the answer to the question is straightforward but if not, I would be ...
488 views

### Can hashing become encrypting?

hashing some data and encrypting data share some similar attributes. Surely this is why "Difference between encrypting something and hashing something" has been asked. The point of this question is ...
48 views

### Using bcrypt derived keys for encryption?

Sorry for this ignorant question but I am currently weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of BCrypt over PBKDF2 and from what I have read BCrypt is considered more secure but from what I have ...
39 views

### ASP.NET MembershipProvider uses passwordSalt when encrypting [migrated]

I've a question about the ASP.NET Membership (from .NET 2.0), and more specifically the way it encrypts passwords (when you choose to encrypt them, and not hash then), and the way it verifies them. I ...
18 views

### Hokkaido (proof-of-Work system) and pseudo-random permutation table

This question is regarding a proof-of-work system suggested in this article "Cryptology ePrint Archive: Report 2005/356". The outset goal of the Hokkaido algorithm is to provide a task to somebody's ...
49 views

### what are the security benefits of LUKS?

Aremed with only basic crypto knowledge, I'm trying to understand the security benefits of LUKS over plain-mode dm-crypt. Hopefully this is a good place to ask. Given the LUKS header contains ...
41 views

### Why has SSL v3 not yet been upgraded to a higher version with stronger principles, what are the dependencies and issues to do so?

SSLv3 is almost 18 years old; why has it not been updated to a more advanced version with stronger rules and structure. What have been the issues and dependencies in doing so till now???
80 views

### RSA: Fermat-Euler Theorem - coprimality of message and modulus [duplicate]

I understand the implication of the Fermat-Euler theorem and how it applies to RSA and the detailed explanation by user Ninefingers at What is the relation between RSA & Fermat's little ...
29 views

### IPsec authentication and encryption lgorithms

I am looking for the implementation of IPsec security algorithms for both authentication and Encryption. Is there any open source implementation available for the same ? And if someone supposed to ...
144 views

### Extending key sizes in Salsa20 and ChaCha?

I've written implementations of Salsa20 and ChaCha that accept 384 and 448 bit keys. It was fairly trivial to implement, the 'sigma' constant is replaced with key material, and the counter, (which was ...
216 views

### Can RSA signing be implemented on top of RSA encryption/decryption?

I need to use RSA-SHA256 signing. Unfortunately not all Microsoft CryptoAPI providers support that. It's possible that I might get a handle to a CryptoAPI provider that can just encrypt/decrypt with ...
31 views

### ASCII input to HMAC weaker than raw bytes?

In various cryptographic programs I've written (most have been toy problems, but this current one is not) I have taken a slothful approach to performing a message digest (hash) of numerical input. I ...
5k views

### How big an RSA key is considered secure today?

I think 1024 bit RSA keys were considered secure ~5 years ago, but I assume that's not true anymore. Can 2048 or 4096 keys still be relied upon, or have we gained too much computing power in the ...
80 views

### Why is this cryptosystem insecure?

Can someone help me see the flaw in this cryptosystem? Note: This is homework and it is due today at 1:30pm. An answer before that is not expected; I'd just like to understand what the flaw is. ...
652 views

### Attacks of the MAC construction $\mathcal{H}(m||k)$ for common hashes $\mathcal{H}$?

Consider a common practically-collision-resistant hash function $\mathcal{H}$ (e.g. SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512, RIPEMD-160), perhaps based on the Merkle–Damgård construction as are the first three. We ...
37 views

### TLS - self encrypting to avoid tls setup, secure?

I am in doubt : of course one can create a tl connection between a client and a server. But what if the client sends self encrypted with, say, blowfish, data to the server? The goal is that the ...
59 views

### Random Permutation polynomial

I need to know, please: (1) Is there anyway to pick uniformly at random permutation polynomial in a field of prime order? (2) Are there many permutation polynomials in a field? (3) In a finite ...
29 views

### Pros and cons between HOTP and TOTP [duplicate]

I'm reading the RFC6238 (TOTP) and RFC4226 (HOTP) standards and can't get which one is to prefer? I've searched around a bit and it seems like TOTP is the one that is most used, but some argue that ...
30 views

### Why HMAC=H(message|key) is unsafe? [duplicate]

As mentioned in wikipedia, HMAC=H(message|key) is not safe, but I don't know the reason. Anyone can tell me why? or give me an example? Thank you in advance.
15 views

### openssl - Recommended way to encrypt and sign S/MIME messages using openssl

OpenSSL has two command line tools, cms and smime, that can encrypt and sign S/MIME messages. Both can specify ciphers and ...
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### java.security.spec.InvalidKeySpecException and Inappropriate key specification error in java program [migrated]

As a part of project implementation,I have done: 1. Generete DSA keys 2. Encrypt the private key using AES 3. Save into the file 4. Open the file and read the encrypted private key 5. I tried to ...
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853 views

### How do public key rings work in cryptographic applications?

I am wondering if there are any links to articles or resources available online, or explanations that you can give, that would help me to understand the concept of a public key ring, and why I might ...
76 views

### Why is there an extra block when encrypting?

I am passing input data 20 bytes long and java AES-CBC returns 48 bytes instead of 32 which is what I think it should output because of padding. My key is 16 bytes long. ...
916 views

### What security authorities and standards reject $e=3$ in RSA, when, and with what rationale?

In RSA, some security authorities and/or standards allow the public exponent $e=3$, others require or recommend $e>2^{16}$ (or perhaps some other minimum). I gathered the following: PKCS#1 allows ...