# All Questions

197 views

### Voting scheme where the votes become public when a threshold is reached

Does there exist a voting scheme where voters cast private encrypted votes that automatically become public only after the threshold number of votes is cast? It needs to be done without a central ...
353 views

### Which blind signature schemes exist, and how do they compare?

I'm looking into blind signature schemes for use as digital cash. I have come across blinded RSA, and Lucre(DH based). Are there other schemes available, and how do they compare? I suspect there ...
621 views

### How can I make my cipher show the avalanche effect?

I am a beginner in cryptography. I designed an password based encryption-decryption algorithm, which uses a random salt and a password to encrypt a message. I'm using SHA-512 for hashing, matrix ...
222 views

### What current authenticated key exchange standards exist?

If neither of the 'big two' of TLS Handshake and IKE are appropriate in a given situation, what alternative Authenticated Key Exchange (AKE) standards exist and are recommended? Many protocols have ...
1k views

### How can scrypt be improved to counter GPU mining

I know scrypt was designed to lessen the GPU/ASIC advantage. We now have litecoin as a real-world example of this. However, it hasn't worked out perfectly. Most coins are mined by GPUs, although the ...
551 views

### Is this encryption algorithm build from MD5 secure?

I'm being asked to use an encryption algorithm in my code, and besides the fact that I'm sure there will be implementation faults that lead to vulnerabilities, I also have concerns about the algorithm ...
782 views

### Is compressing data prior to encryption necessary to reduce plaintext redundancy?

As explained in William Stallings' Book, in PGP encryption is done after compression, since it reduces redundancy. I couldn't relate encryption strength with redundancy. Could anyone explain more on ...
637 views

### What is the signature scheme with the fastest batch verification protocol for multiple signers?

I'm looking for a scheme where signing may be costly (slow) but batch verification with different signers is the fastest possible. Modified ECDSA allows batch verification for different signers with ...
2k views

### Why RSA encryption key is based on modulo(phi(n)) rather than modulo n

While calculating RSA encryption key we take modulo(phi(n)) rather that modulo(n). I couldn't understand why its so?
1k views

### What exactly is a negligible (and non-negligible) function?

The mathematical definition of neglible and non-neglible functions is fairly clear-cut, but why they are important and how they are used in cryptography?
595 views

### What tests can I do to ensure my PRNG is working correctly?

In the past I have used the Chi-squared test to check the statistical randomness of my generator. Is this a good test to use? Are there other tests?
375 views

### Is it safe to use file's hash as IV?

I'm encrypting some files using AES in CBC mode. I'm also using file's digest (SHA-1) to check that data is decrypted correctly (so I need to store it with file). Is it safe to use this digest as ...
1k views

### Are there any simple and yet secure encryption algorithms?

Being very new to C++ and cryptography, I finally managed to implement a version of the Vinegere algorithm. I would like to try something a bit more complicated. I have looked at AES and DES and ...
609 views

### Can one implement AES on 4-bit microcontroller?

It is possible to implement AES on 4-bit microcontroller? As far as I know, AES on 8-bit microcontroller are common especially for light weight application such as the RFID. I have yet to come across ...
374 views

### Can I determine if a user has the wrong symmetric encryption key?

We're using the Objectivity/DB object database with a custom encryption plugin that encrypts serialized objects on disk. Encryption uses AES with a shared secret key held by all users. I would like to ...
426 views

### What's wrong with MARS?

Why did the MARS cipher receive such a high number of negative votes in the AES competition? As I understand only MARS and Serpent implement measures to counter future cryptoanalytic attacks, so it ...
479 views

### Predicting PRNG given some of its previous output

I a have a question about PRNGs and this is my very first experience with them. I have the following generator that takes a 56-bit seed $p$ during initialization and then chooses both $X$ and $Y$ ...
3k views

### Definition of Textbook RSA

What is the definition of Textbook RSA? What are some of the properties of textbook RSA? How does it differ from other RSAs?
529 views

### Does AES have any fixed-points?

Is there any pair of 128-bit strings M and K such that AES$_K$(M) = M? If yes, how do I go about (efficiently) finding such a pair?
424 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 ...
296 views

### How exactly is “true randomness” defined in the realms of cryptography?

Especially in relation to stream ciphers, I frequently read about (sometimes theoretical, sometimes practical) attacks that are able to "distinguish a ciphertext from a truly random stream". What's ...
741 views

### Why is OCB-AES mode not becoming a standard for authenticated encryption?

The OCB mode of authenticated encryption (used for example with AES) is the fastest way to provide authenticity and confidentiality without having to strive into questions like: Encrypt then MAC, MAC ...
689 views

### Using a Non-Random IV with modes other than CBC

The weakness CWE-329 is an interesting problem with CBC mode. However, does this same weakness affect the other modes of operation that rely upon an IV such as: PCBC, CFB and OFB? My gut feeling is, ...
2k views

### Are there practical upper limits of RSA key lengths?

Suppose one wanted to use RSA encryption for the sole purpose of sending key bits for use in symmetric crypto systems, a dedicated key exchange system so to speak. And say you didn't think that the ...
468 views

### Are there 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 ...
307 views

### Do ciphertexts leak information about their algorithmic creators?

If an adversary holds thousands of encrypted files that were encrypted with the same cipher, can he determine which cipher method had been used on the files? Assume that the adversary has no prior ...
414 views

### creating a small number from a cryptographically secure random string

i'm trying to figure out the best way to generate a cryptographically secure random number between 0 and 200 from a cryptographically random string of bytes (ie. read from /dev/urandom or some such) ...
2k views

### What are the differences between a digital signature, a MAC and a hash?

A message may be accompanied with a digital signature, a MAC or a message hash, as a proof of some kind. Which assurances does each primitive provide to the recipient? What kind of keys are needed?
611 views

### Is it possible to distinguish a securely-encrypted ciphertext from random noise?

Say I have a bunch of data encrypted with a secure block cipher (such as AES). An attacker has unlimited access to this encrypted data. The attacker doesn't know whether the data is encrypted or if ...
2k views

### why do we need Diffie Hellman?

my question from stackoverflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11374592/why-do-we-need-diffie-hellman Diffie–Hellman offers secure key exchange only if sides are authenticated. for ...
435 views

### Why would anyone use an elliptic curve with a cofactor > 1?

In cryptography, an elliptic curve is a group based on a finite field $GF(p^k)$; this group has $n$ elements on it, and we work on a prime-sized subgroup of size $q$. We denote the value $h = n/q$ as ...
1k views

### Is HMAC-DRBG or Hash-DRBG stronger?

Out of the two deterministic random bit generators defined in section 10.1 of NIST SP 800-90A (i.e. based on hash functions), which one is cryptographically stronger? Hash-DRBG (Section 10.1.1) ...
2k views