# All Questions

618 views

### Is it feasible to build an index of prime factors?

Would it be possible to break an RSA key, in for example 1 week of time, if the cracker have already spent X number of years building an index of primes by performing every permutation of existing ...
341 views

### Deniable Encryption from simple primitives

Is there a deniable encryption scheme $M = E(p_1,k_1,p_2,k_2,...,p_n,k_n), p_j = D(M,k_j)$ of $n$ plaintexts $p_1,p_2,...,p_n$ and $n$ keys $k_1,k_2,...,k_n$, such that we can fix $D$ to be a known ...
709 views

### How can I improve a password generation scheme based on a shared secret and URL?

I currently use the following method to generate a different password on every website I have to login: password = SHA1 ( mainPassword . domainName . number ) ...
2k views

### What place do prime numbers have in cryptography?

My understanding of hashing and encryption is rather limited. I certainly do not understand the mathematical formulas at play in these algorithms. With that said, what part do prime numbers play in ...
1k views

### How to practically find solutions to a discrete logarithm?

Are there any ongoing or current practical attempts to solve instances of the discrete logarithm problem of the order of magnitude used in cryptographic applications, for example with a 256 bit ...
296 views

### How can one break a monoalphbetic substitution chipher at pseudorandom text?

Does anybody know how to break monoalphbetic substitution cipher, if it is applied to some pseudorandom text (for example to some surrogate key filed in a database)? Let us assume that we have only ...
747 views

### How can I encrypt + authenticate short strings into similar short ciphertexts?

I wish to manipulate short ASCII strings (namely unpredictable domain names) into a form which cryptographically assures authenticity and confidentiality, for use in the local part of email addresses. ...
651 views

### Is there a hash function with 2048bit output?

Is there a publicly available cryptographic hashing algorithm with 2048 bit output? The standard ones are "only" up to 512 bit (SHA-512, WHIRLPOOL). (2048 bits are 256 bytes, so it would be useful ...
1k views

### Which algorithms are used to factorize large integers?

Even if RSA decided to cancel the Factoring Challenge, it seems that some teams keep working on it. According to Wikipedia, RSA-768 has been factored in late 2009. What are the current large integer ...
95 views

### uniquely identify a symmetric key

Is there a safe way to uniquely identify a symmetric key? I know with asymmetric keys you typically use a hash of the public key, but I assume that using a hash of a symmetric key would reveal too ...
286 views

### An Elliptic curve cryptography implementation which can be terminated

I'd like to have an implementation of elliptic curve cryptography along the lines of secp256k1 which is secure until some information is published after which it is broken. One idea would be to use ...
192 views

### Changing algorithms during encryption

Inspired by "Guarding against cryptanalytic breakthroughs: combining multiple hash functions", I am curious if there is a cryptographic reason to use only one algorithm during encryption. For ...
180 views

### How can I use Weierstrass curve operations with a=-3 for implementing operations for a=0?

I am working with golang's elliptic library. It implements functions on Weierstrass elliptic curves with $a=-3$. I need to make my own library that allows me to handle curves with $a=0$. I understand ...
3k views

### How does one calculate a primitive root for Diffie-Hellman?

In the Diffie-Hellman key exchange, one of the steps involves calculating a primitive root of a prime number $p$. How would one go about doing so, considering that $p$ could be very large? Is there ...
285 views

### What algorithm does PGP use to encrypt email?

I know it uses RSA/DSA to create keys, but does it use that same algorithm for the actual cipher?
328 views

### How can two different passphrases unlock the same content?

I have heard that in enterprises it is common that the IT admin has a master passphrase that can unlock any content that an employee encrypts. It would be temping to think, that the IT admin's ...
144 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?
10k views

### How can I generate large prime numbers for RSA?

What is the currently industry-standard algorithm used to generate large prime numbers to be used in RSA encryption? I'm aware that I can find any number of articles on the Internet that explain how ...
193 views

### How can I store confident data with OpenID?

I want to make a system that needs to store some confident user information in a database. I intend on using OpenID for user authentication. I would like encrypt the data in a way that it can only be ...
4k views

### AES in ECB mode weakness

In a project that I'm currently working on, we are encrypting some data using AES with ECB mode in a database. Each piece of data being encrypted is very small, no more than 10 characters long. Very ...
2k views

### How can a random salt for a hash function work in practice?

I understand the theory behind the use salts in hash functions, but when I see it implemented, the implementations always generate the salt on the fly and the salt appears to be different for every ...
2k views

### How were the DES S-box values determined?

It seems like the S-boxes in DES have essentially random values. How were these chosen?
315 views

### Key Length & Hashing

I need to use a hash function to generate a 128-bit key for a symmetric cipher. The specific cipher is from the eStream portofolio, called Rabbit. I am using the SRP protocol for authentication (a ...
2k views

### Does the generator size matter in Diffie-Hellman?

For the Diffie-Hellman protocol I've heard that the generator 3 is as safe as any other generator. Yet, 32-bit or 256-bit exponents are sometimes used as generators. What is the benefit of using ...
3k views

### RIPEMD versus SHA-x, what are the main pros and cons?

RIPEMD is a family of cryptographic hash functions, meaning it competes for roughly the same uses as MD5, SHA-1 & SHA-256 do. The Wikipedia page for RIPEMD seems to have some nice things to say ...
159 views

### Are there reference implementations of ECQV implicit certificates?

I am interested in exploring ECC implicit certificates, specifically using the ECQV protocol. While the actual implementation would not difficult to perform using building blocks provided by most ECC ...
2k views

### Why has the RSA factoring challenge been withdrawn?

Wikipedia states that RSA challenge has been withdrawn. Does it mean that an efficient factoring algorithm is "just around the corner"? or are there some other reasons? If the challenge was still ...
2k views

### What is the “Random Oracle Model” and why is it controversial?

What is the "Random Oracle Model"? Is it an "assumption" akin to the hardness of factoring and discrete log? Or something else? And why do some researchers have a strong distrust of this model?
1k views

### How well does scrypt perform on different architectures / OSes?

The scrypt algorithm seems to be a prominent feature in the "CPU friendly" Bitcoin clones for the proof-of-labor part. I've heard claims that it's relatively slow on Windows and/or Intel compared to ...
701 views

### Encrypt-then-MAC Confidentiality, Integrity and Authenticity

Does Encrypt-then-MAC provide equal confidentiality, integrity and authenticity as other constructs such as EAX? If yes, how do I go about using it? My current understanding is: E = ...
152 views

### Generating non-repeating N-bit IVs, which are indistinguishable from randomness

I'm implementing a protocol which needs a 64-bit IV for every encrypted packet. The cipher in use (AES-GCM, more or less as specified in RFC 4106) does not require that these IVs are random, only ...
2k views

### How do other, non-RSA algorithms, compare to the PKCS #1 standard?

Arguably the PKCS suite of standards have a profit-oriented bias as they are promoted by RSA and promote their algorithms over others in the form of RFCs and other means. I'm considering the ...