# All Questions

69 views

### What is this encryption system called?

Let's say you want to break down a message, for simplicity it is just a bit $0$ or $1$, $m$ into two messages $(m_1, m_2)$ as follows: If $m =0$, then $(m_1, m_2) = (0, 0)$ with probability $1/2$ and ...
105 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 ...
74 views

### Can we solve the Hidden Number Problem in $GF(2^n)$?

Is it possible to solve the Hidden Number Problem in extension fields? In particular in $GF(2^n)$? Let's suppose an attacker knows some least/most significant bits of $r_i = a_i \times k$ in a given ...
296 views

### Why should the primes used in RSA be distinct?

The two primes $p$ and $q$ part of the public key need to be distinct. What's the reason for them to be distinct? Is it because factorization of $p^2$ where $p$ is a prime is relatively easier, or is ...
145 views

### What makes SHA-2 and SHA-3 have security levels half their output hash length?

The tag wiki for sha-256 says, in part: SHA-256 ... processes the input in 512-bit block and has a 256-bit output, for a 128-bit security level. I'm not a cryptographer, just an interested ...
176 views

### Building a combined encryption scheme from two encryption schemes that's secure if at least on of them is secure

Any thoughts on how this can be done? Let $\Pi_1 = (\mathrm{Gen}_1, \mathrm{Enc}_1, \mathrm{Dec}_1)$ and $\Pi_2 = (\mathrm{Gen}_2, \mathrm{Enc}_2, \mathrm{Dec}_2)$ be two encryption schemes for ...
100 views

### RFID Protocol Cryptanalysis

Assume we have the following scheme for RFID: TAG & READER both have initially k keys. Every session the TAG computes $k_i$=F($k_{i-1})$ where F is a function which computes XOR of previous key ...
195 views

### Can we reverse a hash when we know part of the input?

While I read that hashes are not meant to be reversible, but assuming we have part/half of the message/input of a hash? Is there any method that we can use to recover the remaining message via this ...
222 views

### Using hash for one time pad key

Recently I've been delving into security algorithms, I already knew some of the (easy) math behind AES and RSA and how to and not to implement it. But well, i got a bit bored so i thought I'd just do ...
510 views

### Key Length vs KeySpace

I am a newbie here, this is my first post. I have searched the forum but I haven't found a clear answer to this. In general. What is the relationship between key length and the keyspace? (if there ...
156 views

### In ECC, how do I prove that point addition is commutative?

I am studying elliptic curve cryptography and this question is related to the commutative property of point addition operation. Point addition $P_3(x_3,y_3)$ of two points $P_1(x_1, y_1)$ and ...
388 views

### Can AES in CCM or GCM counter mode interoperate with AES in “plain” counter mode (CTR)?

I am exploring the use of Windows CNG to replace some OpenSSL-based code that takes advantage of AES in counter mode. From the outside, everything should look the same after the switch. The section ...
594 views

### PRNG determinism (and java.security.SecureRandom)

Looking at getDefaultPRNG() in java.security.SecureRandom makes me very unsure about how to use it. On my desktop, it uses sun.security.provider.NativePRNG, which reads from ...
71 views

### For which RSA moduli, precisely, is $e=d$ for all $e$?

This question shows that there are at least two valid RSA moduli $n$, namely $35$ and $91$, such that for any $e$ coprime to $\lambda(n)$, $$e^2\equiv1\mod\lambda(n)\text.$$ Reading the linked ...
121 views

### Is a strong block cipher usable as a strong sponge function?

From the literature, it looks like the security proofs of sponge functions depend on how well they approximate a random permutation, Since a block cipher also ideally behaves like a random permutation ...
224 views

### What is a q-type assumption?

I've seen the term "$q$-type assumption" used in a few papers without a definition. A google search doesn't seem to come up with anything useful either (except the same papers without a definition). ...
176 views

### Has there been any cryptanalysis of AES under a non-uniformly distributed key?

The standard security property demanded of a blockcipher is that it be a pseudo-random permutation; i.e., given a uniformly random key, the blockcipher should be computationally indistinguishable from ...
155 views

### Is this modified Schnorr signature scheme secure?

Signing Let y = g^x, which is your public/private keypair. Let r = g^v, for random v Let c = H(M) Let z = (v + cx) mod q The signature is the pair (r,z) Verifying g^z = ry^c mod p We further ...
844 views

### DES Encryption Algorithm all 64 bits for key instead of 56 bits

Would a DES algorithm that uses all 64 bits for the key instead of just the 56 bits be more secure? I have been thinking about it but those 8 bits used for parity are very useful and but including ...
160 views

### Can Bitcoin HD public keys be used for symmetric encryption?

I asked this at bitcoin.stackexchange.com first, but it seems that this is more of a crypto-question anyway. I'm interested in using a Hierarchical Deterministic Bitcoin wallet branch as a "shared ...
414 views

### Interleaving bytes to make an effectively larger block size

Will applying a 16 byte bit block cipher such as AES over a 256 byte block to in the following way result in a much stronger cipher:- Apply block cipher with first key digest to each 16 byte group. ...
251 views

### Skein or Keccak stream cipher construction

I am wondering if using Skein or the Keccak hash algorithm in this construction (as a stream cipher) is secure: $H$ = Keccak or Skein hash with a 256 bit output $K$ = The main 256 bit random key, ...
232 views

### OCB nonce usage

I've just come across this piece of code in Bouncy Castle's implementation of OCB Mode: ...
574 views

### Can I crack an AES string if I have all these parameters?

This is for a challenge at followthewhiterabbit.trustpilot.com: Knowns: The algorithm is AES (Rijndael) Blocksize: 128 Keysize: 256 You only need to find the first 6 bytes of the ...
412 views

### generate hash of all handshake messages for verify data (DTLS)

I am trying to create a DTLS client finished packet, where I need to generate verify data for handshake hash is need. And here I want to know how to generate handshake hash. As of now I am doing like ...
147 views

### Is it possible to get better randomness by using multiple PRNGs?

I don't know if this question even makes sense, but: Is there be any benefit or impact to some sort of hierarchical (e.g. a PRNG drives the decision for which PRN to pull from a set of PRNGs) or ...
216 views

### Encrypt-then-MAC: full random keys or keys derived from master key?

I have this scenario where I use Encrypt-then-MAC (AES256-CBC and HMAC-SHA256) with keys generated by a CSPRNG (specifically, SecureRandom in Java). I'd like to know which is better: Use the CSPRNG ...
157 views

### Does this protocol provide Perfect Forward Secrecy / are there potential security flaws?

We have a HMAC key (128 bit/16 bytes) an AES key (128 bit/16 bytes) an AES IV (128 bit/16 bytes) a random salt (128 bit/16 bytes) Each packet is signed with a HMAC (SHA256) After each packet is ...
225 views

### Is AES-256 over AES-128 weakening the original encryption?

When transfering data using TLS the browser and server agree the cipher suite to be used - so for example this could be chosen as AES-128 and is (probably) outside of my control. If I separately ...
100 views

### RSA private exponent primality

I know that the public exponent is always a prime, but what about the private exponent? Is it always a prime too?
277 views

### Are the MD5 constants an S-Box?

I noticed that several hash algorithms, in this case MD5, defines some constants. MD5 defines 64 constant values (the shift count per round) which also gets expand (via sine) to a summand for a ...
285 views

### How could Fully Homomorphic Encryption support power operations?

Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) enables arbitrary functions computed on encrypted data, because it supports both addition and multiplication. But I wonder if FHE supports power operations. For ...
104 views

### Proving a decision was randomly made [duplicate]

Alice and Bob want to agree on a bit $0$ or $1$. Both know it would be fair to pick that at random, but there's no way they could meet to throw a dice and no third party they could trust. Are there ...
247 views

### Why concatenate the key a second time in HMAC? [duplicate]

On Wikipedia it is said that HMAC is basically (without taking into account padding): $H(key\ \Vert\ H(key\ \Vert\ message))$ where $\Vert$ denotes concatenation. I understand the need to hash ...
127 views

### Linear Cryptanalysis - possible without plaintext?

If Linear Cryptanalysis exploits the fact that the plaintext and ciphertext are not completely unrelated, is the attack possible without having access to the plaintext?
454 views

### Breaking Double Encryption

I am trying to understand how an attacker knows when he has successfully decrypted a ciphertext for an assignment. As such, some pointers/hints for the following questions would be greatly ...
213 views

### Is it possible to calculate the 'skeleton key' for DUAL_EC_DRBG? What would it take?

According to Bruce Schneier the constants used in the spec of DUAL_EC_DRBG may be related to a secret set of numbers, that could function as a master key for ...
325 views

### Functional Encryption (for Non Experts)

I recently stumbled across "How to Run Turing Machines on Encrypted Data". Given that it's now possible to run turing machines on encrypted data, what open problems remain in the realm of Functional ...
249 views

### PRP, PRF and modular arithmetic

Are there any arithmetic or mathematical functions that can be used as PRPs or PRFs ? Since, Conventional block ciphers like AES are that are proven to be good PRPs are not based on mathematics but ...
144 views

### What makes LSBit steganography detectable? And what would help in concealing it?

In a project of mine I took a 24-bit bitmap image and I performed LSBit steganography over it (saved a black and white image inside each of the planes R, G, B) using pixel shuffling and xor ...
267 views

### Help in understanding exactly how lattices used as one way functions for hashing

I am doing a cryptography course via long distance and we have been given an assignment which is based on lattice-based cryptography. I have spent the majority of the past week sifting through papers ...
377 views

### what's the advantages of identity-based systems over certificate-based ones?

Actually, I'm not familiar to how identity-based and certificate-based systems work, so ,can anyone give me a detail and comprehensive answer to this question? Moreover, in what environments the ...
690 views

### Json AES128: Security against known plaintext attack

I have a system where I am transmitting json messages securely (using for example AES-128), where each message has the same format. For example ...
487 views

### Distinguishing attack on CBC-MAC

I want to ask about distinguishing attack on CBC MAC, as in the paper published by Ketting Jia, Xiaoyun Wang, Zheng Yuan, and Guangwu Xu: Distinguishing Attack and Second-Preimage Attack on the ...
120 views

### Is this algorithm demonstrating “proof of work”

Is this algorithm demonstrating proof of work? This is a algorithm where a "token" is combined with a time stamp and then a cryptographic hash is generated from the combination, next the objective is ...
140 views

### What kind of Quantum cryptography technology(protocols) can be used for Mobile Ad hoc networks(MANETS)?

Typically ad hoc networks do not have a proper infrastructure and the routing is done only through the base stations which are connecting a wired and wireless network. Does quantum cryptography ...
390 views

### Is it possible to split a large AES encrypted string and decrypt the parts one by one?

Due to some platform restrictions our decryption algorithm can only handle up to 1 million bytes. The string we receive is larger, having been generated by AES in cipher block chaining (CBC) mode, ...
155 views

### Publicly exposed hash of private key

Would exposing a cryptographic hash function's digest (e.g. SHA-3) of RSA private key data compromise the key? If so, what are the possible (cryptanalysis-) vectors for attacking the key if an ...
Is this MAC secure: To authenticate a message $m=m_1||\ldots||m_l$ where $m_i \in \{0,1\}^{n/2}$, choose $r \leftarrow \{0,1\}^n$ at random, compute t:=F_k(r)\oplus F_k(\langle 1\rangle || ...