# All Questions

388 views

### Re-using parts of a one time pad to encrypt a new one?

The main problem with OTP's is the fact that they can only be used once. Would it be possible to use a random number that's, say, 512 digits, then use 256 of those for the (non-random) message, the ...
388 views

### How much does a successful Distinguishing Attack “break” the attacked stream cipher?

I started reading about the most recent cryptanalysis of RC4 and it's variants. One of the papers I just finished reading ("Two Linear Distinguishing Attacks on VMPC and RC4A and Weakness of RC4 ...
393 views

### bcrypt and pbkdf2 double hashing

If I want to protect myself from implementation of algorithm issues and inherent design flaws of algorithms in password hashing, what would be most secure way to combine two hashes? bcrypt(pbkdf2(pw)...
217 views

### Can stream ciphers (usually) be “run backwards”?

Is it possible to reconstruct the previous output bits of a stream cipher, e.g. RC4, when only the current state is known, or is that computationally hard, or even impossible (due to ambiguous ...
451 views

### Does CBC encryption of a hash provide authenticity?

Given a message $M$ and a cryptographic hash function $H$, let $f(M) = E_K(M || H(M))$ where $E_K$ is AES-128-CBC encryption with PKCS#5 padding. Take $H = \textrm{SHA-256}$ if it matters. In other ...
196 views

### Could using sequential plaintext uncover AES key?

I am encrypting a string in a format like this: ...
440 views

### Using same AES-GCM setup for multiple packets?

Most cryptographic libraries I've encountered uses some variant of processPlaintext(...) and then doFinal() to produce the ...
150 views

### Can you explain what the AES paper means by “sharing active S-boxes”?

I am reading the "Biclique cryptanalysis of the full AES" paper. What do they mean by "sharing active S-boxes"? How can this concept can be advantageous to make a bicycle? If there is someone who ...
287 views

### Construct a random permutation from a random function?

How can we construct a (pseudo) random permutation from a (pseudo) random function ? I've seen a method from Luby-Rackoff which allows to construct a PRP of length $2N$ from a PRF of input/output ...
423 views

### What are the standard procedures in cryptanalysis to analyze unknown ciphertext?

What are the "standard procedures in cryptanalysis" to analyze unknown ciphertext? In other words: Are there any protocols, officially acknowledged checklists or something like that which represent a ...
186 views

### Is this exponentation or bitwise XOR

I'm reading about SRP from this page and came accross the line that says a party computes v = g^x I am unfamiliar with reading cryptography texts. Does this mean gx, or g ⊕ x?
3k views

### Knowing the key, how do I decrypt the affine cipher?

I have an encryption function $$E(p) = (ap + b) \mod{26}$$ where the parameters are $a=7$, $b = 10$, and $p$ is the plaintext letter. I was asked to decrypt the ciphertext ...
715 views

### How much data can I encrypt with AES before I need to change the key in CBC mode?

In my cryptography class, the instructor suggested that in order to give the attacker a minimal advantage of $1/2^{32}$, we have to change the key after $2^{48}$ blocks are encrypted. It seems that ...
523 views

### Is there a way to do fair exchange between two parties who don't trust each other?

Let's suppose we have an Alice who knows a secret key A, and Bob who knows key B. Using their own keys, they each encrypt a message (Alice encrypts $m_A$, Bob encrypts $m_B$) with their own key, and ...
964 views

### risk of attacker decrypting RSA ciphertext without public or private key

As I describe in my previous question I am trying to decide if it's worth it for me to use the Offline Private Key Protocol in creating some long term private archives, instead of just going with a ...
333 views

### Ciphers in CBC mode reveal place of change in plaintext

Theoretically, when using a symmetric block cipher in CBC mode, the current block is dependent on the previous block. Suppose one plaintext is encrypted using CBC, and then one bit of it is changed, ...
2k views

### Even passwords are vulnerable to hash collision attacks?

As stated in this page large documents hashed using md5 maybe vulnerable to collision attacks. My question is even passwords of 6-30 character are vulnerable to such hash collision attacks? If yes, is ...
2k views

### Brute forcing an HMAC

Given current technology such as GPUs and GPU cracking software I was wondering if anyone has an idea on how long it would take to brute force the key used to derive an HMAC?
412 views

### When confusion is applied during encryption?

I know confusion is used in cryptography to make it more difficult to identify any relationship between the ciphertext and the symmetric key. I want to know when the confusion is applied during ...
845 views

### XOR cipher for encrypting compiled C code

I'm exploring ways of encrypting Intel hex files we send to customers for flashing onto an embedded device. The embedded processor itself has a built-in mechanism that prevents anyone from reading the ...
2k views

### Validating successful decryption in AES

I have a program which uses AES-256 in CBC mode to encrypt and decrypt files. As I have quickly realized, AES will even use an incorrect passphrase to decrypt data, which leaves me with no way to ...
249 views

### Non-cryptographic hash function as MAC for stream ciphers

I understand that for a stream cipher to be useful, there must be a way to verify that the message was not tampered with (bits were flipped by an attacker). So, instead of using some cryptographic ...
565 views

### Crypto USB Devices - where is the PIN/Password stored?

I am currently looking at the security of cryto USB drives for storing x509 certificates. I have one in possession currently. It can be read/written to using the Microsoft Crypto APIs. Anytime one ...
304 views

### A question regarding relevance of vulnerability of MD5 when linking multiple records together

I have been studying a Supreme Court case "IMS Health vs Sorrel". In this case a Friend of Court brief filled by "Electronic Privacy Information Center" states that use of MD5 hash function to link ...
313 views

### S-box with differential uniformity = 2

I read that we do not know if there exists an 8x8 sbox with differential uniformity = 2. I suppose we cannot compute every possible sbox because there are $64!$ possible s-boxes. Am I right?
357 views

### RSA Key generation Public exponent too big

I'm currently writing a paper about RSA (a self-chosen subject). I'm writing about the key-generation in RSA, and I have problem finding the public exponent e. I have chosen p = 61 and q = 53. Then ...
293 views

### Information leakage in real-time voice encryption

I saw some time ago a post discussing the issues surrounding encryption of speech/voice in VoIP and how it can leak information (can't find it now). Can someone provide an insight into some of the ...
867 views

### Public key cryptography - public key encrypts and cannot decrypt?

I understand the basics behind public key cryptography, in that each party has two keys - the public one encrypts, and the private one decrypts. What I cannot figure out is, How does the public key ...
364 views

### Two step encryption

Is there any asymmetric cryptography algorithm which will allow recursive encryption. ...
709 views

### Proofs of collision resistance by reduction

I'm looking for examples of a proof by reduction. For example: Let $A=(Gen, H)$ be a hash function. We define a new Hash function $A'=(Gen',H')$ with $Gen=Gen'$ by $H'_s(x)=H_s(H_s(x))$. It ...
388 views

### Proof that a function constructed from a PRP is, or is not a PRF?

Let $E$ be a family of Pseudo-Random Permutations of $b$ bits, with $E_K$ indistinguishable from random permutation with effort less than $O(2^b)$, easily computable as well as the inverse permutation,...
626 views

### Modifications of CBC-MAC

I'm preparing myself to exam, but I have a lot of troubles with rigorous proofs. This post is very long, but this is because I remind here 2 long definitions. At the beginning I want to remind the ...
645 views

### Generating a cryptographically secure, many-time use, symmetric encryption key

I need to generate a 256 bit encryption key described by the adjectives in the title. Currently I intend to create the key using this RNG. Is this a secure manner of creating the key, given that it ...
470 views

### Untraceable communication protocol

I am doing a research about secure communication protocols. I would be interested to know whether a protocol exists such that it grants that the two end-points taking part to the communication cannot ...
173 views

### Does it make sense to use slow hashes in digital signatures?

For storing passwords, it seems that the use of intentionally slow hash functions (like PBKDF2 and bcrypt) is now recommended. This is because most hashes are designed to be fast, which also makes ...
740 views

### bcrypt - collision-resistance against chosen salt and work factor?

Would it be difficult to find $\:$ cost,salt,input,password0,password1 $\:$ such that bcrypt(cost,salt,password0,input) = bcrypt(workfactor,salt,password1,input) and $\:$ password0 != password1 $\:$ ...
789 views

### Advanced Encryption Standard Algorithm Secret Key

just a follow up question with this question.. How does the key schedule of Rijndael looks for keysizes other than 128 bit? A 256-bit key can still encrypt a block of plaintext in 128 bit? but in ...
2k views

### Symmetric vs. Asymmetric cryptographic approaches to data security

I know the basic differences between Symmetric vs. Asymmetric cryptography, but I'd love to know more details: Exactly why is the asymmetric approach slower than the symmetric? Why does it make ...
100 views

### Is the following scheme secure for different cipher

Let's say I have two keys K1 and K2. two messages M1 and M2 of the same length. Cipher (E,D) 3 ciphertexts: C11, C12,C22 where Cij = E(Ki, Mj) In situation ...
525 views

### What is the computational cost of a public key certificate signature verification?

What is the computational cost of a certificate signature verification in terms of exponentiation, multiplication and other computation operations?
219 views

### Helper data authentication in PUFs

As I understand, PUFs work by using two procedures: generation and reproduction. Generation reads a value $w$ from a fuzzy source and generates a key $R$ and helper data $P$. Then, in the reproduction ...
151 views

### Is a using salt important when creating a hash data validator?

I am creating a service that will return an set of objects, which will be used by multiple systems. At the end of the process, one (or more) of the objects will be sent back to our system for ...
89 views

### Malleable encryption

What I would like to achieve is the following: Alice sends to Bob the encryption of a datagram that has the following format: ...
45 views

### SPDZ protocol: how expensive is it to generate the multiplicative triples?

I am currently reading the full version of the SPDZ protocol. I understand that the online phase does multiplication with computational and communication complexity $O(n)$ by using Beaver's ...
76 views

### Are Paillier and El Gamal encryption schemes secure against quantum attacks?

I was wondering if there is a security difference between Lattice based homomorphic encryption schemes versus an partially homomorphic encryption scheme like Paillier, and El Gamal encryption schemes ...
99 views

### Do equivalent RSA keys exist?

If $m^{ed} \bmod n = m$ for message $m$, public key $e$ and private key $d$, then adding any integer multiple of $n$ to $m^{ed}$ still equals $m$ modulo $n$. Supposing it exists, how do I find an ...
55 views

### How can I resolve this basic MAC paradox I’m stumbling upon in my proof?

Suppose $S: K \times M \to T$ is a secure MAC. ($K$ = key space, $M$ = message space, $T = \{0,1\}^n$ = tag space.) $S$ being secure means that no matter what messages $m_1,...,m_q$ we throw at $S$ ...
62 views

### Does encryption of data/information take place in peer to peer networks like Gnutella, Bittorrent?

Do peer to peer networks like Gnutella, Bittorrent have any encryption system to secure the users privacy or encrypt the file/data being shared? Elaborate please.