# All Questions

2k views

### Calculating the inverse modularity of the determinant for Hill cipher

I'm trying to decrypt a message encrypted with Hill Cipher, but I don't understand how to find the determinant so it solves the equation $det * 1/det = 1 mod 26$. The determinant for my key matrix is ...
304 views

### What are the safe ways to derive HMAC key using block cipher?

Suppose we have a state of block cipher initialized with some key unknown to us, that is, we have the state after running key schedule, but we have no access to actual key or subkeys, all we can do is ...
820 views

### Self-expiring symmetric keys, or: cryptography in absence of secure deletion

I can encrypt some data D using a random symmetric key K, obtaining a ciphertext C, and then encrypt K with my public key Pub and obtain H. So far so good: I can only decrypt C if I have H and my ...
376 views

### Why can't Homomorphic encryption schemes support algorithms with conditions/branching?

If it isn't already apparent from the title of my question, i should make clear that I have only a very basic understanding of homomorphic encryption. I would like to know why homomorphic encryption ...
192 views

### How is the EAX-mode used in EAP-PSK (RFC 4764)?

According to the specification of RFC 4764, contents in EAP's third message and fourth message are required to be encrypted by AES-128 in EAX mode (also called protected channel). In RFC 4764, the ...
243 views

### Stream cipher malleability

Considering a stream cipher that produces a ciphertext $c$ from a message $m$ and a key $k$ is it possible to apply operations (multiplication and/or addition) directly to $c$ without knowing the key ...
186 views

### How many different keystreams can I produce with AES in Counter Mode?

I'm using a 64-bit nonce (incremented between the streams) and a 64-bit counter (incremented within a stream) for AES in CTR mode. How many different key streams can I produce with this setup?
642 views

### Using “Additional Authenticated Data” as a secondary key

In implementing a cipher in GCM or CCM mode, you are provided the option to add "Additional Authenticated Data" (AAD). This AAD is required for decrypting the cipher text, and seems to be used when ...
981 views

### Generating a strong unique Initialization Vector

How can I determine if I am generating a unique and strong Initialization Vector? If my mode is generating Keystream? Is there any scientific explanation in generating a unique and strong ...
201 views

### Byte location of plaintext vs ciphertext when using a block cipher or stream cipher

I know that when you use a stream cipher you are just XOR'ing the plain text with the PRNG stream, such that you know if a specific byte is in position 3 of the plain text it will still be in ...
258 views

### Regarding matsui's Paper on Linear Cryptanalysis of DES

I's going throught the the Paper by Matsui on Linear Cryptanalysis of DES . In that he says $NS_{5}(16,15)=12$ And then in the next paragraph he says considering the expansion and permutation phases ...
182 views

### Separate Read and Write Keys in TLS Key Material

Why does the TLS protocol use different symmetric keys for receiving and sending data? Isn't it enough to have a single key used for both reading and writing?
210 views

### Transparent cipher

I'm trying to implement this protocol: Alice has her permanent key $K_1$. She computes $E(K_1, P)$. She wants to share $P$ with Bob, Carol and Dave. For each of them she: 2.1. Generates $K_2$. ...
694 views

### Recovering the key in an ElGamal Signature Scheme variant

From page 318 in Stinson's "Cryptography: Theory and Practice", question 7.3: Suppose that Alice is using ElGamal Signature Scheme. In order to save time in generating >the random numbers k that ...
261 views

### Public Key Encryption with forward secrecy

Is there a known non-trivial system with plausibly secure public key encryption where: 1. $\;\;$ the $\:$ time $\:$ function is efficiently computable 2. $\;\;$ [pubkey,privkey] $\:$ pairs are ...
79 views

### Distributed knowledge problem

I need a way to distribute knowledge among multiple parties - lets start with two. The idea is while the knowledge is originally created by one party I need to transform it into a situation where no ...
443 views

### How are the primes used to generate RSA keys?

I am confused about how keys in RSA asymmetric encryption are generated and what the implications for open communications are. Textbooks say the one-way function is merely two primes (with some ...
801 views

### ECC algorithm pollard's $\rho$ complexity

One of the methods to break a ECDLP is Pollard's rho algorithm. When ECDLP is defined over a finite field $F_p$, and given a relation $S=w.T$, where S and T are a member of $F_p$. Then ECDLP is to ...
852 views

### RC4 : Keystream reconstruction?

First up: it's a step in some challenge found on the Internet, where we get an application and a file. The application must be feed with that file and a password (the password is the flag for the ...
111 views

### Secure Remote Protocol - Are these 2 equations equivalent?

I'm implementing the Secure Remote Protocol that is specified to have this equation for the parameter S, the premaster secret. ...
221 views

### Shannon entropy calculation: is $H(A|R·A) = H(A)$?

Suppose I generate a random $m×m$ matrix $R$, where each of its elements belongs to $\mathbb Z_n$. I ensure that $R$ is invertible in $\mathbb Z_n^{m×m}$. Now I take a non-random $m×m$ ...
226 views

### synchronization of counters in HOTP

How is synchronization of counter values achieved in the HOTP protocol? As I understand it, the server increments its counter value only if a match (of the OTP value) is found. What happens at ...
544 views

### DES Crack simulation

I wish to simulate an implementation of a DES Cracker using verilog. But every paper I read give only abstract hints but no concrete steps or how really to go about it. How is it usually done? For ...
243 views

### AESManaged Trade Compliance Issue in United States

I am currently using AESManaged encryption for my silverlight application. Does AESManaged encryption have a severe trade compliance issue in Bureau of Industry and Security in terms of shipping the ...
1k views

### Cryptanalysis Affine Cipher: Brute-Force Search Vs. Meet-in-the-middle

Affine Cipher: $Enc(x) = (ax + b) \mod m$ $Dec(x) = a^{-1}(x-b) \mod m$ For a brute-force key search, we need to do $a \cdot b$ encryptions in the worst case. For a meet-in-the-middle attack, how ...
576 views

### Is there an effective way for public key generation in homomorphic encryption schemes?

Is there any way to effectively generate valid distributed public key in schemes like ElGamal or Benaloh for a number of participants? There's no need in private keys since there's no intent to ...
32 views

### Does pseudorandom secret sharing require a central dealer?

I'm trying to figure out whether pseudorandom secret sharing (as described in this paper) requires a central dealer, i.e. one party who doles out keys to the other players and thus who would be able ...
61 views

### Hash functions to generate one time pad

Newbie question... may be... Stream cypher, will XOR message bits with one time pad bits Suppose I have a pseudo random number generator, like a Mersenne twister or sort of. I could use the ...
38 views

### N users must approve a request

I have a locked-down production system that we'd like to process specific requests, picked-up (poll) from a less-secure location. For security and "go slow, this is production" reasons, a request ...
24 views

### Could a crypto system that uses non-FIPS crypto but then upgrades complete to FIPS be FIPS certified?

I know most people around here (including myself) are anti-FIPS, but I have a FIPS related question. Could a crypto system that is not FIPS, e.g. one based on primitives like Curve25519, achieve FIPS ...
120 views

### Easy explanation of “IND-” security notions?

There are many schemes that can advertise themselves with certain security notions, usually IND-CPA or IND-CCA2, for example plain ElGamal has IND-CPA security but doesn't provide IND-CCA security. ...
47 views

### Security of MSS

I have started reading about the Merkle Signature Scheme. I am a little confused about why it is believed to be secure against quantum attacks, couldn't the hash function be attacked? What would make ...
60 views

### cipher text only attacks on deterministic homomorphic encryption schemes

If we consider a set of numbers say a set $s=\{a,b,c,d\}$ , where $a,b,c,d>1$ and the numbers $a, b, c, d$ do not share any relation between them , i.e. for any two numbers, $n_1,n_2\in s$ the ...
52 views

### Frequency tables for HTML page source

Are there online resources with an ASCII character frequency table for HTML? There's tons of them for english, but I can't seem to find one for page source. I know that this is something that's ...
73 views

### Eavesdropping experiment with private key

I am extremely new to cryptography, still trying to learn basics. I got stuck in the following example of an eavesdropping experiment with a private key. \begin{array} {|r|r r r|r|} \hline C & ...
60 views

### 3DES over Galois Counter Mode (GCM) for authenticated encryption

Is it possible to use DES or 3DES over Galois Counter Mode (GCM) to provide authenticated encryption? I haven't seen any implementation yet.
38 views

### Compression in Symmetric-Encryption?

When using symmetric encryption is it important to compress the data first? I think that compression will make data look "more random" and this might help the ciphertext be harder to crack but I am ...
76 views

### Key exchange using ECDH vs ECIES

I'm a beginner to ECC crypto programming. Does any one explain to me the difference with using ECDH for shared key exchange and use of ECIES by encrypting shared key with the public key of the ...
59 views

### Is it OK to substitute a PRF for a random oracle?

Random oracles don't exist, but aren't PRFs essentially indistinguishable from them? So why can't we substitute pseudorandom functions wherever we use random oracles? And if we can do this, why is ...
61 views

### LED cryptography algorithm

I would like to better understand the operation of the LED algorithm, especially the process of substitution and permutation of the blocks and especially the use of the keys in each round. The keys ...
50 views

### Compacting a substitution cipher key

In a substitution cipher, I recieve 3 bits and than I return another 3 bits. The key of this cipher could be a matrix represented as: ...
124 views

### Can spatial filters be used to factor composite numbers?

$Z=(N-XY)^2$ is a surface with absolute minima ($0s$) anywere $Y=N/X$. I know this question is naiive, but shouldn't it be possible to apply a lossy compression filter to this function which ...
44 views

### Does the plaintext have to be at least as long as the key in Polyalphabetic substituion cipher

In polyalphabetic substitution cipher, if we have a key $k$ (a string of letters) of length $n$ does the plaintext $m$ (also a string of letters) have to satisfy $|m| \geq n$? Also, side question, ...
65 views

### How to make PKCS conformation oracle for trying Bleichenbacher’s RSA attack?

I was trying to understand Bleichenbacher’s CCA attack and thought of work it out in python. Can some one throw some light on the the logic behind the oracle used to check PKCS conformation? Will a ...
68 views

### Algorithm for n-of-m keys with partial results

Is there any known and proven algorithm which allows n-of-m keys en/decryption, but doesn't require the keys to be in one location? That is, it allows the plaintext (or ciphertext) to be encrypted (or ...
64 views

### Key Check Value standard pratice for asymetric cryptography?

I'm looking for a standard, or sound industry practice, for the equivalent of a Key Check Value, applied to the private key of a public key algorithm, like ECDSA. For DES or 3DES keys, practice (as ...
150 views

### PGP digital signature vs SHA256 HMAC Comparison

First let me admit that I am not a mathematician or a cryptographer. I am responsible for assisting in making a recommendation on a project that is consolidating payment processes within a company's ...
102 views

I'm having a hard time understanding why people use constant-time techniques to counter time-attacks, when blinding seems as good and cheaper to implement. Why do people avoid blinding in ECC?
I am trying to interpret the formula for index of coincidence from here… I am not understanding $f_i$. How can I calculate $f_i$ in this context? Is this the appearance of single word like ...