# All Questions

278 views

### Verifying the integrity of ciphertext using the cleartext hash?

I want to be able to verify the integrity of a ciphertext by providing the cleartext hash, for this to work it would need to: $$hash(crypt(cleartext)) = f(hash(cleartext))$$ Where $f$ is an ...
760 views

### How does GPG verify succesful decryption?

How does GPG (or other programs using the OpenPGP file format) verify that it has succeeded with decryption (for symmetrically encrypted data)? Is something appended to the clear text so there exist ...
254 views

### Is EKE attackable by a brute-force password search?

So I'm trying to properly implement the EKE protocol and I'm using C# with the Windows CNG and ECDH key exchange. I need to use this because it's FIPS certified and all that jazz. So what I'm ...
281 views

### What other one-way functions are used in cryptosystems?

For RSA and El Gamal (and most other public key cryptosystems), one of the key ideas is that factoring and finding discrete logarithms are hard. There are other systems that rely on certain properties ...
457 views

### Creating a hash of XOR'd blocks

Suppose a message $m$ is divided into blocks of length $160$ bits: $m > = M_1 || M_2 || ... || M_l$ And define $h(m) = M_1 \oplus M_2 \oplus ... \oplus M_l$ Which of the three desirable ...
258 views

### How safe is it to derive MAC key from a hashed password?

Imagine I have a blob that I want to encrypt-then-MAC. Now, what I can realistically ask my users for (out of UX considerations) is just an encryption password. Naturally, I bcrypt original password ...
5k views

### How to choose a padding mode with AES

Depending on the framework you are using, there are various padding modes that can be used with AES encryption. For example, with .NET we can choose PKCS7, ISO10126, ANSIX923, Zeros or None. I ...
1k views

### RSA: If n=35, show that e will equal d

Show that if $n = 35$ is used as an RSA modulus then the encryption exponent $e$ always equals the decryption exponent $d$? What I have so far: $n = 35$ Therefore $p = 5$ and $q = 7$ or vice versa, ...
877 views

### Proof of security for RSA signatures

I am new to here, I was having some problems with a problem I am working on: "For each of the following variants of the definition of security for signatures, state whether textbook RSA is secure ...
812 views

### Why is ElGamal considered non-deterministic?

One difference between RSA and ElGamal is that ElGamal isn't necessarily deterministic (while RSA is). What makes it non-deterministic? Is this advantageous to security? How else does this property ...
675 views

### How do I solve this RSA instance for m?

How we can solve this equation and get the value of M? $$8 = M^{13} \mod 33$$ not a computer program, but a mathematical operation.
1k views

### What is the importance of Modular arithmetic in cryptography?

Why do we use modular arithmetic so often in Cryptography?
200 views

### How to control the output of a hash function to output to specific data according to similarity?

I do not know if the question lies exactly in that field but i'll give it a try unless rejection. I want to study methods of applying LSH functions to feet in a specific area of digest values. Briefly ...
893 views

### Demonstrating the insecurity of an RSA signature encoding scheme

I'm working on problem 12.4 from Katz-Lindell. The problem is as follows: Given a public encoding function $\newcommand{\enc}{\operatorname{enc}}\enc$ and a textbook RSA signature scheme where ...
219 views

### Hermitian curves introductory references

Could you give me some reference to start on Hermitian Curves. Some papers or textbooks would be perfect, and please mention if it's math inclined or comp.sci. inclined. I've only seen hermitian ...
291 views

### Is it safe to store initial counter value for AES-CTR alongside with ciphertext?

The initial counter value can actually be thought of as a sort of IV, which I assume is safe to transmit with the ciphertext, but I really want to be sure that this is indeed safe.
175 views

### Does hash_df use binary or an ASCII hexadecimal representation for numbers to be passed to the hash function?

I'm implementing the HASH_DRBG algorithm. As per NIST-SP800 90 document for HASH DRBG Generation, section 10.4.1 "Derivation Function Using a Hash Function (Hash_df)", the Hash_df algorithm contains ...
4k views

### Cracking plain RSA without private key

I was wondering whether plain RSA encryption can be cracked given: The public key A plaintext of a known cipher text(s). In other words the decrypted message from an encrypted one (but without ...
282 views

### Why are the random exponents so much bigger in the Socialist Millionaire protocol versus Diffie-Hellman key exchange?

Section 8, Security considerations, of RFC3526, which defines groups used for Diffie-Hellman has a table recommending some random exponent sizes. In particular, it says: The strength of a key ...
528 views

### Are there two-way encryption algorithms that include a work factor?

I recently learned about the hashing algorithm bcrypt, which allows you to specify a "work factor" for the hash which can be incremented to stay ahead of Moore's Law. I understand there are some other ...
547 views

### Generalizing the conversion of Diffie-Hellman to El Gamal

How can we generalize the conversion of Diffie-Hellman to El Gamal public-key encryption scheme? The goals is to be eventually able to show that any 2-round key-exchange protocol can be converted into ...
337 views

### What is the appropriate public key encryption for secure coin flipping?

I quote Bobby's question here since I encountered the same one... Random Coin Flip using ElGamal and a Trusted Party Consider the following protocol for two parties to flip a fair coin. Trusted ...
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183 views

### Where is the proof of security of Diffie's cipher?

There is an apparently provably secure cipher that was proposed by Diffie, but enhanced by R.A. Rueppel. The scheme, which was mentioned in Applied Cryptography, works like this: Measure the length ...
1k views

### Is a book cipher provably secure?

I've seen ciphers (usually in spy drama shows) that involve taking a book and writing down an index to individual characters. Essentially it's a keyed substitution cipher, where the key is the name ...
2k views

### Unpredictability of X.509 serial numbers

About X.509 certificates serial numbers the RFC 5280 says: The serial number MUST be a positive integer assigned by the CA to each certificate. It MUST be unique for each certificate issued by a ...
810 views

### AES and perfect ciphers

I'm taking a crypto class this semester and after learning the definition of a perfect cipher. I started wondering how this definition applies to AES. Obviously AES isn't a perfect cipher, since the ...
622 views

### Verilog simulation of Data Encryption Standard

I interested in developing DES(in verilog) for my college project.Can i get help in understanding the simulation results of DES encryption and decryption ? thanks in advance .
350 views

### How does the wider cryptographic community view non-abelian group based cryptography?

Is there perhaps some neural expository article on crypto systems based on non-abelian groups? I've gleaned that Anshel–Anshel–Goldfeld key exchange is the most well-known cryptographic algorithm ...
874 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, ...
1k views

### How can I create a fixed length output in my hash function?

I've been recently looking into the creation (and theory) of hash functions, however I just can't figure out how to turn a message into something of a fixed length. At the moment, my theory of a hash ...
412 views

### 101: Advanced Access Content System (AACS) and Subset Difference techniques for Broadcast Encryption

I'm trying to get a grasp on AACS and Subset Difference for a project I'm working on and am having a hard time coming up with a technically valid layman explanation, let alone implementation. Is it ...
629 views

### Is a RSA-signature of some identifying data a safe way to implement a license key?

I have this idea of implementing a license key: After the user downloads the program, he connects to a website and sends his Windows product ID. The website, then, sends this back to him with a ...
263 views

### Cipher for Product Registration?

I'd like to implement a "Product Registration" scheme into my software where upon initial use, the User must enter a key to unlock it. The key they enter is compared to their encrypted Username. ...
747 views

### Does knowing common prefixes help crack blowfish?

I have strings that are if the form: {static data}{changing data} The beginning static data part is around 20 characters and is common to all strings. The last ...
827 views

### Example of CHI Square test on Caesar Cipher?

I am trying to get my head round the chi square test, when used with the Caesar cipher. I started off using this formula, $$X = \sum_{i = 1}^k \frac{f_i · f'_i}{n · n'}$$ Where ...
1k views

### What is Identity-Based Encryption (IBE) and why is it “better”?

Most CS/Math undergrads run into the well-known RSA cryptosystem at some point. But about 10 years ago Boneh and Franklin introduced a practical Identity-Based Encryption system (IBE) that has ...
1k views

### Calculating the amount of zero bits to be appended to the message

From FIPS 180-3 Suppose that the length of the message, M, is l bits. Append the bit “1” to the end of the message, followed ...
243 views

### Derived Shared Key vs Distinct Keys?

I've seen a lot of 2-party applications that derive a shared key from distinct keys created by each party. Why is this technique employed? Would it not be better to use those two distinct keys for ...
148 views

### What are the consequences of a MAC tag collision?

I've seen some proofs of MAC security that are based on the extremely-unlikely event that two MAC tags collide (ie, they are equal for distinct messages). Suppose that this extremely unlikely event ...
1k views

### Is the CBC weakness in XML Encryption a new discovery? Are other applications vulnerable?

The RUB in Germany reports that XML encryption is broken. This is essentially the W3C standard for protecting XML documents from prying eyes. Does this mean that an attacker can only see a single ...