Does this mean that the message is being added onto the hashed(message, tag) ?
m || H(m, "secret")
So the output would be something like:
"RandomMessage"+N8HqKCG01b
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Yes, || means concatenation. If H means HMAC and 'secret' is a secret key then this is secure.
Usually hmac accepts key as first argument and message as second. If this protocols MACs the key using the message instead of MACing the message using the key, I don't know whether that is secure.
If H is a hash instead of a MAC, then this is insecure.
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$\begingroup$ H is stated to be a cryptographic hash function so assume could be MAC? $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 15, 2016 at 22:08
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$\begingroup$ So in terms of confidentiality, it is not very private as the plain-text 'message' is being exposed during the transmission? $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 15, 2016 at 22:11
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$\begingroup$ @NoDirection if message is transmitted in the clear, there is no confidentiality. If
His a cryptographic hash function, then there is no integrity (you need HMAC for that). $\endgroup$– Z.T.Commented Nov 15, 2016 at 23:10 -
$\begingroup$ Apart from integrity, how would a HMAC improve this tag? $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 15, 2016 at 23:35