Computer Security:
Principles and Practice
Fourth Edition
By: William Stallings and Lawrie Brown
Chapter 2
Cryptographic Tools
Symmetric Encryption
• The universal technique for providing confidentiality for
transmitted or stored data
• Also referred to as conventional encryption or single-key
encryption
• Two requirements for secure use:
• Need a strong encryption algorithm
• Sender and receiver must have obtained copies
of the secret key in a secure fashion and must
keep the key secure
Attacking Symmetric
Encryption
Cryptanalytic Attacks Brute-Force Attacks
Rely on: Try all possible keys on some
Nature of the algorithm ciphertext until an intelligible
Some knowledge of the general translation into plaintext is obtained
characteristics of the plaintext On average half of all possible keys
must be tried to achieve success
Some sample plaintext-ciphertext
pairs
Exploits the characteristics of the
algorithm to attempt to deduce a
specific plaintext or the key being
used
If successful all future and past
messages encrypted with that key are
compromised
Table 2.1
Comparison of Three Popular Symmetric
Encryption Algorithms
Data Encryption Standard
(DES)
• Until recently was the most widely used
encryption scheme
• FIPS PUB 46
• Referred to as the Data Encryption Algorithm
(DEA)
• Uses 64 bit plaintext block and 56 bit key to produce
a 64 bit ciphertext block
Strength concerns:
• Concerns about the algorithm itself
• DES is the most studied encryption algorithm
in existence
• Concerns about the use of a 56-bit key
• The speed of commercial off-the-shelf processors makes
this key length woefully inadequate
Table 2.2
Average Time Required for Exhaustive Key Search
Triple DES (3DES)
Repeats basic DES algorithm three times using either two or
three unique keys
First standardized for use in financial applications in ANSI
standard X9.17 in 1985
Attractions:
168-bit key length overcomes the vulnerability to brute-force attack of
DES
Underlying encryption algorithm is the same as in DES
Drawbacks:
Algorithm is sluggish in software
Uses a 64-bit block size
Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES)
NIST called for
Needed a Selected
proposals for a
replacement for Rijndael in
new AES in
3DES November 2001
1997
Should have a security
strength equal to or better
than 3DES
Significantly improved
3DES was not efficiency
Published as
reasonable for
long term use FIPS 197
Symmetric block cipher
128 bit data and
128/192/256 bit keys
Practical Security Issues
Typically symmetric encryption is applied to a unit of data
larger than a single 64-bit or 128-bit block
Electronic codebook (ECB) mode is the simplest approach to
multiple-block encryption
Each block of plaintext is encrypted using the same key
Cryptanalysts may be able to exploit regularities in the plaintext
Modes of operation
Alternative techniques developed to increase the security of symmetric
block encryption for large sequences
Overcomes the weaknesses of ECB
Block & Stream Ciphers
Block Cipher
• Processes the input one block of elements at a time
• Produces an output block for each input block
• Can reuse keys
• More common
Stream Cipher
• Processes the input elements continuously
• Produces output one element at a time
• Primary advantage is that they are almost always faster and use far less
code
• Encrypts plaintext one byte at a time
• Pseudorandom stream is one that is unpredictable without knowledge of
the input key
Message Authentication
Protects against
active attacks
Verifies received • Contents have not been altered
• From authentic source
message is authentic • Timely and in correct sequence
Can use
• Only sender and receiver share a
conventional key
encryption
Message Authentication
Without Confidentiality
• Message encryption by itself does not provide a secure form of
authentication
• It is possible to combine authentication and confidentiality in a single
algorithm by encrypting a message plus its authentication tag
• Typically message authentication is provided as a separate function from
message encryption
• Situations in which message authentication without confidentiality may
be preferable include:
• There are a number of applications in which the same message is broadcast to a number of
destinations
• An exchange in which one side has a heavy load and cannot afford the time to decrypt all incoming
messages
• Authentication of a computer program in plaintext is an attractive service
• Thus, there is a place for both authentication and encryption in meeting
security requirements
To be useful for message
authentication, a hash function H must have the
following properties:
Can be applied to a block of data of any size
Produces a fixed-length output
H(x) is relatively easy to compute for any given x
One-way or pre-image resistant
• Computationally infeasible to find x such that H(x) = h
Computationally infeasible to find y ≠ x such that H(y) = H(x)
Collision resistant or strong collision resistance
• Computationally infeasible to find any pair (x,y) such that H(x) = H(y)
Security of Hash Functions
There are two
Additional secure
approaches to SHA most widely
hash function
attacking a secure used hash algorithm
applications:
hash function:
Cryptanalysis Passwords
• Exploit logical weaknesses in • Hash of a password is stored
the algorithm by an operating system
Brute-force attack Intrusion detection
• Strength of hash function • Store H(F) for each file on a
depends solely on the length system and secure the hash
of the hash code produced by values
the algorithm
Public-Key Encryption Structure
Asymmetric
• Uses two
Publicly separate keys Some form of
proposed by Based on • Public key and protocol is
Diffie and mathematical private key needed for
Hellman in functions • Public key is
distribution
1976 made public for
others to use
Plaintext
Readable message or data that is fed into the algorithm as input
Encryption algorithm
Performs transformations on the plaintext
Public and private key
Pair of keys, one for encryption, one for decryption
Ciphertext
Scrambled message produced as output
Decryption key
Produces the original plaintext
User encrypts data using his or her own
private key
Anyone who knows the corresponding
public key will be able to decrypt the
message
Table 2.3
Applications for Public-Key Cryptosystems
Requirements for Public-Key
Cryptosystems
Computationally easy to
create key pairs
Computationally easy
Useful if either key can for sender knowing
be used for each role public key to encrypt
messages
Computationally Computationally easy
infeasible for opponent for receiver knowing
to otherwise recover private key to decrypt
original message ciphertext
Computationally
infeasible for opponent to
determine private key
from public key
Asymmetric Encryption
Algorithms
RSA (Rivest, Most widely accepted and
Block cipher in which the
Shamir, Developed in 1977 implemented approach to
public-key encryption
plaintext and ciphertext are
integers between 0 and n-1 for
Adleman) some n.
Diffie-Hellman Enables two users to securely
reach agreement about a
key exchange shared secret that can be used
as a secret key for subsequent
Limited to the exchange of the
keys
algorithm symmetric encryption of
messages
Digital
Signature Provides only a digital
signature function with SHA-1
Cannot be used for encryption
or key exchange
Standard (DSS)
Elliptic curve
cryptography Security like RSA, but with
much smaller keys
(ECC)
Digital Signatures
NIST FIPS PUB 186-4 defines a digital signature as:
”The result of a cryptographic transformation of data that,
when properly implemented, provides a mechanism for
verifying origin authentication, data integrity and signatory non-
repudiation.”
Thus, a digital signature is a data-dependent bit pattern, generated by an
agent as a function of a file, message, or other form of data block
FIPS 186-4 specifies the use of one of three digital signature algorithms:
Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA)
RSA Digital Signature Algorithm
Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA)
Random Keys for public-key
Numbers algorithms
Stream key for symmetric
stream cipher
Uses include
generation of: Symmetric key for use as a
temporary session key or in
creating a digital envelope
Handshaking to prevent
replay attacks
Random Number
Requirements
Randomness Unpredictability
Criteria:
Uniform distribution Each number is statistically
Frequency of occurrence of each
of the numbers should be independent of other
approximately the same numbers in the sequence
Independence
No one value in the sequence
can be inferred from the others
Opponent should not be
able to predict future
elements of the sequence
on the basis of earlier
elements
Random versus
Pseudorandom
Cryptographic applications typically make use of algorithmic techniques
for random number generation
• Algorithms are deterministic and therefore produce sequences of numbers that are not statistically
random
Pseudorandom numbers are:
• Sequences produced that satisfy statistical randomness tests
• Likely to be predictable
True random number generator (TRNG):
• Uses a nondeterministic source to produce randomness
• Most operate by measuring unpredictable natural processes
• e.g. radiation, gas discharge, leaky capacitors
• Increasingly provided on modern processors
Practical Application:
Encryption of Stored Data
Common to encrypt transmitted data
Much less common for stored data
There is often little protection
beyond domain authentication
and operating system access
Approaches to encrypt stored data:
controls
Data are archived for indefinite
periods
Use a commercially
Library based tape Background laptop/PC
available encryption Back-end appliance
encryption data encryption
package
Even though erased, until disk
sectors are reused data are
recoverable
Summary
• Confidentiality with
symmetric encryption • Public-key encryption
Symmetric encryption Structure
Symmetric block encryption Applications for public-key
algorithms cryptosystems
Stream ciphers Requirements for public-key
cryptography
• Message authentication and Asymmetric encryption algorithms
hash functions • Digital signatures and key
Authentication using symmetric management
encryption Digital signature
Message authentication without Public-key certificates
message encryption Symmetric key exchange using public-
key encryption
Secure hash functions
Digital envelopes
Other applications of hash functions
• Practical Application:
• Random and pseudorandom Encryption of Stored Data
numbers
The use of random numbers
Random versus pseudorandom
