Written by 3.7.3 True randomness and pseudo-randomness Modern algorithms such as Yarrow [99] or Fortuna (see chapter 10 of [65]) generate secret keys for use in cryptographic algorithms and protocols by accumulating entropy from several True Random Number Generators (TRNGs) and combining it using hash functions (see Chapter 11, Hash Functions and Message Authentication Codes) and block […]
3.3 Key space The security of an encryption algorithm is subtly related to the notion of key space. Simply put, a key space refers to encryption/decryption key pairs. The size of a key space determines how many of these pairs are available in a cryptographic algorithm (recall that in a symmetric algorithm, the encryption and […]
4.1 Preliminaries In this chapter, we are going to talk about how to achieve confidentiality, the first of the three security goals in the CIA triad. For this, we need encryption (and also decryption) functions. In order to be able to describe these functions precisely and to put them into the right context, we need […]
4.2 Symmetric cryptosystems To recap from Chapter 2, Secure Channel and the CIA Triad, confidentiality is achieved using functions fK : ℳ→𝒞 that transform the private information m, also referred to as plaintext, into a scrambled message c = fK(m), referred to as ciphertext. Here, fK is an encryption function. It maps a plaintext m […]
4.3 Information-theoretical security (perfect secrecy) The historical roots of encryption are in military and diplomatic communications. The first encryption schemes were perhaps invented by the ancient Greeks and Romans. These encryption schemes have survived until today in the form of examples for easily breakable ciphers and can be found in virtually any textbook on cryptography. […]