Cryptographic Trends

History and Present

• “Kryptos” : Hidden,
Secret
• “Grapho” : I write
Applications

ATM Cards
E-Mail Privacy
Computer Passwords
Electronic Commerce
Secure Remote Access
 Other Definitions

• Cipher: pair of algorithms which creates

the encryption and the reversing
decryption
• Key: secret parameter (ideally, known only
to the communicants) for a specific
message exchange context
Crypto
 Use

• Earlier, just for message confidentiality.

• Now, for message integrity checking,
sender/receiver identity authentication,
digital signatures and secure computation,
amongst others.
• ATM Cards
 Classical Ciphers
• Transposition
• Substituition
• Caesar- Excess-3 code in Algebra
• Steganography-Invisible Ink
• Most secure-One Time Pad
National Institute of Standards and
Technology
• Adopted the DES in the 1970s.
• AES in use for the recent past
• Standard algorithm for encryption, used
throughout the world
 Types of Cryptography
• Public Key Cryptography
• Public key for encryption, private for
decryption
• Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange, this is
possible
• Symmetric Key Cryptography
• Cryptanalysis-Interesting! (Brute force,
known plaintext etc)
 Cryptanalysis of the enigma
• Decryption of
messages of Axis
powers by the Allies
• Encryption through a
machine called
“Enigma”
• Decrypted message
was called ultra!
 Legal Issues
• Zimmerman’s PGP released in 1991,
results in FBI and Police enquiries in the
US
• Bernstein files a case against US Gov,
results in Cryptographic Code as part of
free speech!
• Efforts by Gov to keep technique of
Differential Cryptanalysis a secret
 Zero-Knowledge Proof
• Story of Peggy and
Victor(Quisquater)
• Completeness,
Soundness and Zero
Knowledge
 Secret Sharing
• Definition
• Flawed Secret
Sharing Scheme:
“Password”
• Each share as large
as the secret
• Random bits
• Coca Cola’s Secret!
 More Schemes for Secret Sharing
•Proactive Secret
Sharing: Constantly
upgrading the
secret, performing
simple operations
on it
 Public Key Cryptography
• Public Key Encryption
• Digital Signature used in mails, to verify a
message has been signed by a user and
has not been modified the receiver only
needs to know the corresponding public
key.
• Paradox of the private key?
• Symmetric and Asymmetric Key systems
 Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange

Method to private share keys

across an unprotected network.

Makes use of the fact that g^ba

and g^ab are equal
 Schemes
• Web of Trust: Key actually belongs to the
said person, used in PGP
• Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is used over e-
mails, Public key binds with e-mail of user.
• Only the receiver possess the private key
• Similar to Digital Signatures
The plight of Alice!