Chapter 2

Encryption Algorithms & Systems (Part

G)
Outline
NP-completeness & Encryption
Symmetric (secret key) vs Asymmetric (public
key) Encryptions
Popular Encryption Algorithms
 DES

 AES

 RSA Encryption

 El Gamal Algorithms

Hashing Algorithms

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Uses of Encryption

Key Exchange
Cryptographic Hash Functions
 Hash
 Message Digest
Digital Signatures
Certificates

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El Gamal Algorithm
A public key algorithm
1984
Important in the U.S. DSS (Digital Signature
Standard)
Digital Signatures
The sender computes the digital signature
using his own private key.

DS = E (Keypriv, P)
The receiver verifies the signature using the
sender’s public key.

P = D (Keypub, DS)
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El Gamal Algorithm
To generate a key pair:
 Choose a prime p and two integers, a and
x, such that a < p and x < p.
 The prime p should be chosen so that (p-
1) has a large prime factor q.
 Calculate the public key: y = ax mod p.
 Private key: x
 Public key: y

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El Gamal Algorithm
(The sender) To sign a message m:
 Choose a new random integer k, 0 < k <
p-1 and k is relprime to (p-1).
 Compute r = ak mod p.
 Compute s = k-1 ( m – xr ) mod (p-1)
 The message signature: r and s.

Verification: A recipient use the public key

(y) to compute ( y r r s ) mod p and determine
if it is equivalent to am mod p.

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Traditional Legal Meaning of "Non-
Repudiation"
There is a definitional distinction between
the legal use of the term "non-repudiation"
and its crypto-technical use. In the legal
sense an alleged signatory to a document is
always able to repudiate a signature that
has been attributed to him or her.
The basis for a repudiation of a traditional
signature may include:
 The signature is a forgery;
 The signature is not a forgery, but was obtained
via:
 Unconscionable conduct by a party to a transaction;
 Fraud instigated by a third party;
 Undue influence exerted by a third party.
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Crypto-Technical Meaning of "Non-
Repudiation"
In general terms, the term "non-repudiation"
crypto-technically means:
 In authentication, a service that provides proof of the
integrity and origin of data, both in an unforgeable
relationship, which can be verified by any third party
at any time; or,
 In authentication, an authentication that with high
assurance can be asserted to be genuine, and that
can not subsequently be refuted.
“Non-repudiation is a property achieved through
cryptographic methods which prevents an individual
or entity from denying having performed a particular
action related to data (such as mechanisms for non-
rejection or authority (origin); for proof of obligation,
intent, or commitment; or for proof of ownership).”
-- 1998, the Australian Federal Government's
Electronic Commerce Expert Group

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 Digital
Signature
• A digital signature is an electronic signature that can be
used to authenticate the identity of the sender of a
message or the signer of a document
• To ensure that the original content of the message or
document that has been sent is unchanged.
• Digital signatures are easily transportable, cannot be
imitated by someone else, and can be automatically time-
stamped.

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 Digital
Signature
•The ability to ensure that the original signed message
arrived means that the sender cannot easily repudiate
it later.
• A digital signature can be used with any kind of
message, whether it is encrypted or not, simply so that
the receiver can be sure of the sender's identity and
that the message arrived intact.

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Encryption for Digital
Signatures
An electronic check can resemble a simple
text message sent to the bank by the
sender
Integrity: To ensure that no changes occur
to the file
Authenticity: The bank needs to
authenticate that the message is from the
legitimate sender
Confidentiality: Needed to ensure only the
bank gets the message
Non repudiation: Since the sender might
deny that the message was sent by him/her
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 Digital Certificates
The distribution mechanism by which the public
keys are sent is called certificates
Suppose user A wishes to send his/her public key
to user B
User A sends a message requesting certificate
from a common trusted party by A and B, say
Certificate Authority (CA)
CA digitally signs the message using its private
key and sends it to A
A now can send its certificate to B
B gets the certificate, verifies the signature using
CA’s public key
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Hash Algorithm
A hash algorithm is a check function that
protects data against modifications.
C.f., checksum in network transmission
Hash functions produce a reduced form of a
body of data (called a digest or check value)
such that most changes to the data will also
change the reduced form.
A cryptographic hash function uses a
cryptographic function as part of the hash
function.
1992: Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA)

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 Message Digest

MD5 is a tool which guarantees the integrity of data

MD5 can help you in a variety of ways.
• When files are downloaded from the Internet, MD5 can
guarantee the correctness of the file.
• This protects from Trojans or corrupted files. This means
someone cannot figure out the data based on its MD5
fingerprint.

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 Different versions of
Message Digest
 MD2 ,MD4 and MD5 are message-digest algorithms
developed by Rivest.
 They are meant for digital signature applications where
a large message has to be ``compressed'' in a secure
manner before being signed with the private key.
 All three algorithms take a message of arbitrary length
and produce a 128-bit message digest.
 Structural similarity and Design difference of these
algorithms.
 MD2 was optimized for 8-bit machines, whereas MD4
and MD5 were aimed at 32-bit machines.
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 Message Digest -
Details
• MD5 is a one-way hash algorithm that takes any
length of data and produces a 128 bit "fingerprint" or
"message digest".

• This fingerprint is "non-reversible", it is

computationally infeasible to determine the file based
on the fingerprint.

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Message Digest -
Details

• Message Padding
• Checksum calculation
• Block division and compression function
• Hash generation – MD generation

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Message Digest -
Details

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 MD5 - Example

An example of a MD5 output for the binary /usr/bin/ls:

$ md5 /usr/bin/ls

MD5 (/usr/bin/ls) = 1eabd3dbc0746c8a4b5467f99a4f8823

The actual finger print is

1eabd3dbc0746c8a4b5467f99a4f8823

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 MD5 – Example
(contd.)

• MD5 applies a mathematical algorithm to the "ls" binary

to produce the fingerprint.
• Every time when a MD5 hash is done on the binary
/usr/bin/ls, the exact same fingerprint should be obtained.
• If a different fingerprint is obtained, then the binary has
been altered, maybe the result of a system patch or the
binary has been trojaned.

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 MD5 –
Application
• When a new file or patch is downloaded, one of
the first things is to generate MD5 hash of the file.
• Compare the fingerprint to a known good
fingerprint (usually posted on remote site).
• If the fingerprints match, the file’s integrity is
assured.
• The tool Tripwire works the same way.

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 Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA)
1992: NIST
Input data < 264 bits
160-bit digest
Strength: diffusion, the avalanche effect

C.f., MD4, MD5

Both MD5 and SHA are variants of the
MD4 by Rivest.
Strength: MD4 < MD5 < SHA

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