A one-time pad is a form of encryption that is difficult to decipher or crack if one is not the intended recipient. If done correctly, the strength of encryption of plaintext can almost be impossible to break in a useful timeframe. The system takes each character from plaintext and uses modular addition with a character …
A wordlist is a text file containing a collection of words for use in a dictionary attack. Wordlist Usage A dictionary attack using a wordlist relies on the fact that most users choose weak passwords. Very common passwords include password, computer, work, and most of the popular female names. Common Dictionary Attacks Using A Wordlist …
Substitution and transposition ciphers are two categories of ciphers used in classical cryptography. Substitution and transposition differ in how chunks of the message are handled by the encryption process. Substitution ciphers Substitution ciphers encrypt plaintext by changing the plaintext one piece at a time. The Caesar Cipher was an early substitution cipher. In the Caesar …
A brute force attack consists of trying every possible code, combination, or password until the right one is found. Determining the Difficulty of a Brute Force Attack The difficulty of a brute force attack depends on several factors, such as: How long can the key be? How many possible values can each key component have? …
The known ciphertext attack, or ciphertext only attack (COA) is an attack method used in cryptanalysis when the attacker has access to a given set of ciphertext(s). The attacker does not have access to corresponding cleartext in this method; however, COA is successful when correspdonding plaintext can be determined from a given set of ciphertext. …
The XOR encryption is a simple symmetric cipher that is used in many applications where security is not a defined requirement. The XOR Operator XOR (Exclusive OR) is a bitwise operator from binary mathematics. The six bitwise operators, as defined in the C programming language, are: Operation Symbol AND & Inclusive OR | Exclusive OR …
Rubber Hose Cryptography refers to a file system in which multiple archives are encrypted and hidden on the same disk in a way that makes each archive appear to be the size of the entire disk. Rubber Hose Cryptography is often used to hide illegal or confidential information in an attempt to prevent theft or …
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is the currently employed specification for encrypting electronic data by the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST. AES was selected as the U.S. standard for encryption of unclassified information in 2001 supplanting DES which had been the U.S. standards for a number of years (since 1977). AES …
In cryptography, the known plaintext attack, or KPA, is an attack based on having samples of both the plaintext and corresponding encrypted or ciphertext for that information available. This information is used to conduct an analysis of the data in order to determine the secret key used to encrypt and decrypt the information. Historical ciphers …
In a symmetric cipher, both parties must use the same key for encryption and decryption. This means that the encryption key must be shared between the two parties before any messages can be decrypted. Symmetric systems are also known as shared secret systems or private key systems. Symmetric ciphers are significantly faster than asymmetric ciphers, …