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Cryptographic Key Types
A cryptographic key is a string of data that is used to lock or unlock cryptographic functions, including authentication, authorization and encryption. Cryptographic keys are grouped into cryptographic key types according to the functions they perform. Description Consider a keyring that contains a variety of keys. These keys might be various shapes and sizes, but one thing is certain, each will generally serve a separate purpose. One key might be used to start an automobile, while another might be used to open a safe deposit box. The automobile key will not work to open the safe deposit box and vice versa. This analogy provides some insight on how cryptographic key types work. These keys are categorized in respect to how they are used and what properties they possess. A cryptographic key is categorized according to how it will be used and what properties it has. For example, a key might have one of the following properties: Symmetric, Public or Private. Keys may also be grouped ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryptographic Key
A key in cryptography is a piece of information, usually a string of numbers or letters that are stored in a file, which, when processed through a cryptographic algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ..., can Encryption, encode or decode cryptographic data. Based on the used method, the key can be different sizes and varieties, but in all cases, the strength of the encryption relies on the security of the key being maintained. A key's security strength is dependent on its algorithm, the size of the key, the generation of the key, and the process of key exchange. Scope The key is what is used to encrypt data from plaintext to ciphertext. There are different methods for utilizing keys and encryption. Symmetric cryptography Symmetric cryptography refers to the pra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryptography
Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), adversarial behavior. More generally, cryptography is about constructing and analyzing Communication protocol, protocols that prevent third parties or the public from reading private messages. Modern cryptography exists at the intersection of the disciplines of mathematics, computer science, information security, electrical engineering, digital signal processing, physics, and others. Core concepts related to information security (confidentiality, data confidentiality, data integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation) are also central to cryptography. Practical applications of cryptography include electronic commerce, Smart card#EMV, chip-based payment cards, digital currencies, password, computer passwords, and military communications. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Authentication
Authentication (from ''authentikos'', "real, genuine", from αὐθέντης ''authentes'', "author") is the act of proving an Logical assertion, assertion, such as the Digital identity, identity of a computer system user. In contrast with identification, the act of indicating a person or thing's identity, authentication is the process of verifying that identity. Authentication is relevant to multiple fields. In art, antiques, and anthropology, a common problem is verifying that a given artifact was produced by a certain person, or in a certain place (i.e. to assert that it is not counterfeit), or in a given period of history (e.g. by determining the age via carbon dating). In computer science, verifying a user's identity is often required to allow access to confidential data or systems. It might involve validating personal identity documents. In art, antiques and anthropology Authentication can be considered to be of three types: The ''first'' type of authentication is accep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Authorization
Authorization or authorisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences), in information security, computer security and identity management, IAM (Identity and Access Management), is the function of specifying rights/privileges for accessing resources, in most cases through an access policy, and then deciding whether a particular ''subject'' has privilege to access a particular ''resource''. Examples of ''subjects'' include human users, computer software and other Computer hardware, hardware on the computer. Examples of ''resources'' include individual files or an item's data, computer programs, computer Computer hardware, devices and functionality provided by computer applications. For example, user accounts for human resources staff are typically configured with authorization for accessing employee records. Authorization is closely related to access control, which is what enforces the authorization policy by d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Encryption
In Cryptography law, cryptography, encryption (more specifically, Code, encoding) is the process of transforming information in a way that, ideally, only authorized parties can decode. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Despite its goal, encryption does not itself prevent interference but denies the intelligible content to a would-be interceptor. For technical reasons, an encryption scheme usually uses a pseudo-random encryption Key (cryptography), key generated by an algorithm. It is possible to decrypt the message without possessing the key but, for a well-designed encryption scheme, considerable computational resources and skills are required. An authorized recipient can easily decrypt the message with the key provided by the originator to recipients but not to unauthorized users. Historically, various forms of encryption have been used to aid in cryptography. Early encryption ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public-key Cryptography
Public-key cryptography, or asymmetric cryptography, is the field of cryptographic systems that use pairs of related keys. Each key pair consists of a public key and a corresponding private key. Key pairs are generated with cryptographic algorithms based on mathematical problems termed one-way functions. Security of public-key cryptography depends on keeping the private key secret; the public key can be openly distributed without compromising security. There are many kinds of public-key cryptosystems, with different security goals, including digital signature, Diffie–Hellman key exchange, Key encapsulation mechanism, public-key key encapsulation, and public-key encryption. Public key algorithms are fundamental security primitives in modern cryptosystems, including applications and protocols that offer assurance of the confidentiality and authenticity of electronic communications and data storage. They underpin numerous Internet standards, such as Transport Layer Security, T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Integrity
Integrity is the quality of being honest and having a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and Honesty, truthfulness or of one's actions. Integrity can stand in opposition to hypocrisy. It regards internal consistency as a virtue, and suggests that people who hold apparently conflicting values should account for the discrepancy or alter those values. The word ''integrity'' evolved from the Latin adjective , meaning ''whole'' or ''complete''. In this context, integrity is the inner sense of "wholeness" deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of Moral character, character. In ethics In ethics, a person is said to possess the virtue of integrity if the person's actions are based upon an internally consistent framework of principles. These principles should uniformly adhere to sound logical axioms or postulates. A person has ethical integrity to the extent that the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-repudiation
In law, non-repudiation is a situation where a statement's author cannot successfully dispute its authorship or the validity of an associated contract. The term is often seen in a legal setting when the authenticity of a signature is being challenged. In such an instance, the authenticity is being "repudiated". For example, Mallory buys a cell phone for $100, writes a paper cheque as payment, and signs the cheque with a pen. Later, she finds that she can't afford it, and claims that the cheque is a forgery. The signature guarantees that only Mallory could have signed the cheque, and so Mallory's bank must pay the cheque. This is non-repudiation; Mallory cannot repudiate the cheque. In practice, pen-and-paper signatures are not hard to forge, but digital signatures can be very hard to break. In security In general, ''non-repudiation'' involves associating actions or changes with a unique individual. For example, a secure area may use a key card access system where non-repudia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symmetric Key Algorithm
Symmetric-key algorithms are algorithms for cryptography that use the same cryptographic keys for both the encryption of plaintext and the decryption of ciphertext. The keys may be identical, or there may be a simple transformation to go between the two keys. The keys, in practice, represent a shared secret between two or more parties that can be used to maintain a private information link. The requirement that both parties have access to the secret key is one of the main drawbacks of symmetric-key encryption, in comparison to public-key encryption (also known as asymmetric-key encryption). However, symmetric-key encryption algorithms are usually better for bulk encryption. With exception of the one-time pad they have a smaller key size, which means less storage space and faster transmission. Due to this, asymmetric-key encryption is often used to exchange the secret key for symmetric-key encryption. Types Symmetric-key encryption can use either stream ciphers or block ciphers. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryptographically Secure Pseudorandom Number Generator
A cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator (CSPRNG) or cryptographic pseudorandom number generator (CPRNG) is a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) with properties that make it suitable for use in cryptography. It is also referred to as a cryptographic random number generator (CRNG). Background Most cryptographic applications require random numbers, for example: * key generation * initialization vectors * nonces * salts in certain signature schemes, including ECDSA and RSASSA-PSS * token generation The "quality" of the randomness required for these applications varies. For example, creating a nonce in some protocols needs only uniqueness. On the other hand, the generation of a master key requires a higher quality, such as more entropy. And in the case of one-time pads, the information-theoretic guarantee of perfect secrecy only holds if the key material comes from a true random source with high entropy, and thus just any kind of pseudorandom number gener ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Message Authentication Code
In cryptography, a message authentication code (MAC), sometimes known as an authentication tag, is a short piece of information used for authentication, authenticating and Data integrity, integrity-checking a message. In other words, it is used to confirm that the message came from the stated sender (its authenticity) and has not been changed (its integrity). The MAC value allows verifiers (who also possess a secret key) to detect any changes to the message content. Terminology The term message integrity code (MIC) is frequently substituted for the term ''MAC'', especially in communications to distinguish it from the use of the latter as ''media access control address'' (''MAC address''). However, some authors use MIC to refer to a message digest, which aims only to uniquely but opaquely identify a single message. RFC 4949 recommends avoiding the term ''message integrity code'' (MIC), and instead using ''checksum'', ''error detection code'', ''hash function, hash'', ''keyed hash'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Initialization Vector
In cryptography, an initialization vector (IV) or starting variable is an input to a cryptographic primitive being used to provide the initial state. The IV is typically required to be random or pseudorandom, but sometimes an IV only needs to be unpredictable or unique. Randomization is crucial for some encryption schemes to achieve semantic security, a property whereby repeated usage of the scheme under the same cryptographic key, key does not allow an attacker to infer relationships between (potentially similar) segments of the encrypted message. For block ciphers, the use of an IV is described by the Block cipher mode of operation, modes of operation. Some cryptographic primitives require the IV only to be non-repeating, and the required randomness is derived internally. In this case, the IV is commonly called a cryptographic nonce, nonce (a number used only once), and the primitives (e.g. Block_cipher_mode_of_operation#CBC, CBC) are considered ''stateful'' rather than ''randomiz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
