Cryptography Basics

Core Concepts

• Plaintext: The original, readable data before encryption.
• Ciphertext: The scrambled, unreadable result after encryption.
• Cipher: An algorithm or method used to perform encryption or decryption.
• Key: A piece of information that determines the output of a cryptographic algorithm.
• Encryption: The process of converting plaintext into ciphertext.
• Decryption: The process of converting ciphertext back into plaintext.
• Encoding: Converting data from one format to another (not for security, just representation).

Types of Encryption

Symmetric Encryption

• Uses the same key for encryption and decryption
• Fast and efficient for large data
• Examples: AES, DES, 3DES
• Use cases: Secure local storage, efficient data transmission

Asymmetric Encryption

• Uses different keys for encryption (public) and decryption (private)
• Slower than symmetric but solves key distribution problem
• Examples: RSA, ECC
• Use cases: Secure communication, digital signatures

Hybrid Encryption

• Uses asymmetric encryption to exchange a symmetric key
• Then uses symmetric encryption for the actual data
• Use cases: HTTPS, secure messaging apps

Hash Functions

• One-way mathematical functions that convert data of any size to a fixed-size output. Any small changes in the input data (even a single bit) should cause a large change in the output.
• The output of a hash function is normally raw bytes, which are then encoded. Common encodings for this are base 64 or hexadecimal. Decoding these won’t give you anything useful.
• Properties: deterministic, fast computation, pre-image resistance, small changes cause large output differences
• Examples: SHA-256, SHA-3, BLAKE2

Hash-Related Concepts

• Hash Collision: When two different inputs produce the same hash output. (Search for pigeonhole effect)
• Rainbow Tables: Precomputed tables for reversing hash functions
• Password Salting: Adding random data (salt) to passwords before hashing to prevent rainbow table attacks
• Pepper: A secret value added to passwords before hashing, stored separately from the database

Public Key Cryptography

Public key cryptography (asymmetric cryptography) uses a pair of mathematically related keys:

• Public Key: Shared openly with anyone
• Private Key: Kept secret by the owner

Core Mechanics

• Encryption: Data encrypted with the public key can only be decrypted with the corresponding private key
• Digital Signatures: Data signed with a private key can be verified with the corresponding public key
• Key Distribution: Solves the problem of securely exchanging keys over insecure channels
• Non-repudiation: Provides proof of origin through digital signatures

RSA (Rivest–Shamir–Adleman)

• Based on the mathematical difficulty of factoring the product of two large prime numbers
• Key Generation Process:
  1. Select two large prime numbers (p, q)
  2. Compute n = p × q
  3. Compute φ(n) = (p-1) × (q-1)
  4. Choose public exponent e (usually 65537)
  5. Compute private exponent d where (d × e) mod φ(n) = 1
  6. Public key = (n, e), Private key = (n, d)
• Security: Relies on the computational difficulty of the integer factorization problem
• Use Cases: Digital signatures, secure key exchange, encryption of small data blocks
• Limitations: Relatively slow, especially for large data; vulnerable to quantum computing attacks

Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange

• Allows two parties to establish a shared secret key over an insecure channel
• How It Works:
  1. Parties agree on public parameters (a prime number p and base g)
  2. Each party generates a private key (a, b)
  3. Each computes public values: A = g^a mod p, B = g^b mod p
  4. Each shares their public value with the other party
  5. Shared secret calculated: K = B^a mod p = A^b mod p = g^(ab) mod p
• Security: Based on the discrete logarithm problem
• Limitation: Vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks without authentication

Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)

• Based on algebraic structure of elliptic curves over finite fields
• Same security level as RSA but with significantly smaller key sizes
• ECC 256-bit keys provide similar security to RSA 3072-bit keys
• Much faster and more efficient than RSA, especially on constrained devices
• Used in modern TLS, secure messaging apps, and cryptocurrencies

Digital Signatures

• Creation: Hash the message and encrypt the hash with the sender’s private key
• Verification: Recipient decrypts the hash using sender’s public key and compares it with newly calculated hash
• Properties: Authenticates the sender, ensures data integrity, provides non-repudiation
• Algorithms: RSA-PSS, ECDSA, EdDSA

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)

• System that manages digital certificates and public key encryption
• Certificate Authorities (CAs): Trusted third parties that issue digital certificates
• Digital Certificates: Documents binding a public key to an entity’s identity
• Trust Chain: Hierarchy of certificates from root CAs to end-entity certificates
• Use Case: Web browsers use PKI to verify website authenticity (HTTPS)

Comparison of Key Public Key Algorithms

Authentication with Salted Passwords

Key Question

How does password verification work with random salts if the salt changes each time?

Solution

1. The salt is not secret and is stored in plaintext alongside the password hash
2. During authentication:
   • System retrieves the stored salt for that specific user
   • Combines the entered password with the stored salt
   • Hashes this combination
   • Compares resulting hash with stored hash

Example Flow

Registration:
1. User creates password: "password123"
2. System generates random salt: "8f4e2a9c"
3. System combines: "password1238f4e2a9c"
4. System hashes: hash("password1238f4e2a9c") → "a7f9b23..."
5. Stores in database:
   - Salt: "8f4e2a9c"
   - Hash: "a7f9b23..."

Authentication:
1. User enters: "password123"
2. System retrieves stored salt: "8f4e2a9c"
3. System combines: "password1238f4e2a9c"
4. System hashes: hash("password1238f4e2a9c") → "a7f9b23..."
5. Compares with stored hash
6. Match = authenticated

Security Principles

• Salt does not need to be secret; its security comes from uniqueness
• Each user having a different salt means identical passwords produce different hashes
• Even if an attacker knows the salt, they need to create a separate rainbow table for each salt
• Pre-computing rainbow tables for every possible salt is computationally infeasible

Best Practices

• Use cryptographically secure random salt generation
• Salt should be at least 16 bytes (128 bits)
• Always use modern hashing algorithms (Argon2, bcrypt, PBKDF2)
• Implement proper key stretching with high iteration counts

Recognising Password Hashes