Cryptography is the use to keep messages confidential using mathematical operations when traveling between parties that are stored on a computer. People cannot intercept these messages when someone is using cryptography. A cipher is a specific mathematical process which is used in encryption and decryption. Both people need to use the cipher to be able to decrypt the message that was sent. A cryptanalyst is a person who breaks or cracks the encryption to get the information that someone was sending.
Hey Jon, I liked how you made complex concepts simple. To continue the discussion, maybe we could explore why cryptography sometimes fails despite mathematical strength. Like if users mishandle keys or don’t follow security practices. Or talk about government access for law enforcement versus personal privacy. No technique is foolproof, so reviewing real-world gaps could make for good classroom debate.
That is true Yannick a person would be able to make a mistake by putting in the wrong information or even sending the wrong information which could lead to problems. There is even sometimes problems with the algorithm or application that could lead to security problems if a message gets leaked which would be something wrong with cryptography itself.
However, it’s worth mentioning that cryptanalysis encompasses a wide range of techniques and methods used to analyze and break cryptographic systems. Their goal is to uncover vulnerabilities and develop strategies for improving the security of cryptographic systems.
This chapter explores the role of a cryptanalyst, who specializes in deciphering encrypted data. The effectiveness of brute force key cracking diminishes with longer keys, often rendering it impractical. Cryptanalysts might be able to deduce parts of the message in certain situations.
Hey Eyup,
Good explanation of what cryptanalysts do – work to break codes and ciphers. Describing brute force attacks shows understanding of a common technique. And noting how longer keys make brute forcing much harder connects well to our reading on key strength. To take the talk further, we could discuss if there should be limits on breaking codes legally. Most cryptanalysts try to improve security over stealing data. Going into the ethics behind codebreaking could make for thoughtful debate.
Here’s a key takeaway from Chapter 3 on cryptography:
Increasing key length exponentially boosts protection. Adding one bit doubles the number of keys attackers must try. So moving from 56- to 112-bit keys increases difficulty over 70 quadrillion times! This shows why standards keep requiring longer keys – to stay ahead of growing computing power. It also highlights why rigorous encryption standards matter. Something as small as a few bits dramatically impacts security.
This chapter explains the importance of encryption concepts for every IT security professional. One standard cryptographic protection is encryption for Confidentiality. Encryption helps keep information confidential and better protects messages in transit or storage.
From the reading, I learned three core cryptographic processes:
Symmetric key encryption (Used for only Confidentiality)
Public key encryption (Used for both Confidentiality and authentication)
Hashing (integrity).
Cryptography has a long and fascinating history, dating back thousands of years to ancient times. Today, it plays a critical role in modern communication and information security, helping to protect everything from personal emails to financial transactions and government secrets. Also, from the chapter, I learned significant cryptographic security standards, such as virtual private networks (VPNs), which are cryptographic systems that provide secure communication over untrusted networks (the internet, a wireless LAN, etc.)
I agree with your emphasis on the importance of encryption for IT security professionals.In today’s digital landscape, understanding and implementing encryption concepts are essential for safeguarding information. The continuous evolution of cryptographic standards underlines the dynamic nature of cybersecurity, emphasizing the need for ongoing learning and adaptation.
with the understanding of the 3 cryptographic processes highlighted and the functions they achieve, it is important to have clarity on the intended goal to use the appropriate process for a system.
Current cryptography is based on variations of two mathematical processes – substitution and transposition. In a substitution cipher, one character is replaced by another character, but the order of the characters does not change. In transposition ciphers, letters move through the message based on their initial position in the message. The letters themselves don’t change like replacing passwords, but their position in the message does.
Hey Bo,
Good way of contrasting swapping letters versus reordering them to show the core math behind codes. To go further, we could talk about how real encryption is more complex. Like working on bits rather than letters and combining multiple layers of substitution and transposition. That would show how these basic building blocks create modern secure systems.
Indeed, historical cryptographic systems often relied on substitution and transposition techniques. However, modern cryptography has evolved far beyond simple substitution and transposition ciphers. Today’s cryptographic algorithms are based on complex mathematical principles, including number theory, computational complexity, and information theory. These algorithms provide much more robust security.
Substitution and transposition are two fundamental operations used in cyphers to encrypt and decrypt messages, these operations can be used independently or in combination to create more secure and complex ciphers and both substitution and transposition play vital roles in the history and development of cryptographic techniques
Encryption plays a crucial role in maintaining the confidentiality of information and providing security for messages during transmission or storage. Public key encryption is a technique involving two distinct keys, that utilizes a public key accessible to anyone and a private key known only to the key holder. Data encrypted with the public key can only be deciphered using the corresponding private key. The widely adopted implementations of public key cryptography typically rely on algorithms introduced by RSA Data Security.
You effectively highlights the importance of encryption in safeguarding information, focusing on public key encryption’s role in ensuring data security. It clearly explains the concept of public and private keys in a user-friendly manner, noting that data locked with a public key can only be unlocked by its corresponding private key.
Yes, Public key encryption is indeed crucial for maintaining the confidentiality of information, as it ensures that only authorized parties with access to the private key can decrypt and access the encrypted data. This is essential for protecting sensitive information, such as personal data, financial transactions, and confidential communications.
Hashing is a concept in cryptography that involves the use of a function to transform input data into a fixed-size string of characters, which is typically a digest or hash value. This process is irreversible, i.e. it’s challenging (ideally impossible) to reverse the hash value back to the original input, there is no “dehashing” algorithm. It is used to perform authentication functions using a key. Hashing is also repeatable. If two different people apply the same hashing algorithm to the same bit string, they always get exactly the same hash.
Well-known hashing methods include MD5, Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) SHA-1, SHA-2, and SHA-3. Unfortunately, cryptanalysis found weaknesses in both MD5 and SHA-1 (160-bit), only stronger versions of SHA should be used today, and MD5 should not be used at all
Hashing is commonly used for various cryptographic purposes, enhancing security in multiple areas like data integrity, data de-duplication, blockchain technology, secure password storage, digital signatures, and supporting various cryptographic protocols and technologies etc.
With the development of quantum computing technology, traditional hash functions may become insecure. As a result, researchers are working to develop new types of hash functions that are resistant to quantum computing attacks, such as lattice-based hash functions.
Cryptography is the use to keep messages confidential using mathematical operations when traveling between parties that are stored on a computer. People cannot intercept these messages when someone is using cryptography. A cipher is a specific mathematical process which is used in encryption and decryption. Both people need to use the cipher to be able to decrypt the message that was sent. A cryptanalyst is a person who breaks or cracks the encryption to get the information that someone was sending.
Hey Jon, I liked how you made complex concepts simple. To continue the discussion, maybe we could explore why cryptography sometimes fails despite mathematical strength. Like if users mishandle keys or don’t follow security practices. Or talk about government access for law enforcement versus personal privacy. No technique is foolproof, so reviewing real-world gaps could make for good classroom debate.
That is true Yannick a person would be able to make a mistake by putting in the wrong information or even sending the wrong information which could lead to problems. There is even sometimes problems with the algorithm or application that could lead to security problems if a message gets leaked which would be something wrong with cryptography itself.
However, it’s worth mentioning that cryptanalysis encompasses a wide range of techniques and methods used to analyze and break cryptographic systems. Their goal is to uncover vulnerabilities and develop strategies for improving the security of cryptographic systems.
This chapter explores the role of a cryptanalyst, who specializes in deciphering encrypted data. The effectiveness of brute force key cracking diminishes with longer keys, often rendering it impractical. Cryptanalysts might be able to deduce parts of the message in certain situations.
Hey Eyup,
Good explanation of what cryptanalysts do – work to break codes and ciphers. Describing brute force attacks shows understanding of a common technique. And noting how longer keys make brute forcing much harder connects well to our reading on key strength. To take the talk further, we could discuss if there should be limits on breaking codes legally. Most cryptanalysts try to improve security over stealing data. Going into the ethics behind codebreaking could make for thoughtful debate.
Here’s a key takeaway from Chapter 3 on cryptography:
Increasing key length exponentially boosts protection. Adding one bit doubles the number of keys attackers must try. So moving from 56- to 112-bit keys increases difficulty over 70 quadrillion times! This shows why standards keep requiring longer keys – to stay ahead of growing computing power. It also highlights why rigorous encryption standards matter. Something as small as a few bits dramatically impacts security.
does increasing key length which improves the security potentially be more resource intensive in the systems they are used in?
This chapter explains the importance of encryption concepts for every IT security professional. One standard cryptographic protection is encryption for Confidentiality. Encryption helps keep information confidential and better protects messages in transit or storage.
From the reading, I learned three core cryptographic processes:
Symmetric key encryption (Used for only Confidentiality)
Public key encryption (Used for both Confidentiality and authentication)
Hashing (integrity).
Cryptography has a long and fascinating history, dating back thousands of years to ancient times. Today, it plays a critical role in modern communication and information security, helping to protect everything from personal emails to financial transactions and government secrets. Also, from the chapter, I learned significant cryptographic security standards, such as virtual private networks (VPNs), which are cryptographic systems that provide secure communication over untrusted networks (the internet, a wireless LAN, etc.)
Hi Celinemary,
I agree with your emphasis on the importance of encryption for IT security professionals.In today’s digital landscape, understanding and implementing encryption concepts are essential for safeguarding information. The continuous evolution of cryptographic standards underlines the dynamic nature of cybersecurity, emphasizing the need for ongoing learning and adaptation.
with the understanding of the 3 cryptographic processes highlighted and the functions they achieve, it is important to have clarity on the intended goal to use the appropriate process for a system.
Current cryptography is based on variations of two mathematical processes – substitution and transposition. In a substitution cipher, one character is replaced by another character, but the order of the characters does not change. In transposition ciphers, letters move through the message based on their initial position in the message. The letters themselves don’t change like replacing passwords, but their position in the message does.
Hey Bo,
Good way of contrasting swapping letters versus reordering them to show the core math behind codes. To go further, we could talk about how real encryption is more complex. Like working on bits rather than letters and combining multiple layers of substitution and transposition. That would show how these basic building blocks create modern secure systems.
Indeed, historical cryptographic systems often relied on substitution and transposition techniques. However, modern cryptography has evolved far beyond simple substitution and transposition ciphers. Today’s cryptographic algorithms are based on complex mathematical principles, including number theory, computational complexity, and information theory. These algorithms provide much more robust security.
Substitution and transposition are two fundamental operations used in cyphers to encrypt and decrypt messages, these operations can be used independently or in combination to create more secure and complex ciphers and both substitution and transposition play vital roles in the history and development of cryptographic techniques
Encryption plays a crucial role in maintaining the confidentiality of information and providing security for messages during transmission or storage. Public key encryption is a technique involving two distinct keys, that utilizes a public key accessible to anyone and a private key known only to the key holder. Data encrypted with the public key can only be deciphered using the corresponding private key. The widely adopted implementations of public key cryptography typically rely on algorithms introduced by RSA Data Security.
You effectively highlights the importance of encryption in safeguarding information, focusing on public key encryption’s role in ensuring data security. It clearly explains the concept of public and private keys in a user-friendly manner, noting that data locked with a public key can only be unlocked by its corresponding private key.
Yes, Public key encryption is indeed crucial for maintaining the confidentiality of information, as it ensures that only authorized parties with access to the private key can decrypt and access the encrypted data. This is essential for protecting sensitive information, such as personal data, financial transactions, and confidential communications.
Hashing is a concept in cryptography that involves the use of a function to transform input data into a fixed-size string of characters, which is typically a digest or hash value. This process is irreversible, i.e. it’s challenging (ideally impossible) to reverse the hash value back to the original input, there is no “dehashing” algorithm. It is used to perform authentication functions using a key. Hashing is also repeatable. If two different people apply the same hashing algorithm to the same bit string, they always get exactly the same hash.
Well-known hashing methods include MD5, Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) SHA-1, SHA-2, and SHA-3. Unfortunately, cryptanalysis found weaknesses in both MD5 and SHA-1 (160-bit), only stronger versions of SHA should be used today, and MD5 should not be used at all
Hashing is commonly used for various cryptographic purposes, enhancing security in multiple areas like data integrity, data de-duplication, blockchain technology, secure password storage, digital signatures, and supporting various cryptographic protocols and technologies etc.
With the development of quantum computing technology, traditional hash functions may become insecure. As a result, researchers are working to develop new types of hash functions that are resistant to quantum computing attacks, such as lattice-based hash functions.