Introduction
to Crypto-terminologies
Cryptography
is an important aspect when we deal with network security. ‘Crypto’ means
secret or hidden. Cryptography is the science of secret writing with the
intention of keeping the data secret. Cryptanalysis, on the other hand, is the
science or sometimes the art of breaking cryptosystems. These both terms are a
subset of what is called as Cryptology.
Classification –
The flowchart depicts that cryptology is only one of the factors involved in
securing networks. Cryptology refers to study of codes, which involves both
writing (cryptography) and solving (cryptanalysis) them. Below is a
classification of the crypto-terminologies and their various types.
1. Cryptography –
Cryptography is classified into symmetric
cryptography, asymmetric cryptography and hashing. Below are the description of
these types.
1:Symmetric key cryptography
–
It involves usage of one secret key along with
encryption and decryption algorithms which help in securing the contents of the
message. The strength of symmetric key cryptography depends upon the number of
key bits. It is relatively faster than asymmetric key cryptography. There
arises a key distribution problem as the key has to be transferred from the
sender to receiver through a secure channel.
2:Assymetric key cryptography
–
It is also known as public key cryptography
because it involves usage of a public key along with secret key. It solves the
problem of key distribution as both parties uses different keys for
encryption/decryption. It is not feasible to use for decrypting bulk messages
as it is very slow compared to symmetric key cryptography.
3: Hashing –
It involves taking the plain-text and converting
it to a hash value of fixed size by a hash function. This process ensures
integrity of the message as the hash value on both, sender\’s and receiver\’s
side should match if the message is unaltered.
It can be divided into a)Mathematical analysis and b) Brute-force attacks.
Brute-force attacks runs the encryption algorithm for all possible cases of the
keys until a match is found. Encryption algorithm is treated as a black box.
Analytical attacks are those attacks which focuses on breaking the cryptosystem
by analysing the internal structure of the encryption algorithm.
2.
Social Engineering attack –
It is something which is dependent on the human factor. Tricking someone to
reveal their passwords to the attacker or allowing access to the restricted
area comes under this attack. People should be cautious when revealing their
passwords to any third party which is not trusted.
3.
Implementation attacks –
Implementation attacks such as side-channel analysis can be used to obtain a
secret key. They are relevant in cases where the attacker can obtain physical
access to the cryptosystem.
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