Lecture Notes

APPLIED CRYPTOGRAPHY AND DATA

SECURITY

(version 2.5 — January 2005)

Prof. Christof Paar

Chair for Communication Security

Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Sciences
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Germany

www.crypto.rub.de
Table of Contents

1 Introduction to Cryptography and Data Security 2

1.1 Literature Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Overview on the Field of Cryptology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Symmetric Cryptosystems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.2 A Motivating Example: The Substitution Cipher . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3.3 How Many Key Bits Are Enough? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4 Cryptanalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4.1 Rules of the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4.2 Attacks against Crypto Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5 Some Number Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.6 Simple Blockciphers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.6.1 Shift Cipher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.6.2 Affine Cipher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.7 Lessons Learned — Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2 Stream Ciphers 22
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2 Some Remarks on Random Number Generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.3 General Thoughts on Security, One-Time Pad and Practical Stream Ciphers 27
2.4 Synchronous Stream Ciphers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

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 2.4.1 Linear Feedback Shift Registers (LFSR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.4.2 Clock Controlled Shift Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.5 Known Plaintext Attack Against Single LFSRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.6 Lessons Learned — Stream Ciphers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

3 Data Encryption Standard (DES) 38

3.1 Confusion and Diffusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.2 Introduction to DES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.2.2 Permutations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.2.3 Core Iteration / f-Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.2.4 Key Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.3 Decryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.4 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.4.1 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.4.2 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.5 Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.5.1 Exhaustive Key Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.6 DES Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.7 Lessons Learned — DES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

4 Rijndael – The Advanced Encryption Standard 54

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.1.1 Basic Facts about AES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.1.2 Chronology of the AES Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.2 Rijndael Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.3 Some Mathematics: A Very Brief Introduction to Galois Fields . . . . . . . . 59
4.4 Internal Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
4.4.1 Byte Substitution Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

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 4.4.2 Diffusion Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.4.3 Key Addition Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4.5 Decryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4.6 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.6.1 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.6.2 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.7 Lessons Learned — AES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

5 More about Block Ciphers 69

5.1 Modes of Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.1.1 Electronic Codebook Mode (ECB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.1.2 Cipher Block Chaining Mode (CBC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
5.1.3 Cipher Feedback Mode (CFB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.1.4 Counter Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.2 Key Whitening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.3 Multiple Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.3.1 Double Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.3.2 Triple Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.4 Lessons Learned — More About Block Ciphers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

6 Introduction to Public-Key Cryptography 81

6.1 Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
6.2 One-Way Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
6.3 Overview of Public-Key Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.4 Important Public-Key Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.5 More Number Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.5.1 Euclid’s Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.5.2 Euler’s Phi Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
6.6 Lessons Learned — Basics of Public-Key Cryptography . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

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7 RSA 93
7.1 Cryptosystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
7.2 Computational Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
7.2.1 Choosing p and q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
7.2.2 Choosing a and b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
7.2.3 Encryption/Decryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
7.3 Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.3.1 Brute Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.3.2 Finding Φ(n) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.3.3 Finding a directly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.3.4 Factorization of n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.4 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7.5 Lessons Learned — RSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

8 The Discrete Logarithm (DL) Problem 109

8.1 Some Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
8.1.1 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
8.1.2 Finite Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
8.1.3 Subgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
8.2 The Generalized DL Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
8.3 Attacks for the DL Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
8.4 Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
8.4.1 Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
8.4.2 Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
8.5 Lessons Learned — Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

9 Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem 124

9.1 Elliptic Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
9.2 Cryptosystems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

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 9.2.1 Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
9.2.2 Menezes-Vanstone Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
9.3 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

10 ElGamal Encryption Scheme 132

10.1 Cryptosystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
10.2 Computational Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
10.2.1 Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
10.2.2 Decryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
10.3 Security of ElGamal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

11 Digital Signatures 137

11.1 Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
11.2 RSA Signature Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
11.3 ElGamal Signature Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
11.4 Lessons Learned — Digital Signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

12 Error Coding (Channel Coding) 146

12.1 Cryptography and Coding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
12.2 Basics of Channel Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
12.3 Simple Parity Check Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
12.4 Weighted Parity Check Codes: The ISBN Book Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . 150
12.5 Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

13 Hash Functions 154

13.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
13.2 Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
13.3 Hash Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
13.4 Lessons Learned — Hash Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

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14 Message Authentication Codes (MACs) 166
14.1 Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
14.2 MACs from Block Ciphers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
14.3 MACs from Hash Functions: HMAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
14.4 Lessons Learned — Message Authentication Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

15 Security Services 172

15.1 Attacks Against Information Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
15.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
15.3 Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
15.4 Integrity and Sender Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
15.4.1 Digital Signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
15.4.2 MACs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
15.4.3 Integrity and Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

16 Key Establishment 177

16.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
16.2 Symmetric-Key Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
16.2.1 The n2 Key Distribution Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
16.2.2 Key Distribution Center (KDC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
16.3 Public-Key Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
16.3.1 Man-In-The-Middle Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
16.3.2 Certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
16.3.3 Diffie-Hellman Exchange with Certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
16.3.4 Authenticated Key Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

17 Case Study: The Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Protocol 186

17.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
17.2 SSL Record Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
17.2.1 Overview of the SSL Record Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

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 17.3 SSL Handshake Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
17.3.1 Core Cryptographic Components of SSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

18 Introduction to Identification Schemes 192

18.1 Symmetric-key Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

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1
Chapter 1

Introduction to Cryptography and

Data Security

2
1.1 Literature Recommendations
1. W. Stallings [Sta02], Cryptography and Network Security. Prentice Hall, 2002. Very
accessible book on cryptography, well suited for self-study or the undergraduate level.
Covers cryptographic algorithms as well as an introduction to important practical
protocols such as IPsec and SSL.

2. D.R. Stinson [Sti02], Cryptography: Theory and Practice. CRC Press, 2002. A real
textbook. Much more mathematical than Stallings’, but very systematic treatment of
the material. The Lecture Notes by Christof Paar loosely follow the material presented
in this book.

3. A.Menezes, P. van Oorschot, S. Vanstone [MvOV97], Handbook of Applied Cryptogra-

phy. CRC Press, October 1996. Great compilation of theoretical and implementational
aspects of many crypto schemes. Unique since it includes many theoretical topics that
are hard to find otherwise. Highly recommended.

4. B. Schneier [Sch96], Applied Cryptography. 2nd ed., Wiley, 1995. Very accessible
treatment of protocols and algorithms. Gives also a very nice introduction to cryptog-
raphy as a discipline. Is becoming a bit dated.

5. D. Kahn [Kah67], The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Commu-

nication from Ancient Times to the Internet. 2nd edition, Scribner, 1996. Extremely
interesting book on the history of cryptography, with a focus on the time up to World
War II. Great leisure time reading material, highly recommended!

3
1.2 Overview on the Field of Cryptology

CRYPTOLOGY

Cryptography Cryptanalysis

Symmetric-Key Public-Key Protocols

Block cipher Stream cipher

Figure 1.1: Overview on the field of cryptology

Extremely Brief History of Cryptography

Symmetric-Key All encryption and decryption schemes dating from BC to 1976.

Public-Key In 1976 the first public-key scheme was introduced by Diffie-Hellman key ex-
change protocol.

Hybrid Approach In today’s practical systems, very often hybrid schemes are applied
which use symmetric algorithms together with public-key algorithms (since both types
of algorithms have advantages and disadvantages.)

4
1.3 Symmetric Cryptosystems

1.3.1 Basics

Sometimes these schemes are also referred to as symmetric-key, single-key, and secret-key
approaches.
Problem Statement: Alice and Bob want to communication over an un-secure channel
(e.g., the Internet, a LAN or a cell phone link.) They want to prevent Oscar (the bad guy)
from listening.
Solution: Use of symmetric-key cryptosystems (these have been around for thousands of
years) such that if Oscar reads the encrypted version y of the message x over the un-secure
channel, he will not be able to understand its content because x is what really was sent.

Oscar
(bad)

x y x
Alice Encryption Decryption Bob
(good) e() d() (good)

k k
Secure Channel

Key
Generator

Figure 1.2: Symmetric-key cryptosystem

Remark: In this scenario we only consider the problem of confidentiality, that is, of hiding
the contents of the message from an eavesdropper. We will see later in these lecture notes
that there are many other things we can do with cryptography, such as preventing Oscar to
make changes to the message.

5
Some important definitions:
1a) x is called the “plaintext”
1b) P= {x1 , x2 , . . . , xp } is the (finite) “plaintext space”
2a) y is called the “ciphertext”
2b) C= {y1 , y2 , . . . , yc } is the (finite) “ciphertext space”
3a) k is called the “key”
3b) K= {k1 , k2 , . . . , kl } is the finite “key space”
4a) There are l encryption functions e ki : P→C (or: eki (x) = y)
4b) There are l decryption functions d ki : C→P (or: dki (y) = x)
4c) ek1 and dk2 are inverse functions if k1 = k2 : dki (y) = dki (eki (x)) = x for all ki ∈K

Example: Data Encryption Standard (DES)

• P = C= {0, 1, 2, . . . , 264 − 1} (each xi has 64 bits: xi = 010 . . . 0110)

• K= {0, 1, 2, . . . , 256 − 1} (each ki has 56 bits)

• encryption (ek ) and decryption (dk ) will be described in Chapter 4

6
1.3.2 A Motivating Example: The Substitution Cipher

Goal: Encryption of text (as opposed to bits)

Idea: Substitute each letter by another one. The substitution rule forms the key.
Ex.:

A → K

B → D

C → W

···

Attacks:

Q: Is brute-force attack (i.e., trying of all possible keys) possible?

A:
#keys = 26 · 25 · · · 3 · 2 · 1 = 26! ≈ 288

A search through such a key space is technically not feasible with today’s computer technol-
ogy.

Q: Other attacks?
A: But: Letter frequency analysis works!
The major weakness of the method is that each plaintext symbol always maps to the same
ciphertext symbol. That means that the statistical properties of the plaintext are preserved
in the ciphertext. For practical attacks, the following properties of language can be exploited:

1. Determine the frequencies of every ciphertext letter. The frequency distribution (even
of relatively short pieces of encrypted text) will be close to that of the given language
in general. In particular, the most frequent letters (for instance, in English: “e” is the
most frequent one with about 13%, “t” is the second most frequent one with about
9%, “a” is the third most frequent one with about 8%, ...) can often easily be spotted
in ciphertext.

7
 2. The method above can be generalized by looking at pairs (or triples, or quadruples, or
...) of ciphertext symbols. For instance, in English (and German and other European
languages), the letter “q” is almost always followed by a “u”. This behavior can be
exploited for detecting the substitution of the letter “q” and the letter “u”.

3. If we assume that word separators (blanks) have been found (which is often an easy
task), one can often detect frequent short words such as “the”, “and”, ... , which leaks
all the letters in the words involved in those words

In practice the three techniques listed above are often combined to break substitution ciphers.
Lesson learned: Good ciphers should hide the statistical properties of the encrypted plain-
text. The ciphertext symbols should appear to be random. Also, a large key space alone is
not sufficient for a strong encryption function.

8
1.3.3 How Many Key Bits Are Enough?

The following table gives a rough indication of the security of symmetric ciphers with respect
to brute force attacks. As described in Subsection 1.3.2, a large key space is only a necessary
but not a sufficient condition for a secure symmetric cipher. The cipher must also be strong
against analytical attacks.

key length security estimation

56–64 bits short term (a few hours or days)
112–128 bits long term (several decades in the absence of quantum computers)
256 bits long term (several decades, even with quantum computers (QC)
which run the currently known brute force QC algorithms)

Table 1.1: Estimated brute force resistance of symmetric algorithms

9
1.4 Cryptanalysis

1.4.1 Rules of the Game

What is cryptanalysis? The science of recovering the plaintext x from the ciphertext y.
Often cryptanalysis is understood as the science of recovering the plaintext through mathe-
matical analysis. However, there are other methods too such as:

• Side-channel analysis can be used for finding a secret key, for instance by measuring
the electrical power consumption of a smart card.

• Social engineering (bribing, black mailing, tricking) or classical espionage can be used
for obtaining a secret key by involving humans.

Solid cryptosystems should adhere to Kerckhoffs’ Principle, postulated by Auguste Kerck-

hoffs in 1883:

A cryptosystem should be secure even if the attacker (Oscar) knows all details about
the system, with the exception of the secret key. In particular, the system should
be secure when the attacker knows the encryption and decryption algorithm.

Important Remark Kerckhoffs’ Principle is counterintuitive! It is extremely tempting to

design a system which appears to be more secure because we keep the details hidden. This
is called “security by obscurity”. However, experience has shown time and again that such
systems are almost always weak, and they can very often been broken easily as soon as
the “secret” design has been reversed engineered or leaked out through other means. An
example is the Content Scrambling System (CSS) for DVD contents protection which was
broken easily once it was reversed engineered.

10
1.4.2 Attacks against Crypto Algorithms

If we consider mathematical cryptanalysis we can distinguish four cases, depending on the

knowledge that the attacker has about the plaintext and the ciphertext.

1. Ciphertext-only attack
Oscar’s knowledge: some y1 = ek (x1 ), y2 = ek (x2 ), . . .
Oscar’s goal : obtain x1 , x2 , . . . or the key k.

2. Known plaintext attack

Oscar’s knowledge: some pairs (x1 , y1 = ek (x1 )), (x2 , y2 = ek (x2 )) . . .
Oscar’s goal : obtain the key k.

3. Chosen plaintext attack

Oscar’s knowledge: some pairs (x1 , y1 = ek (x1 )), (x2 , y2 = ek (x2 )) . . . of which he can choose
x1 , x2 , . . .
Oscar’s goal : obtain the key k.

4. Chosen ciphertext attack

Oscar’s knowledge: some pairs (x1 , y1 = ek (x1 )), (x2 , y2 = ek (x2 )) . . . of which he can choose
y1 , y2 , . . .
Oscar’s goal : obtain the key k.

11
1.5 Some Number Theory
Goal Find a finite set in which we can perform (most of) the standard arithmetic operations.

Example of a finite set in every day live: The hours on a clock. If you keep adding 1 hour
you get:
1h, 2h, 3h, . . . , 11h, 12h, 1h, 2h, 3h, . . .

Even though we keep adding one hour, we never leave the set. Let’s look at a general way
of dealing with arithmetic in such finite sets. We consider the set of the 9 numbers:

{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 7, 8}

We can do regular arithmetic as long as the results are smaller than 9. For instance:

2×3 = 6

4+4 = 8

But what about 8 + 4? We try now the following rule: Perform regular integer arithmetic
and divide the result by 9. We then consider only the remainder rather than the original
result. Since 8 + 4 = 12, and 12/9 has a remainder of 3, we write:

8 + 4 ≡ 3 mod 9

We now introduce an exact definition of the modulo operation:

Definition 1.5.1 Modulo Operation
Let a, r, m ∈ Z (where Z is a set of all integers) and m > 0. We write
a ≡ r mod m if m divides r − a.
“m” is called the modulus.
“r” is called the remainder.

12
Some remarks on the modulo operation:

The reminder m is not unique

Ex.:

• 12 ≡ 3 mod 9 , 3 is a valid reminder since 9|(12 − 3)

• 12 ≡ 21 mod 9 , 21 is a valid reminder since 9|(21 − 3)

• 12 ≡ −6 mod 9 , −6 is a valid reminder since 9|(−6 − 3)

Which reminder do we choose?

By agreement, we usually choose:

0≤r ≤ m−1

How is the remainder computed?

It is always possible to write a ∈ Z, such that
a = q · m + r; 0 ≤ r < m
Now since a − r = q · m (m divides a − r) we can write: a ≡ r mod m.
Note that r ∈ {0, 1, 2, . . . , m − 1}.
Ex.:
a = 42; m = 9
42 = 4 · 9 + 6 therefore 42 ≡ 6 mod 9.

The modulo operation can be applied to intermediate results

(a + b) mod m = [(a mod m) + (b mod m)] mod m.
(a × b) mod m = [(a mod m) × (b mod m)] mod m.
Example: 38 mod 7 = ?
(i)38 = 6561 ≡ 2 mod 7, since 6561 = 937 · 7 + 2 (dumb)
(ii) 38 = 34 · 34 = (81 mod 7) · (81 mod 7) ≡ 4 · 4 = 16 ≡ 2 mod 7 (smart)
Note: It is almost always of computational advantage to apply the modulo reduction
as soon as we can.

13
Modulo operation in the C programming language
C programming command : “%” (C can return a negative value)
r = 42 % 9 returns r = 6
but r = -42 % 9 returns r = -6 → if remainder is negative, add modulus m:
−6 + 9 = 3 ≡ −42 mod 9

Let’s now look at the mathematical structure we obtain if we consider the set of integers
from zero to m together with the operations addition and multiplication:

Definition 1.5.2 The “ring Zm ” consists of:

1. The set Zm = {0, 1, 2, . . . , m − 1}

2. Two operations “+” and “×” for all a, b ∈ Zm such that:

• a + b ≡ c mod m (c ∈ Zm )

• a × b ≡ d mod m (d ∈ Zm )

Example: m = 9
Z9 = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}
6 + 8 = 14 ≡ 5 mod 9
6 × 8 = 48 ≡ 3 mod 9

All rings (not only the ring Zm we consider here) have a set of properties which are listed in
the following:

14
Definition 1.5.3 Some important properties of the ring Zm = {0, 1, 2, . . . , m − 1}

1. The additive identity is the element zero “0”: a + 0 = a mod m, for any
a ∈ Zm .

2. The additive inverse “−a” of “a” is such that a+(−a) ≡ 0 mod m: −a = m−a,
for any a ∈ Zm .

3. Addition is closed: i.e., for any a, b ∈ Zm , a + b ∈ Zm .

4. Addition is commutative: i.e., for any a, b ∈ Zm , a + b = b + a.

5. Addition is associative: i.e., for any a, b ∈ Zm , (a + b) + c = a + (b + c).

6. The multiplicative identity is the element one “1”: a × 1 ≡ a mod m, for any
a ∈ Zm .

7. The multiplicative inverse “a−1 ” of “a” is such that a × a−1 = 1 mod m: An

element a has a multiplicative inverse “a−1 ” if and only if gcd(a, m) = 1.

8. Multiplication is closed: i.e., for any a, b ∈ Zm , ab ∈ Zm .

9. Multiplication is commutative: i.e., for any a, b ∈ Zm , ab = ba.

10. Multiplication is associative: i.e., for any a, b ∈ Zm , (ab)c = a(bc).

15
Some remarks on the ring Zm :

• Roughly speaking, a ring is a structure in which we can add, subtract, multiply, and
sometimes divide.

• Definition 1.5.4 If gcd(a, m) = 1, then a and m are “relatively prime” and the
multiplicative inverse of a exists.

Example:
i) Question: does multiplicative inverse exist with 15 mod 26?
Answer: yes — gcd(15, 26) = 1
ii) Question: does multiplicative inverse exist with 14 mod 26?
Answer: no — gcd(14, 26) 6= 1

• The ring Zm , and thus the integer arithmetic with the modulo operation, is of central
importance to modern public-key cryptography. In practice, the integers are repre-
sented with 150–2048 bits.

16
1.6 Simple Blockciphers
Recall:
Private-key Systems

Block ciphers Stream ciphers

Figure 1.3: Classification of symmetric-key systems

Idea: The message string is divided into blocks (or cells) of equal length that are then
encrypted and decrypted.
Input: message string X̄ → X̄ = x1 , x2 , x3 , . . . , xn , where each xi is one block.
Cipher: Ȳ = y1 , y2 , y3 , . . . , yn ; with yi = ek (xi ) where the key k is fixed.

17
1.6.1 Shift Cipher

One of the most simple ciphers where the letters of the alphabet are assigned a number as
depicted in Table 1.2.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Table 1.2: Shift cipher table

Definition 1.6.1 Shift Cipher

Let P = C = K = Z26 . x ∈ P, y ∈ C, k ∈ K.
Encryption: ek (x) = x + k mod 26.
Decryption: dk (y) = y − k mod 26.

Remark:
If k = 3 the the shift cipher is given a special name — “Caesar Cipher”.

18
Example:
k = 17,
plaintext:
X = x1 , x2 , . . . , x6 = AT T ACK.
X = x1 , x2 , . . . , x6 = 0, 19, 19, 0, 2, 10.

encryption:
y1 = x1 + k mod 26 = 0 + 17 = 17 mod 26 = R
y2 = y3 = 19 + 17 = 36 ≡ 10 mod 26 = K
y4 = 17 = R
y5 = 2 + 17 = 19 mod 26 = T
y6 = 10 + 17 = 27 ≡ 1 mod 26 = B

ciphertext: Y =y
¯ 1 , y2 , . . . , y6 = R K K R T B.

Attacks on Shift Cipher

1. Ciphertext-only: Try all possible keys (|k| = 26). This is known as “brute force attack”
or “exhaustive search”.
Secure cryptosystems require a sufficiently large key space. Minimum requirement
today is |K| > 280 , however for long-term security, |K| ≥ 2100 is recommended.

2. Same cleartext maps to same ciphertext ⇒ can also easily be attacked with letter-
frequency analysis.

19
1.6.2 Affine Cipher

This cipher is an extension of the Shift Cipher (yi = xi + k mod m).

Definition 1.6.2 Affine Cipher Let P = C = Z26 .

encryption: ek (x) = a · x + b mod x.
key: k = (a, b) where a, b ∈ Z26 .
decryption: a · x + b = y mod 26.
a · x = (y − b) mod 26.
x = a−1 · (y − b) mod 26.
restriction: gcd(a, 26) = 1 in order for the affine cipher to work since
a−1 does not always exist.

Question: How is a−1 obtained?

Answer: a−1 ≡ a11 mod 26 (the proof for this is in Chapter 6)
or by trial-and-error for the time being.

20
1.7 Lessons Learned — Introduction
• Never ever develop your own crypto algorithm unless you have a team of experienced
cryptanalysts checking your design.

• Do not use unproven crypto algorithms (i.e., symmetric, asymmetric, hash function)
or unproven protocols.

• A large key space by itself is no guarantee for a secure cipher: The cipher might still
be vulnerable against analytical attacks.

• Long-term security has two aspects:

1. The time your crypto implementation will be used (often only a few years.)

2. The time the encrypted data should stay secure (depending on application: can
range from a day to several decades.)

• Key lengths for symmetric algorithms in order to thwart exhaustive key-search attacks:

1. 64 bits — unsecure except for data with extreme short term value.

2. 112-128 bits — long-term security of several decades, including attacks by in-

telligence agencies unless they possess quantum or biological computers. Only
realistic attack could come from quantum computers (which do not exist and
perhaps never will.)

3. 256 bits — as above, but also secure against attack by quantum computer.

21
Chapter 2

Stream Ciphers

Further Reading: [Sim92, Chapter 2]

2.1 Introduction
Remember classification:
Private-key Systems

Block ciphers Stream ciphers

Figure 2.1: Symmetric-key cipher classification

Block Cipher: y1 , y2 , . . . , yn = ek (x1 ), ek (x2 ), . . . , ek (xn ).

Key features of block ciphers:

• Encrypts blocks of bits at a time. In practice, xi (and yi ) are 64 or 128 bits long.

• The encryption function ek () requires complex operation. In practice all block ciphers
are iterative algorithms with multiple rounds. Examples: DES (Chapter 3) or AES
(Chapter 4).

22
Stream Cipher: y1 , y2 , . . . , yn = ez1 (x1 ), ez2 (x2 ), . . . , ezn (xn ),
where z1 , z2 , . . . , zn is the keystream.
Key features of stream ciphers:

• Encrypts individual bits at a time, i.e., xi (and yi ) are single bits.

• The encryption function ez1 () is a simple operation. In practice it is most often a

simple XOR.

• The main art of stream cipher design is the generation of the key stream.

23
Most popular en/decryption function: modulo 2 addition
Assume: xi , yi , zi ∈ {0, 1}

yi = ezi (xi ) = xi + zi mod 2 → encryption

xi = ezi (yi ) = yi + zi mod 2 → decryption

This leads to the following block diagram for a stream cipher encryption/decryption:
Zi Zi
Xi Yi Xi

Figure 2.2: Principle of stream ciphers

Remarks:

1. Historical note: A machine realizing the functionality shown above was developed by
Vernam for teletypewriters in 1917. Vernam was alumni of Worcester Polytechnic
Institute (WPI). Further reading: [Kah67].

item The modulo 2 operation is equivalent to a 2-input XOR operation.

Why are encryption and decryption identical operations? Truth table of modulo 2
addition:

a b c = a + b mod 2
0 0 0 + 0 = 0 mod 2
0 1 0 + 1 = 1 mod 2
1 0 1 + 0 = 1 mod 2
1 1 1 + 1 = 0 mod 2
.

⇒ modulo 2 addition yields the same truth table as the XOR operation.

24
 2. Encryption and decryption are the same operation, namely modulo 2 addition (or
XOR).
Why? We show that decryption of ciphertext bit yi yields the corresponding plaintext
bit.
Decryption: yi + zi = (xi + zi ) + zi = xi + (zi + zi ) ≡ xi mod 2.
| {z }
encryption
Note that zi + zi ≡ 0 mod 2 for zi = 0 and for zi = 1.

Example: Encryption of the letter ‘A’ by Alice.

‘A’ is given in ASCII code as 6510 = 10000012 .
Let’s assume that the first key stream bits are → z1 , . . . , z7 = 0101101

Encryption by Alice: plaintext xi : 1000001 = ‘A’ (ASCII symbol)

key stream zi : 0101101
ciphertext yi : 1101100 = ‘l’ (ASCII symbol)
Decryption by Bob: ciphertext yi : 1101100 = ‘l’ (ASCII symbol)
key stream zi : 0101101
plaintext xi : 1000001 = ‘A’ (ASCII symbol)

25
2.2 Some Remarks on Random Number Generators
We distinguish between three types of random number generators (RNG):

True Random Number Generators (TRNG) These are sequences of numbers gener-
ated from physical processes. Example: coin flipping, rolling of dices, semiconductor
noise, radioactive decay, ...

General Pseudo Random Generators (PRNG) These are sequences which are com-
puted from an initial seed value. Often they are computed recursively:

z0 = seed

zi+1 = f (zi )

Example: linear congruential generator

z0 = seed

zi+1 ≡ a zi + b mod m,

where a, b, m are constants.

A common requirement of PRNG is that they posses good statistical properties. There
are many mathematical tests (e.g., chi-square test) which verify the statistical behavior
of PRNG sequences.

Cryptographically Secure Pseudo Random Generators (CSPRNG) These are PRNG

which posses the following additional property: A CSPRNG is unpredictable. That is,
given the first n output bits of the generator, it is computationally infeasible to compute
the bits n + 1, n + 2, . . ..

It must be stressed that for stream cipher applications it is not sufficient for a pseudo random
generator to have merely good statistical properties. In addition, for stream ciphers only
cryptographically secure generators are useful. Important: The distinction between PRNG
and CSPRN and their relevance for stream ciphers is often not clear to non-cryptographers.

26
2.3 General Thoughts on Security, One-Time Pad and
Practical Stream Ciphers
Definition 2.3.1 Unconditional Security
A cryptosystem is unconditionally secure if it cannot be broken even
with infinite computational resources.

Definition 2.3.2 One-time Pad (OTP)

A cryptosystem developed by Mauborgne based on Vernam’s stream ci-
pher consisting of:
|P| = |C| = |K|,
with xi , yi , ki ∈ {0, 1}.
encrypt → eki (xi ) = xi + ki mod 2.
decrypt → dki (yi ) = yi + ki mod 2.

Theorem 2.3.1 The OTP is unconditionally secure if keys are only

used once, and if the key consists of true random bits (TRNG.)

27
Remarks:

1. The OTP is the only provable secure system:

y0 = x0 + K0 mod 2

y1 = x1 + K1 mod 2
..
.

each equality is a linear equation with 2 unknowns.

⇒ for every yi , xi = 0 and xi = 1 are equally likely.
⇒ holds only if K0 , K1 , . . . are not related to each other, i.e., Ki must be generated
truly randomly.

2. OTP are impractical for most applications.

Question: In order to build practical stream generators, can we “emulate” a OTP by using
a short key?

initial key (short)

k k

Oscar
key-stream key-stream
Alice generator generator Bob

zi zi

xn ... x1 x0 yn ... y1 y0 xn ... x1 x0

Figure 2.3: Practical stream ciphers

It should be stressed that practical stream ciphers are not unconditionally secure. In fact,
all known practical crypto algorithms (stream ciphers, block ciphers, public-key algorithms)
are at the most relative secure, which we define as follows:

28
 Definition 2.3.3 Computational Security
A system is “computationally secure” if the best possible algorithm
for breaking it requires N operations, where N is very large and known.

Unfortunately, all known practical systems are only computational secure for known algo-
rithms.

Definition 2.3.4 Relative Security

A system is “relative secure” if its security relies on a well studied, very
hard problem. However, it is not known which is the best algorithm for
computing the problem.

Example

A cryptosystem S is secure as long as factoring of large integers is hard (this is

believed for RSA).

29
Classification of practical key-stream generators:
synchronous stream cipher

zi = f (k, zi−i , . . . , z1 )

asynchronous stream cipher

zi = f (k, yi−1 , zi−i , . . . , z1 )

Note that the receiver (Bob) has to match the exact zi to the correct yi in order to obtain the
correct cleartext. This requires synchronization of Alice’s and Bob’s key-stream generators.

f
asynch1
z asynch2

x y

Figure 2.4: Asynchronous stream cipher

30
2.4 Synchronous Stream Ciphers
The keystream z1 , z2 , . . . is a pseudo-random sequence which depends only on the key.

2.4.1 Linear Feedback Shift Registers (LFSR)

An LFSR consists of m storage elements (flip-flops) and a feedback network. The feedback
network computes the input for the “last” flip-flop as XOR-sum of certain flip-flops in the
shift register.
Example: We consider an LFSR of degree m = 3 with flip-flops K2 , K1 , K0 , and a feedback
path as shown below.
mod 2 addition / XOR

K2 K1 K0

Z2 Z1 Z0 Z0 Z 1 ........ Z 6

CLK

Figure 2.5: Linear feedback shift register

K2 K1 K0
1 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 1
1 1 0
1 1 1
0 1 1
0 0 1
1 0 0

Mathematical description for keystream bits zi with z0 , z1 , z2 as initial settings:

z3 = z1 + z0 mod 2

31
 z4 = z2 + z1 mod 2
z5 = z3 + z2 mod 2
..
.
general case: zi+3 = zi+1 + zi mod 2; i = 0, 1, 2, . . .

Expression for the LFSR:

........

C m-1 C1 C0
K m-1 K1 K0

........ OUTPUT

CLK

Figure 2.6: LFSR with feedback coefficients

C0 , C1 , . . . , Cm−1 are the feedback coefficients. Ci = 0 denotes an open switch (no connec-
tion), Ci = 1 denotes a closed switch (connection).

m−1
X
zi+m = Cj · zi+j mod 2; Cj ∈ {0, 1}; i = 0, 1, 2, . . .
j=0

The entire key consists of:

k = {(C0 , C1 , . . . , Cm−1 ), (z0 , z1 , . . . , zm−1 ), m}

Example:
k = {(C0 = 1, C1 = 1, C2 = 0), (z0 = 0, z1 = 0, z2 = 1), 3}

Theorem 2.4.1 The maximum sequence length generated by the LFSR

is 2m − 1.

32
Proof:

There are only 2m different states (k0 , . . . , km ) possible. Since only the current
state is known to the LFSR, after 2m clock cycles a repetition must occur. The
all-zero state must be excluded since it repeats itself immediately.

Remarks:
1.) Only certain configurations (C0 , . . . , Cm−1 ) yield maximum length LFSRs.
For example:
if m = 4 then (C0 = 1, C1 = 1, C2 = 0, C3 = 0) has length of 2m − 1 = 15
but (C0 = 1, C1 = 1, C2 = 1, C3 = 1) has length of 5
2.) LFSRs are sometimes specified by polynomials.
such that the P (x) = xm + Cm−1 xm−1 + . . . + C1 x + C0 .
Maximum length LFSRs have “primitive polynomials”.
These polynomials can be easily obtained from literature (Table 16.2 in [Sch96]).
For example:
(C0 = 1, C1 = 1, C2 = 0, C3 = 0) ⇐⇒ P (x) = 1 + x + x4

33
2.4.2 Clock Controlled Shift Registers

Example: Alternating stop-and-go generator.

LFSR1 Out1

LFSR2 Out2

Out4 = Zi (key stream)

CLK

LFSR3 Out3

Figure 2.7: Stop-and-go generator example

Basic operation:
When Out1 = 1 then LFSR2 is clocked otherwise LFSR3 is clocked.
Out4 serves as the keystream and is a bitwise XOR of the results from LFSR2 and LFSR3.

Security of the generator:

• All three LFSRs should have maximum length configuration.

• If the sequence lengths of all LFSRs are relatively prime to each other, then the
sequence length of the generator is the product of all three sequence lengths, i.e.,
L = L 1 · L2 · L3 .

• A secure generator should have LFSRs of roughly equal lengths and the length should
be at least 128: m1 ≈ m2 ≈ m3 ≈ 128.

34
2.5 Known Plaintext Attack Against Single LFSRs
Assumption:
For a known plaintext attack, we have to assume that m is known.
Idea:
This attack is based on the knowledge of some plaintext and its corresponding ciphertext.
i) Known plaintext → x0 , x1 , . . . , x2m−1 .
ii) Observed ciphertext → y0 , y1 , . . . , y2m−1 .
iii) Construct keystream bits → zi = xi + yi mod 2; i = 0, 1, . . . , 2m − 1.
Goal:
To find the feedback coefficients Ci .

Using the LFSR equation to find the Ci coefficients:

m−1
X
zi+m = Cj · zi+j mod 2; Cj ∈ {0, 1}
j=0

We can rewrite this in a matrix form as follows:

i=0 zm = C0 z0 + C1 z1 + . . . + Cm−1 zm−1 mod 2.

i=1 zm+1 = C0 z1 + C1 z2 + . . . + Cm−1 zm mod 2.
.. .. .. .. .. (2.1)
. . . . .
i = m − 1 z2m−1 = C0 zm−1 + C1 zm + . . . + Cm−1 z2m−2 mod 2.

Note:

We now have m linear equations in m unknowns C0 , C1 , . . . , Cm−1 . The Ci co-

efficients are constant making it possible to solve for them when we have 2m
plaintext-ciphertext pairs.

Rewriting Equation (2.1) in matrix form, we get:

     
 z0 ... zm−1   c0   zm 

 .. ..  
  .. 


 .. 

 . . · .  =  .  mod 2 (2.2)
     
     
zm−1 . . . z2m−2 cm−1 z2m−1

35
Solving the matrix in (2.2) for the Ci coefficients we get:
   −1  
 c0   z0 ... zm−1   zm 

 .. 


 .. .. 


 .. 

 .  =  . .  · .  mod 2 (2.3)
     
     
cm−1 zm−1 . . . z2m−2 z2m−1

Summary:

By observing 2m output bits of an LFSR of degree m and matching them to the

known plaintext bits, the Ci coefficients can exactly be constructed by solving a
system of linear equations of degree m.

⇒ LFSRs by themselves are extremely unsecure! Even though they are PRNG with
good statistical properties, the are not cryptographically secure. However, combinations of
them such as the alternating stop-and-go generator can be secure.

36
2.6 Lessons Learned — Stream Ciphers
• Stream ciphers are less popular than block ciphers in most application domains such
as Internet security. There are exceptions, for instance the popular stream cipher RC4.

• Stream ciphers are often used in mobile (and presuming military) applications, such
as the A5 speech encryption algorithm of the GSM mobile network.

• Stream ciphers generally require fewer resources (e.g., code size or chip area) for an
implementation than block ciphers. They tend to encrypt faster than block ciphers.

• The one-time pad is the only provable secure symmetric algorithm.

• The one-time pad is highly impractical in most cases because the key length has to be
equal to the message length.

• The requirements for a cryptographically secure pseudo-random generator are far more
demanding than the requirements for pseudo-random generators in other (engineering)
applications such as simulation.

• Many pseudo-random generators with good statistical properties such as LFSRs are
not cryptographically secure at all. A stand-alone LFSR makes, thus, a poor stream
cipher.

37
Chapter 3

Data Encryption Standard (DES)

3.1 Confusion and Diffusion

Before we start with DES, it is instructive to look at the primitive operations that can be
applied in order to achieve strong encryption. According to Shannon, there are two primitive
operations for encryption.

1. Confusion — encryption operation where the relationship between cleartext and ci-
phertext is obscured. Some examples are:

(a) Shift cipher — main operation is substitution.

(b) German Enigma (broken by Turing) — main operation is smart substitution.

2. Diffusion — encryption by spreading out the influence of one cleartext letter over
many ciphertext letters. An example is:

(a) permutations — changing the positioning of the cleartext.

38
Remarks:

1. Today → changing of one bit of cleartext should result on average in the change of
half the output bits.
x1 = 001010 → encr. → y1 = 101110.
x2 = 000010 → encr. → y2 = 001011.

2. Combining confusion with diffusion is a common practice for obtaining a secure scheme.
Data Encryption Standard (DES) is a good example of that.

x y’ ............... Diff-N y_out

Diff-1 Conf-1 Diff-2 Conf-2 Conf-N

product
cipher

Figure 3.1: Example of combining confusion with diffusion

39
3.2 Introduction to DES
General Notes:

• DES is by far the most popular symmetric-key algorithm.

• It was published in 1975 and standardized in 1977.

• Expired in 1998.

System Parameters:
→ block cipher.
→ 64 input/output bits.
→ 56 bits of key.
Principle: 16 rounds of encryption.

X Initial Encryption Encryption Final Y

Permutation 1 16 Permutation

K1 K16

Figure 3.2: General Model of DES

40
3.2.1 Overview

Message X Key K

64

Initial Permutation
IP(X)
56

64

L0 R0

32
32 48

f Transform 1
32 K1
56
round 1
32

32

L1 R1

L 15 R 15

32
48
32
f Transform 16
32 K 16
round 16
32

32

L 16 R 16

Final Permutation
-1
IP (R16 , L16 )

Cipher Y = DESK (X)

Figure 3.3: The Feistel Network

41
3.2.2 Permutations

a) Initial Permutation IP.

IP
58 50 42 34 26 18 10 2
60 52 44 36 28 20 12 4
62 54 46 38 30 22 14 6
64 56 48 40 32 24 16 8
57 49 41 33 25 17 9 1
59 51 43 35 27 19 11 3
61 53 45 37 29 21 13 5
63 55 47 39 31 23 15 7

1 50 58 64

IP(X)
1 2 40

Figure 3.4: Initial permutation

b) Inverse Initial Permutation IP −1 (final permutation).

40

-1
IP (Z)
1

Figure 3.5: Final permutation

42
Note:
IP −1 (IP (X)) = X.

3.2.3 Core Iteration / f-Function

General Description:
Li = Ri−1 .
Ri = Li−1 ⊕ f (Ri−1 , ki ).
The core iteration is the f-function that takes the right half
of the output of the previous round and the key as input.

E bit table
32 1 2 3 4 5
4 5 6 7 8 9
8 9 10 11 12 13
12 13 14 15 16 17
16 17 18 19 20 21
20 21 22 23 24 25
24 25 26 27 28 29
28 29 30 31 32 1

S-boxes:
Contain look-up tables (LUTs) with 64 numbers ranging from 0 . . . 15.
Input: Six bit code selecting one number.
Output: Four bit binary representation of one number out of 64.

43
 R i-1

32 Diffusion: Spreading influence

of single bits

Expansion
E(Ri-1 )

48

48

Ki

48

confusion: obscures
ciphertext/cleartext
6 6 relationship

f-function
S1 S8

4 4

L i-1 8 * 4 = 32
page 75 in Stinson

Permutation P

32

32
32

Ri

Figure 3.6: Core function of DES

44
Example:

S1
14 4 13 1 2 15 11 8 3 10 6 12 5 9 0 7
0 15 7 4 14 2 13 1 10 6 12 11 9 5 3 8
4 1 14 8 13 6 2 11 15 12 9 7 3 10 5 0
15 12 8 2 4 9 1 7 5 11 3 14 10 0 6 13

S-Box 1

Input: Six bit vector with MSB and LSB selecting the row and four inner bits
selecting column.
b = (100101).
→ row = (11)2 = 3 (forth row).
→ column = (0010)2 = 2 (third column).
S1 (37 = 1001012 ) = 8 = 10002 .

Remark:

S-boxes are the most crucial elements of DES because they introduce a non-
linear function to the algorithm, i.e., S(a) XOR S(b) 6= S(a XOR b).

3.2.4 Key Schedule

Note:
64

7 1 7 1

P P

P = parity bits

Figure 3.7: 64 bit DES block

45
 In practice the DES key is artificially enlarged with odd parity bits. These bits
are “stripped” in PC-1.

K
64

PC - 1
56

C0 D0

28 28

LS 1 LS 1

28 28

K1 PC - 2 C1 D1
48 56
28 28

LS 2 LS 2

LS 16 LS 16

K 16 PC - 2 C 16 D 16
48 56

Figure 3.8: DES key scheduler

The cyclic Left-Shift (LS) blocks have two modes of operation:

a) for LSi where i = 1, 2, 9, 16, the block is shifted once.
b) for LSi where i 6= 1, 2, 9, 16, the block is shifted twice.

46
Remark:

The total number of cyclic Left-Shifts is 4 · 1 + 12 · 2 = 28. As a results of this

C0 = C16 and D0 = D16 .

3.3 Decryption
One advantage of DES is that decryption is essentially the same as encryption. Only the
key schedule is reversed. This is due to the fact that DES is based on a Feistel network.

Question: Why does decryption work essentially the same as encryption?

a) Find what happens in the initial stage of decryption!
(Ld0 , R0d ) = IP (Y ) = IP (IP −1 (R16 , L16 )) = (R16 , L16 ).
(Ld0 , R0d ) = IP (Y ) = (R16 , L16 ).
Ld0 = R16 .
R0d = L16 = R15 .
b) Find what happens in the iterations!
What are (Ld1 , R1d ) ?
Ld1 = R0d = L16 = R15 .
substitute into the above equation to get:
R1d = Ld0 ⊕ f (R0d , k16 ) = R16 ⊕ f (L16 , k16 ).
R1d = [L15 ⊕ f (R15 , k16 )] ⊕ f (R15 , k16 ).
R1d = L15 ⊕ [f (R15 , k16 ) ⊕ f (R15 , k16 )] = L15 .
in general: Ldi = R16−i and Rid = L16−i ;
such that: Ld16 = R16−16 = R0 and R16
d
= R0 .
c) Find what happens in the final stage!
.
IP −1 (R16
d
, Ld16 ) = IP −1 (L0 , R0 ) = IP −1 (IP (X)) = X q.e.d.

47
 Cipher Y = DES(X) Key K

64 64

Initial Permutation
IP PC-1
64
56
d d
L0 R0

32
32 48
f Transform 16
32 K 16

32

32

d d 56
L1 R1

d d
L 15 R 15

32
48
32
f Transform 1
32 K1

32

32

d d
L 16 R 16

Final Permutation
IP -1

-1 -1
X = DES (Y) = DES (DES(X))

Figure 3.9: Decryption of DES

48
Reversed Key Schedule:
Question: Given K, how can we easily generate k16 ?
k16 = P C2(C16 , D16 ) = P C2(C0 , D0 ) = P C2(P C1(k)).
k15 = P C2(C15 , D15 ) = P C2(RS1 (C16 ), RS1 (D16 )) = P C2(RS1 (C0 ), RS1 (D0 )).

K
56

PC - 1
56

K 16 PC - 2 C0 = C 16 D0 = D 16
48 56
28 28

RS 1 RS 1

28 28

K 15 PC - 2 C 15 D 15
48 56
28 28

RS 2 RS 2

RS 15 RS 15

K1 PC - 2 C1 D1
48 56

Figure 3.10: Reversed key scheduler for decryption of DES

49
3.4 Implementation
Note:
One design criteria for DES was fast hardware implementation.

3.4.1 Hardware

Since permutations and simple table look-ups are fast in hardware, DES can be implemented
very efficiently. An implementation of a single DES round can be done with approximately
5000 gates.

1. One of the faster reported ASIC implementations: 9 Gbit/s in 0.6 µm technology with
16 stage pipeline [WPR+ 99].

2. A highly optimized FPGA implementation with 12 Gbit/s is described in [TPS00].

3.4.2 Software

A straightforward software implementation which follows the data flow of most DES descrip-
tions, such as the one presented in this chapter, results in a very poor performance! There
have been numerous method proposed for accelerating DES software implementations. Here
are two representative ones:

1. “Bit-slicing” techniques developed by Eli Biham [Bih97]. Performance on a 300MHz

DEC Alpha: 137 Mbit/sec.

2. The well known and fairly fast crypto library Crypto++ by Weidai claims a perfor-
mance of about 100Mbit/sec on a 850 MHz Celeron processor. See also http://www.eskimo.co

50
3.5 Attacks
There have been two major points of criticism about DES from the beginning:
i) key size is too small (allowing a brute-force attack),
ii) the S-boxes contained secret design criteria (allowing an analytical attack).

3.5.1 Exhaustive Key Search

Known Plaintext Attack:

known: X and Y .
unknown: K, such that Y = DESk (X).
?
idea: test all 256 possible keys → DESki (X) = Y ; i = 0, 1, . . . , 256 − 1.

Date Proposed/implemented attack

1977 Diffie & Hellman, estimate cost of key search machine (underestimate)
1990 Biham & Shamir propose differential cryptoanalysis (247 chosen ciphertexts)
1993 Mike Wiener proposes detailed hardware design for key search machine:
average search time of 36 h @ $100,000
1993 Matsui proposes linear cryptoanalysis (243 chosen ciphertexts)
Jun. 1997 DES Challenge I broken, distributed effort took 4.5 months
Feb. 1998 DES Challenge II–1 broken, distributed effort took 39 days
Jul. 1998 DES Challenge II–2 broken, key-search machine built by the
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), 1800 ASICs, each with 24
search units, $250K, 15 days average (actual time 56 hours)
Jan. 1999 DES Challenge III broken, distributed effort combined with EFF’s
key-search machine, it took 22 hours and 15 minutes.

Table 3.1: History of full-round DES attacks

51
3.6 DES Alternatives
There exists a wealth of other block ciphers. A small collection of as of yet unbroken ciphers
is:

Algorithm I/O bits Key Lengths Remark

AES/Rijndael 128 128/192/256 DES “successor”, US federal standard
Triple DES 64 112 (effective) most conservative choice
Mars 128 128/192/256 AES finalist
RC6 128 128/192/256 AES finalist
Serpent 128 128/192/256 AES finalist
Twofish 128 128/192/256 AES finalist
IDEA 64 128 patented

52
3.7 Lessons Learned — DES
• Standard DES with 56 bits key length can relatively easily be broken nowadays through
an exhaustive key search.

• DES is very robust against known analytical attacks: DES is resistant against differ-
ential and linear cryptanalysis. However, the key length is too short.

• DES is only reasonably efficient in software but very fast and small in hardware.

• The most conservative alternative to DES is triple DES which has Effective key lengths
of 112 bits.

53
Chapter 4

Rijndael – The Advanced Encryption

Standard

4.1 Introduction

4.1.1 Basic Facts about AES

• Successor to DES.

• The AES selection process was administered by NIST.

• Unlike DES, the AES selection was an open (i.e., public) process.

• Likely to be the dominant secret-key algorithm in the next decade.

• Main AES requirements by NIST:

– Block cipher with 128 I/O bits

– Three key lengths must be supported: 128/192/256 bits

– Security relative to other submitted algorithms

– Efficient software and hardware implementations

• See http://www.nist.gov/aes for further information on AES

54
4.1.2 Chronology of the AES Process

• Development announced on January 2, 1997 by the National Institute of Standards

and Technology (NIST).

• 15 candidate algorithms accepted on August 20th, 1998.

• 5 finalists announced on August 9th, 1999

– Mars, IBM Corporation.

– RC6, RSA Laboratories.

– Rijndael, J. Daemen & V. Rijmen.

– Serpent, Eli Biham et al.

– Twofish, B. Schneier et al.

• Monday October 2nd, 2000, NIST chooses Rijndael as the AES.

A lot of work went into software and hardware performance analysis of the AES candidate
algorithms. Here are representative numbers:

Algorithm Pentium-Pro @ 200 MHz FPGA Hardware

(Mbit/sec) (Gbit/sec) [EYCP01]
MARS 69 –
RC6 105 2.4
Rijndael 71 2.1
Serpent 27 4.9
Twofish 95 1.6

Table 4.1: Speeds of the AES Finalists in Hardware and Software

55
4.2 Rijndael Overview

128 128
x y
Rijndael

k
128/192/256

Figure 4.1: AES Block and Key Sizes

• Both block size and key length of Rijndael are variable. Sizes shown in Figure 4.2 are
the ones required by the AES Standard. The number of rounds (or iterations) is a
function of the key length:

Key lengths (bits) nr = # rounds

128 10
192 12
256 14

Table 4.2: Key lengths and number of rounds for Rijndael

• However, Rijndael also allows block sizes of 192 and 256 bits. For those block sizes the
number of rounds must be increased.

Important: Rijndael does not have a Feistel structure. Feistel networks do not encrypt
an entire block per iteration (e.g., in DES, 64/2 = 32 bits are encrypted in one iteration).
Rijndael encrypts all 128 bits in one iteration. As a consequence, Rijndael has a comparably
small number of rounds.

Rijndael uses three different types of layers. Each layer operates on all 128 bits of a block:

56
 1. Key Addition Layer: XORing of subkey.

2. Byte Substitution Layer: 8-by-8 SBox substitution.

3. Diffusion Layer: provides diffusion over all 128 (or 192 or 256) block bits. It is split
in two sub-layers:

(a) ShiftRow Layer.

(b) MixColumn Layer.

Remark: The ByteSubstitution Layer introduces confusion with a non-linear operation.

The ShiftRow and MixColumn stages form a linear Diffusion Layer.

57
 x

Key Addition Layer

ByteSubstitution Layer

ShiftRow SubLayer
rounds 1 ... n r - 1 Diffusion Layer
MixColumn Sublayer

Key Addition Layer

ByteSubstitution Layer

ShiftRow SubLayer round n r

Key Addition Layer

Figure 4.2: Rijndael encryption block diagram

58
4.3 Some Mathematics: A Very Brief Introduction to
Galois Fields
“Galois fields” are used to perform substitution and diffusion in Rijndael.

Question: What are Galois fields?

Galois fields are fields with a finite number of elements. Roughly speaking, a field is a
structure in which we ca add, subtract, multiply, and compute inverses. More exactly a field
is a ring in which all elements except 0 are invertible.

Theorem 1 Let p be a prime. GF (p) is a “prime field,” i.e., a Galois field with a
prime number of elements. All arithmetic in GF (p) is done modulo p.

Example: GF (3) = {0, 1, 2}

addition additive inverse

+ 0 1 2
0 0 1 2 −0 = 0
1 1 2 0 −1 = 2
2 2 0 1 −2 = 1

multiplication multiplicative inverse

× 0 1 2
0 0 0 0 0−1 does not exist
1 0 1 2 1−1 = 1
2 0 2 1 2−1 = 2, since 2 · 2 ≡ 1 mod 3

Theorem 4.3.1 For every power pm , p a prime and m a positive integer, there exists
a finite field with pm elements, denoted by GF (pm ).

59
 Examples:

- GF (5) is a finite field.

- GF (256) = GF (28 ) is a finite field.

- GF (12) = GF (3·22 ) is NOT a finite field (in fact, the notation is already incorrect
and you should pretend you never saw it).

Question: How to build “extension fields” GF (pm ), m > 1 ?

Note: See also [Sti02]

1. Represent elements as polynomials with m coefficients. Each coefficient is an element

of GF (p).
Example: A ∈ GF (28 )
A → A(x) = a7 x7 + · · · + a1 x + a0 , ai ∈ GF (2) = {0, 1}

2. Addition and subtraction in GF (pm )

Pi=m−1
C(x) = A(x) + B(x) = i=0 c i xi , ci = ai + bi mod p
Example: A, B ∈ GF (28 )

A(x) = x7 + x6 + x4 + 1
B(x) = x4 + x2 + 1
C(x) = x7 + x6 + x2

3. Multiplication in GF (pm ): multiply the two polynomials using polynomial multipli-

cation rule, with coefficient arithmetic done in GF (p). The resulting polynomial will
have degree 2m − 2.

A(x) · B(x) = (am−1 xm−1 + · · · + a0 ) · (bm−1 xm−1 + · · · + b0 )

C 0 (x) = c02m−2 x2m−2 + · · · + c00

60
where:

c00 = a0 b0 mod p

c01 = a0 b1 + a1 b0 mod p
..
.

c02m−2 = am−1 bm−1 mod p

Question: How to reduce C 0 (x) to a polynomial of maximum degree m − 1?

Answer: Use modular reduction, similar to multiplication in GF (p). For arithmetic
in GF (pm ) we need an irreducible polynomial of degree m with coefficients from GF (p).
Irreducible polynomials do not factor (except trivial factor involving 1) into smaller
polynomials from GF (p).
Example 1: P (x) = x4 + x + 1 is irreducible over GF (2) and can be used to construct
GF (24 ).
C = A · B ⇒ C(x) = A(x) · B(x) mod P (x)

A(x) = x3 + x2 + 1

B(x) = x2 + x

C 0 (x) = A(x) · B(x) = (x5 + x4 + x2 ) + (x4 + x3 + x) = x5 + x3 + x2 + 1

x4 = 1 · P (x) + (x + 1)

x4 ≡ x + 1 mod P (x)

x5 ≡ x2 + x mod P (x)

C(x) ≡ C 0 (x) mod P (x)

C(x) ≡ (x2 + x) + (x3 + x2 + 1) = x3

A(x) · B(x) ≡ x3

Note: in a typical computer representation, the multiplication would assign the follow-
ing unusually looking operations:

A · B = C
(1 1 0 1) · (0 1 1 0) = (1 0 0 0)

61
 Example 2: x4 + x3 + x + 1 is reducible since x4 + x3 + x + 1 = (x2 + x + 1)(x2 + 1).

4. Inversion in GF (pm ): the inverse A−1 of A ∈ GF (pm )∗ is defined as:

A−1 (x) · A(x) = 1 mod P (x)
⇒ perform the Extended Euclidean Algorithm with A(x) and P (x) as inputs

s(x)P (x) + t(x)A(x) = gcd(P (x), A(x)) = 1

⇒ t(x)A(x) = 1 mod P (x)

⇒ t(x) = A−1 (x)

Example: Inverse of x2 ∈ GF (23 ), with P (x) = x3 + x + 1

t0 = 0, t1 = 1
x3 + x + 1 = [x]x2 + [x + 1] t2 = t0 − q1 t1 = −q1 = −x = x
x + 1 = [1]x + 1 t 3 = t 1 − q 2 t2 = 1 − q 2 x = 1 − x = x + 1
x = [x]1 + 0
⇒ (x2 )−1 = t(x) = t3 = x + 1

Check: (x + 1)x2 = x3 + x = (x + 1) + x ≡ 1 mod P (x) since x3 ≡ x + 1 mod P (x).

Remark: In every iteration of the Euclidean algorithm, you should use long division (not
shown above) to uniquely determine qi and ri .

4.4 Internal Structure

In the following, we assume a block length of 128 bits. The ShiftRow Sublayer works slightly
differently for other block sizes.

4.4.1 Byte Substitution Layer

• Splits the incoming 128 bits in 128/8 = 16 bytes.

• Each byte A is considered an element of GF (28 ) and undergoes the following substi-
tution individually

62
 1. B = A−1 ∈ GF (28 ) where P (x) = x8 + x4 + x3 + x + 1

2. Apply affine transformation defined by:

      
 c0  1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0   b0  0
      
      
 c1  0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
  b1   1 
   
  
      
c  0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0
  b2   1 
   
 2 
      
      
 c3  0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1
  b3   0 
   
  
  =   + 
      
 c4  1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 b  0
     4  
      
c  1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1
  b5   0 
   
 5 
      
      
 c6  1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1
  b6   1 
   
  
      
c7 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 b7 1

where (b7 · · · b0 ) is the vector representation of B(x) = A−1 (x).

• The vector C = (c7 · · · c0 ) (representing the field element c7 x7 + · · · + c1 x + c0 ) is the

result of the substitution:
C = ByteSub(A)

The entire substitution can be realized as a look-up in a 256×8-bit table with fixed
entries.

Remark: Unlike DES, Rijndael applies the same S-Box to each byte.

4.4.2 Diffusion Layer

• Unlike the non-linear substitution layer, the diffusion layer performs a linear operation
on input words A, B. That means:

DIFF(A) ⊕ DIFF(B) = DIFF(A + B)

• The diffusion layer consists of two sublayers.

63
ShiftRow Sublayer

1. Write an input word A as 128/8 = 16 bytes and order them in a square array:
Input A = (a0 , a1 , · · · , a15 )

a0 a4 a8 a12
a1 a5 a9 a13
a2 a6 a10 a14
a3 a7 a11 a15

2. Shift cyclically row-wise as follows:

a0 a4 a8 a12 0 positions
a5 a9 a13 a1 − − − −→ 3 positions right shift
a10 a14 a2 a6 −− −→ 2 positions right shift
a15 a3 a7 a11 − −→ 1 position right shift

MixColumn Sublayer

Principle: each column of 4 bytes is individually transformed into another column.

Question: How?
Each 4-byte column is considered as a vector and multiplied by a 4 × 4 matrix. The matrix
contains constant entries. Multiplication and addition of the coefficients is done in GF (28 ).
    
 c0   02 03 01 01   b0 
    
 c1   01 02 03 01   b1 
    
 
  =

 
 
c   01 01 02 03 
  b2 
 
 2 
    
c3 03 01 01 02 b3

Remarks:

1. Each ci , bi is an 8-bit value representing an element from GF (28 ).

64
 2. The small values {01, 02, 03} allow for a very efficient implementation of the coefficient
multiplication in the matrix. In software implementations, multiplication by 02 and
03 can be done through table look-up in a 256-by-8 table.

3. Additions in the vector-matrix multiplication are XORs.

4.4.3 Key Addition Layer

Simple bitwise XOR with a 128-bit subkey.

4.5 Decryption
Unlike DES and other Feistel ciphers, all of Rijndael layers must actually be inverted.

65
 y

Key Addition Layer

Inv ShiftRow SubLayer inverse of round n r

Inv ByteSubstitution Layer

Key Addition Layer

Inv MixColumn Sublayer inverse of rounds n r -1, ..., 1

Inv ShiftRow SubLayer

Inv ByteSubstitution Layer

Key Addition Layer

Figure 4.3: Rijndael decryption block diagram

66
4.6 Implementation

4.6.1 Hardware

Compared to DES, Rijndael requires considerable more hardware resources for an implemen-
tation. However, Rijndael can still be implemented with very high throughputs in modern
ASIC or FPGA technology. Two representative implementation reports are:

1. A 0.6µm technology ASIC realization of Rijndael with a throughput of more than

2Gbit/sec is reported in [LTG+ 02]. The design encrypts four blocks in parallel.

2. Reference [EYCP01] describes an implementation (without key scheduling) of Rijndael

on a Virtex 1000 Xilinx FPGA with five pipeline stages and a throughput of more than
2Gbit/sec.

4.6.2 Software

Unlike DES, Rijndael was designed such that an efficient software implementation is possible.
A naive implementation of Rijndael which directly follows the data path description, such
as the description given in this chapter, is not particularly efficient, though. In a naive
implementation all time critical functions (Byte Substitution, Mix Row, Shift Row) operate
on individual bytes. Processing 1 byte per instruction is inefficient on modern 32 or 64 bit
processors.
However, the Rijndael designers proposed a method which results in fast software implemen-
tations. The core idea is to merge all round functions (except the rather trivial key addition)
into one table look-up. This results in 4 tables, each of which consists of 256 entries, where
each entry is 32 bit wide. These tables are named “T-Box”. Four table accesses yield 32 bit
output bits of one round. Hence, one round can be computed with 16 table look-ups.
A detailed description of the construction of the T-Boxes can be found in [DR98, Section 5].

Achievable throughput: 400Mbit/sec on 1.2 GHz Intel processor.

67
4.7 Lessons Learned — AES
• The AES selection was an open process. It appears to be extremely unlikely that the
designers included hidden weaknesses (trapdoors) in Rijndael.

• AES is efficient in software and hardware.

• The AES key lengths provide long term security against brute force attacks for several
decades.

• AES is a relativley new cipher. At the moment it can not be completely excluded that
there will be analytical attacks against Rijndael in the future, even though this does
not seem very likely.

• The fact that AES is a “standard” is currently only relevant for US Government ap-
plications.

68
Chapter 5

More about Block Ciphers

Further Reading:
Section 8.1 in [Sch96].
Note:
The following modes are applicable to all block ciphers ek (X).

5.1 Modes of Operation

69
5.1.1 Electronic Codebook Mode (ECB)

X0 X1 X2 e Y0 Y1 Y2 e-1 X0 X1 X2

K K

Figure 5.1: ECB model

General Description:
e−1 −1
k (Yi ) = ek (ek (Xi )) = Xi ; where the encryption can, for instance, be DES.

Problem:
This mode is susceptible to substitution attack because same Xi are mapped to same Yi .
Example: Bank transfer.
Block # 1 2 3 4 5
Sending Sending Receiving Receiving Amount
Bank A Account # Bank B Account # $

Figure 5.2: ECB example

1. Tap encrypted line to bank B.

2. Send $1.00 transfer to own account at bank B repeatedly → block 4 can be identified
and recorded.

3. Replace in all messages to bank B block 4.

4. Withdraw money and fly to Paraguay.

Note: This attack is possible only for single-block transmission.

70
5.1.2 Cipher Block Chaining Mode (CBC)

i=0 i=0
IV IV

Y i-1 Y i-1

Y i-1 Y i-1

Xi e e-1 Xi
Yi

k k

Figure 5.3: CBC model

Beginning: Y0 = ek (X0 ⊕ IV ).
X0 = IV ⊕ e−1 −1
k (Y0 ) = IV ⊕ ek (ek (X0 ⊕ IV )) = X0 .

Encryption: Yi = ek (Xi ⊕ Yi−1 ).

Decryption: Xi = e−1
k (Yi ) ⊕ Yi−1 .

Question: How does it work?

Xi = e−1
k (ek (Xi ⊕ Yi−1 )) ⊕ Yi−1 .

Xi = (Xi ⊕ Yi−1 ) ⊕ Yi−1 .

Xi = X i . q.e.d.

Remark: The Initial Vector (IV) can be transmitted initially in cleartext.

71
5.1.3 Cipher Feedback Mode (CFB)

Assumption: block cipher with b bits block width and message with block width l, 1 ≤
l ≤ b.

SR l SR l
b b

~
zi ~
zi
l l
e e

b b

k b:l Y i-1 Y i-1 b:l k

zi zi l
l l l l
Xi Xi
Yi

Figure 5.4: CFB model

Procedure:

1. Load shift register with initial value IV.

2. Encrypt ek (IV ) = z̃0 .

3. Take l leftmost bits: z̃0 → z0 .

4. Encrypt data: Y0 = X0 ⊕ z0 .

5. Shift the shift register and load Y0 into the rightmost SR position.

6. Go back to (2) substituting e(IV ) with e(SR).

72
5.1.4 Counter Mode

Notes:

• Another mode which uses a block cipher as a pseudo-random generator.

• Counter Mode does not rely on previous ciphertext for encrypting the next block.
⇒ well suited for parallel (hardware) implementation, with several encryption blocks
working in parallel.

• Counter Mode stems from the Security Group of the ATM Forum, where high data
rates required parallelization of the encryption process.

LFSR

k e

n n
X Y

Figure 5.5: Counter Mode model

Description of Counter Mode:

1. An n-bit initial vector (IV) is loaded into a (maximum length) LFSR. The IV can be
publically known, although a secret IV (i.e., the IV is considered part of the private
key) turns the counter mode systems into a non-deterministic cipher which makes
cryptoanalysis harder.

2. Encrypt block cipher input.

3. The block cipher output is considered a pseudorandom mask which is XORed with the
plaintext.

73
 4. The LFSR is clocked once (note: all input bits of the block cipher are shifted by one
position).

5. Goto to Step 2.

Note that the period of a counter mode is n · 2n which is very large for modern block ciphers,
e.g., 128 · 2128 = 2135 for AES algorithms.

74
5.2 Key Whitening

Xi e Yi

k2 k1 k3

Figure 5.6: Whitening example

Encryption: Y = ek1 ,k2 ,k3 (X) = ek1 (X ⊕ k2 ) ⊕ k3 .

Decryption: X = e−1
k1 (Y ⊕ k3 ) ⊕ k2 .

popular example: DESX

75
5.3 Multiple Encryption

5.3.1 Double Encryption

Note: The keyspace of this encryption is |k| = 2k · 2k = 22k .

However, using the meet-in-the-middle attack, the key search is reduced significantly.

-1
e (X) = z (1)
i e (Y) = z (2)
j
ki kj

X e e Y
n z
k

ki kj

Figure 5.7: Double encryption and meet-in-the-middle attack

Meet in the middle attack:

Input → some pairs (x0 , y 0 ), (x00 , y 00 ), . . ..
(1) (2)
Idea → compute zi = eki (x0 ) and zj = e−1 0
kj (y ).
(1) (2)
Problem → to find a matching pair such that zi = zj .

Procedure:

(1)
1. Compute a look-up table for all (zi , ki ), i = 1, 2, . . . , 2k and store it in memory.
Number of entries in the table is 2k with each entry being n bits wide.

(2)
2. Find matching zj .

(2)
(a) compute e−1 0
kj (y ) = zj

(2) (1) (2)

(b) if zj is in the look-up table, i.e., if zi = zj , check a few other pairs (x00 , y 00 ), (x000 , y 000 ), . . .
for the current keys ki and kj

76
 (c) if ki and kj give matching encryptions stop; otherwise go back to (a) and try
different key kj .

Question: How many additional pairs (x00 , y 00 ), (x000 , y 000 ), . . . should we test?

General system: l subsequent encryptions and t pairs (x0 , y 0 ), (x00 , y 00 ), . . ..

1. In the first step there are 2lk possible key combinations for the mapping E(x0 ) =
e(· · · (e(e(x0 )) · · ·) = y 0 but only 2n possible values for x0 and y 0 . Hence, there are
2lk
2n
mappings E(x0 ) = y 0 . Note that only one mapping is done by the correct key!

2n

X’ Y’

2lk mappings E(x’) = y’

2n

Figure 5.8: Number of mappings x0 to y 0 under l-fold encryption

2. We use now a candidate key from step 1 and check whether E(x00 ) = y 00 . There are 2n
possible outcomes y for the mapping E(x00 ). If a random key is used, the likelyhood
that E(x00 ) = y 00 is
1
2n
If we check additionally a third pair (x000 , y 000 ) under the same “random” key from step
1, the likelyhood that E(x00 ) = y 00 and E(x000 ) = y 000 is
1
22n
77
 If we check t − 1 additional pairs (x00 , y 00 ), (x000 , y 000 ), . . . (x(t) , y (t) ) the likelyhood that a
random key fulfills E(x00 ) = y 00 , E(x000 ) = y 000 , . . . is
1
2(t−1)n

2n

X’’ Y’’

2n mappings E(x’’) = y

Figure 5.9: Number of mappings x00 to y

2lk
3. Since there are 2n
candidate keys in step 1, the likelyhood that at least one of the
candidate keys fulfills all E(x00 ) = y 00 , E(x000 ) = y 000 , . . . is
1 2lk
= 2lk−tn
2(t−1)n 2n

Example: Double encryption with DES. We use two pairs (x0 , y 0 ), (x00 , y 00 ). The likelyhood
that an incorrect key pair ki , kj is picked is

2lk−tn = 2112−128 = 2−16

If we use three pairs (x0 , y 0 ), (x00 , y 00 ), (x000 , y 000 ), the likelyhood that an incorrect key pair ki , kj
is picked is
2lk−tn = 2112−192 = 2−80

Computational complexity:

Brute force attack: 22k .

Meet in the middle attack: 2k encryptions + 2k decryptions = 2k+1 computations
and 2k memory locations.

78
5.3.2 Triple Encryption

Option 1:
Y = ek1 (e−1
k2 (ek3 (X))); if k1 = k2 → Y = ek3 (X).

Option 2:
Y = ek3 (ek2 (ek1 (X))); where |k| ≈ 22k

X e e e Y
z
1

k1 k2 k3

Figure 5.10: Triple encryption example

Note:

Meet in the middle attack can be used in a similar way by storing zi results in
memory. The computational complexity of this approach is 2k · 2k = 22k .

79
5.4 Lessons Learned — More About Block Ciphers
• The ECB mode has security weaknesses.

• The counter mode allows parallelization of encryption and is thus suited for high speed
hardware implementations.

• Double encryption with a given block cipher only marginally improves the attack re-
sistance against brute force attacks.

• Triple encryption with a given block cipher roughly doubles the key length. Triple DES
(“3DES”) has, thus, an effective key length of 112 bits.

• Key whithening enlarges the DES key length without too much effort.

80
Chapter 6

Introduction to Public-Key
Cryptography

6.1 Principle
Quick review of symmetric-key cryptography

e Y dk
X k X

k k

Figure 6.1: Symmetric-key model

Two properties of symmetric-key schemes:

1. The algorithm requires same secret key for encryption and decryption.

2. Encryption and decryption are essentially identical (symmetric algorithms).

81
Analogy for symmetric key algorithms

Symmetric key schemes are analogous to a safe box with a strong lock. Everyone
with the key can deposit messages in it and retrieve messages.

Main problems with symmetric key schemes are:

1. Requires secure transmission of secret key.

2. In a network environment, each pair of users has to have a different key resulting in
too many keys (n · (n − 1) ÷ 2 key pairs).

New Idea:

Make a slot in the safe box so that everyone can deposit a message, but only the
receiver can open the safe and look at the content of it. This idea was proposed
in [DH76] in 1976 by Diffie/Hellman.

Idea: Split key.

K

public part private part

(encryption) (decryption)

Figure 6.2: Split key idea

82
Protocol:

1. Alice and Bob agree on a public-key cryptosystem.

2. Bob sends Alice his public key.

3. Alice encrypts her message with Bob’s public key and sends the ciphertext.

4. Bob decrypts ciphertext using his private key.

Alice Oscar Bob

K pub
( K pub , K pr ) = K
2.) X

Y
3.) Y = eK (X) Y
pub

X = dK (Y)
4.) pr

Figure 6.3: Public-key encryption protocol

83
Mechanisms that can be realized with public-key algorithms

1. Key establishment protocols (e.g., Diffi-Hellman key exchange) and key transport pro-
tocols (e.g., via RSA) without prior exchange of a joint secret

2. Digital signature algorithms (e.g., RSA, DSA or ECDSA)

3. Encryption

It looks as though public-key schemes can provide all functionality needed in modern security
protocols such as SSL/TLS. However, the major drawback in practice is that encryption
of data is extremely computationally demanding with public-key algorithms. Many block
and stream ciphers can encrypt 1000 times faster in software than public-key algorithms.
On the other hand, symmetric algorithms are poor at providing digital signatures and key
establishment/transport functionality. Hence, most practical protocols are hybrid protocols
which incorporate both symmetric and public-key algorithms.

84
6.2 One-Way Functions
All public-key algorithms are based on one-way functions.

Definition 6.2.1 A function f is a “one-way function”

if:
(a) y = f (x) → is easy to compute,
(b) x = f −1 (y) → is very hard to compute.

Example: Discrete Logarithm (DL) one-way Function

2x mod 127 ≡ 31
x =?

Definition 6.2.2 A trapdoor one function is a one-way

function whose inverse is easy to compute given a side
information such as the private key.

85
6.3 Overview of Public-Key Algorithms
There are three families of Public-Key (PK) algorithms of practical relevance:

1. Integer factorization algorithms (RSA, ...)

2. Discrete logarithms (Diffie-Hellman, DSA, ...)

3. Elliptic curves (EC)

In addition, there are many other public-key schemes, such as NTRU or systems based on
hidden field equations, which are not in wide spread use. Often, their security is not very
well understood.

Algorithm Family Bit length of the operands

Integer Factorization (RSA) 1024
Discrete Logarithm (D-H, DSA) 1024
Elliptic curves 160

Block cipher 80

Table 6.1: Bit lengths of public-key algorithms for a security level of approximately 280
computations for a successful attack.

Remark: The long operands lead to a high computationally complexity of public-key algo-
rithms. This can be a bottleneck in applications with constrained microprocessors (e.g.,
mobile applications) or on the server side of networks, where many public-key operations
per time unit have to be executed.

6.4 Important Public-Key Standards

a) IEEE P1363. Comprehensive standard of public-key algorithms. Collection of IF, DL,
and EC algorithm families, including in particular:

86
 – Key establishment algorithms

– Key transport algorithms

– Signature algorithms

Note: IEEE P1363 does not recommend any bit lengths or security levels.

b) ANSI Banking Security standards.

ANSI# Subject

X9.30–1 digital signature algorithm (DSA)

X9.30–2 hashing algorithm for RSA
X9.31–1 RSA signature algorithm
X9.32–2 hashing algorithms for RSA
X9.42 key management using Diffe-Hellman
X9.62 (draft) elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA)
X9.63 (draft) elliptic curve key agreement and transport protocols

c) U.S. Government standards (FIPS)

FIPS# Subject

FIPS 180-1 secure hash standard (SHA-1)

FIPS 186 digital signature standard (DSA)
FIPS JJJ (draft) entity authentication (asymetric)

87
6.5 More Number Theory

6.5.1 Euclid’s Algorithm

Basic Form
Given r0 and r1 with one larger than the other, compute the gcd(r0 , r1 ).
Example 1:
r0 = 22, r1 = 6.
gcd(r0 , r1 ) =?





























r0 6


6 6










4 gcd(22,6) = gcd(6,4)






 
r1 4
 
2
 gcd(6,4) = gcd(4,2)






  
2 

2


r2 gcd(4,2) = 2

r3 2

gcd(22, 6) = gcd(6, 4) = gcd(4, 2) = gcd(2, 0) = 2

Figure 6.4: Euclid’s algorithm example

Example 2:
r0 = 973; r1 = 301.
973 = 3 · 301 + 70.
301 = 4 · 70 + 21.
70 = 3 · 21 + 7.
21 = 3 · 7 + 0.
gcd(973, 301) = gcd(301, 70) = gcd(70, 21) = gcd(21, 7) = 7.

Algorithm:

88
 input: r0 , r1
r0 = q 1 · r1 + r 2 gcd(r0 , r1 ) = gcd(r1 , r2 )
r1 = q 2 · r2 + r 3 gcd(r1 , r2 ) = gcd(r2 , r3 )
.. ..
. .
rm−2 = qm−1 · rm−1 + rm gcd(rm−2 , rm−1 ) = gcd(rm−1 , rm )
rm−1 = qm · rm + 0 ← † gcd(r0 , r1 ) = gcd(rm−1 , rm ) = rm
† - termination criteria

Extended Euclidean Algorithm

Theorem 6.5.1 Given two integers r0 and r1 , there exist two other integers s and t
such that s · r0 + t · r1 = gcd(r0 , r1 ).

Question: How to find s and t?

Use Euclid’s algorithm and express the current remainder ri in every iteration in the form
!
ri = si r0 + ti r1 . Note that in the last iteration rm = gcd(r0 , r1 ) = sm r0 + tm r1 = sr0 + tr1 .

index Euclid’s Algorithm r j = sj · r0 + tj · r1

2 r0 = q1 · r1 + r2 r2 = r 0 − q 1 · r 1 = s 2 · r 0 + t 2 · r 1
3 r1 = q2 · r2 + r3 r3 = r1 − q2 · r2 = r1 − q2 (r0 − q1 · r1 )
= [−q2 ]r0 + [1 + q1 · q2 ]r1 = s3 · r0 + t3 · r1
.. .. ..
. . .
i ri−2 = qi−1 · ri−1 + ri ri = s i · r 0 + t i · r 1
i+1 ri−1 = qi · ri + ri+1 ri+1 = si+1 · r0 + ti+1 · r1
i+2 ri = qi+1 · ri+1 + ri+2 ri+2 = ri − qi+1 · ri+1
= (si · r0 + t1 · r1 ) − qi+1 (si+1 · r0 + ti+1 · r1 )
= [si − qi+1 ] · si+1 ]r0 + [t1 − qi+1 · ti+1 ]r1
= si+2 · r0 + ti+2 · r1
.. .. ..
. . .
m rm−2 = qm−1 · rm−1 + rm rm = gcd(r0 , r1 ) = sm · r0 + tm · r1

89
Now: s = sm , t = tm
Recursive formulae:

s0 = 1, t0 = 0
s1 = 0, t1 = 1
si = si−2 − qi−1 · si−1 , ti = ti−2 − qi−1 · ti−1 ; i = 2, 3, 4 . . .

Remark:

a) Extended Euclidean algorithm is commonly used to compute the inverse element in

Zm . If gcd(r0 , r1 ) = 1, then t = r1−1 mod r0 .

b) For fast software implementation, the “binary extended Euclidean algorithm” is more
efficient [AM97] because it avoids the division required in each iteration of the extended
Euclidean algorithm shown above.

6.5.2 Euler’s Phi Function

Definition 6.5.1 The number of integers in Zm rela-

tively prime to m is denoted by Φ(m).

Example 1:
m = 6; Z6 = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
gcd(0, 6) = 6
gcd(1, 6) = 1 ←
gcd(2, 6) = 2
gcd(3, 6) = 3
gcd(4, 6) = 2
gcd(5, 6) = 1 ←
Φ(6) = 2

90
Example 2:
m = 5; Z5 = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4}
gcd(0, 5) = 5
gcd(1, 5) = 1 ←
gcd(2, 5) = 1 ←
gcd(3, 5) = 1 ←
gcd(4, 5) = 1 ←
Φ(5) = 4

Theorem 6.5.2 If m = pe11 · pe22 · . . . · penn , where pi are

prime numbers and ei are integers, then:

n
Y
Φ(m) = (pei i − pei i −1 )
i=1

Example: m = 40 = 8 · 5 = 23 · 5 = pe11 · pe22

Φ(m) = (23 − 22 )(51 − 50 ) = (8 − 4)(5 − 1) = 4 · 4 = 16

Theorem 6.5.3 Euler’s Theorem

If gcd(a, m) = 1, then:

aΦ(m) ≡ 1 mod m

Example: m = 6; a = 5
Φ(6) = Φ(3 · 2) = (3 − 1)(2 − 1) = 2
5Φ(6) = 52 = 25 ≡ 1 mod 6

91
6.6 Lessons Learned — Basics of Public-Key Cryptog-
raphy
• Public-key algorithms have capabilities that symmetric ciphers don’t have, in particular
digital signature and key establishment functions.

• Public-key algorithms are computationally intensive (= slow), and are hence poorly
suited for bulk data encryption.

• Most modern protocols are hybrid protocols which use symmetric as well as public-key
algorithms.

• There are considerably fewer established public-key algorithms than there are symmet-
ric ciphers.

• The extended Euclidean algorithm provides an efficient way of computing inverses

modulo an integer.

• Computing Euler’s phi function of an integer number is easy if one knows the factor-
ization of the number. Otherwise it is very hard.

92
Chapter 7

RSA

A few general remarks:

1. Most popular public-key cryptosystem.

2. Invented by Rivest/Shamir/Adleman in 1977 at MIT.

3. Was patented in the USA (not in the rest of the world) until 2000.

4. The main application of RSA are:

(a) encryption and, thus, for key transport

(b) digital signature (see Chapter 11)

93
7.1 Cryptosystem
Set-up Stage
1. Choose two large primes p and q.

2. Compute n = p · q.

3. Compute Φ(n) = (p − 1)(q − 1).

4. Choose random b; 0 < b < Φ(n), with gcd(b, Φ(n)) = 1.

Note that b has inverse in ZΦ(n) .

5. Compute inverse a = b−1 mod Φ(n):

b · a ≡ 1 mod Φ(n).

6. Public key: kpub = (n, b).

Private key: kpr = (p, q, a).

Encryption: done using public key, kpub .

y = ekpub (x) = xb mod n.
x ∈ Zn = {0, 1, . . . , n − 1}.

Decryption: done using private key, kpr .

x = dkpr (y) = y a mod n.

94
Example:
Alice sends encrypted message (x = 4) to Bob after Bob
sends her the public key.

Alice Bob
(1) choose p = 3; q = 11
(2) n = p · q = 33
(3) Φ(n) = (3 − 1)(11 − 1) = 2 · 10 = 20
(4) choose b = 3; gcd(20, 3) = 1
kpub (3,33)
x=4 ←− (5) a = b−1 = 7 mod 20
y=31
y = xb mod n = 43 = 64 ≡ 31 mod 33 −→ x = y a = 317 ≡ 4 mod 33

95
Why does RSA work?
We have to show that: dkpr (y) = dkpr (ekpub (x)) = x.
dkpr = y a = xba = xab mod n.
a · b ≡ 1 mod Φ(n) ⇐⇒ a · b = 1 + t · Φ(n), where t is an integer
dkpr = xab = xt·Φ(n) · x1 = (xΦ(n) )t · x mod n.

1. Case: gcd(x, n) = gcd(x, p · q) = 1

Euler’s Theorem: xΦ(n) ≡ 1 mod n,
dkpr = (xΦ(n) )t · x ≡ 1t · x = x mod n. q.e.d.

2. Case: gcd(x, n) = gcd(x, p · q) 6= 1

either x = r · p or x = s · q, where r, s are integers such that: r < q, s < p.
assume x = r · p ⇒ gcd(x, q) = 1
(xΦ(n) )t = (x(q−1)(p−1) )t = (xΦ(q)(p−1) )t = ((xΦ(q) )p−1 )t ≡ 1(p−1)t = 1 mod q
(xΦ(n) )t ≡ 1 + c · q, where c is an integer
x · (xΦ(n) )t ≡ x + x · c · q = x + r · p · c · q = x + r · c · p · q = x + r · c · n
x · (xΦ(n) )t ≡ x mod n
dkpr = (xΦ(n) )t · x ≡ x mod n. q.e.d.

96
7.2 Computational Aspects

7.2.1 Choosing p and q

Problem: Finding two large primes p, q (for instance, each ≈ 512 bits).

Approach: Choose a random large integer and apply a primality test. In practice, a “Monte
Carlo” test, for instance the Miller-Rabin [Sti02] test, is used. Note that a primality test
does not require factorization, and is in fact enormously faster than factorization.

Input-output behavior of the Miller-Rabin Algorithm:

Input: p (or q) and an arbitrary number r < p.

Output 1: Statement “p is composite” → always true
Output 2: Statement “p is prime” → true with high probability

In practice, the above algorithm is run 3 times (for a 1000 bit prime) and upto 12 times (for
a 150 bit prime) [AM97, Table 4.4 page 148] with different parameters r. If the answer is
always “p is prime”, then p is with very high probability a prime.

97
Question: What is the likelihood that a randomly picked integer p (or q) is prime?
1
Answer: P(p is prime ) ≈ ln(p)
.

Example: p ≈ 2512 → (512 bits).

1 1
P(p is prime) ≈ ≈
ln(2512 ) 355
This means that on average about 1 in 355 random integers with a length of
512 bit is a prime. Since we can spot even numbers right away, we only have to
generate and test on average 355/2 ≈ 173 numbers before we find a prime of this
bit length.

Conclusion: Primes are relatively frequent, even for numbers with large bit lengths. To-
gether with an efficient primality test, this results in a very practical way of finding random
prime numbers.

98
7.2.2 Choosing a and b

kpub = b; condition: gcd(b, Φ(n)) = 1; where Φ(n) = (p − 1) · (q − 1).

kpr = a; where a = b−1 mod Φ(n).
Pick b (does not have be full length of n!) and compute:

1. Euclidean Algorithm: s · Φ(n) + t · b = gcd(b, Φ(n))

2. Test if gcd(b, Φ(n)) = 1

3. Calculate a:
Question: What is t · b mod Φ(n)?

t · b = (−s)Φ(n) + 1

⇒ t · b ≡ 1 mod Φ(n)

⇒ t = b−1 = a mod Φ(n)

Remark:
It is not necessary to find s for the computation of a.

99
7.2.3 Encryption/Decryption

encryption: ekpub (x) = xb mod n = y.

decryption: dkpr (y) = y a mod n = x.

Observation: Both encryption and decryption are exponentiations.

The goal now is to find an efficient way of performing exponentiations with very large num-
bers. Note that all parameters n, x, y, a, b are in general very large numbers1 . Nowadays, in
actual implementations, these parameters are typically chosen in the range of 1024–4096 bit!
The straightforward way of exponentiation:

x, x2 , x3 , x4 , x5 , . . .

does not work here, since the exponents a, b have in actual applications values in the range of
21024 . Straightforward exponentiation would thus require around 21024 multiplications. Since
the number of atoms in the visible universe is estimated to be around 2150 , computing 21024
multiplications for setting up one secure session for our web browser is not too tempting.
The central question is whether there are considerably faster methods for exponentiation
available. The answer is, luckily, yes (otherwise we could forget about RSA and pretty much
all other public-key cryptosystem in use today.) In order to develop the method, let’s look
at some absurdly small example of an exponentiation:
Question: How many multiplications are required for computing x8 ?
Answer: With the straightforward method (x, x2 , x3 , x4 , x5 , x6 , x7 , x8 ) we need 7 multipli-
cations. However, alternatively we can do something much smarter:
2 2 2 4 4 4 8
| · x{z= x};
x x
| · x{z = x }; x
| · x{z = x }.
1. MUL 2. MUL 3. MUL

1
The only exception is the public exponent b, which is often chosen to be a short number, e.g., b = 17.

100
Question: OK, that worked fine, but the exponent 8 is a very special case since it’s a power
of two (23 = 8) after all. Is there are fast way of computing an exponentiation with an
arbitrary exponent? Let’s look at the exponent 13. How many multiplications are required
for computing x13 ?

2 2 3 3 3 6 6 6 12 12 13
Answer: x
| · x{z= x}; x
| · x{z= x}; x
| · x{z = x }; x
| · x{z= x }; x
| · x{z= x }.
SQ MUL SQ SQ MUL

Observation: Apparently, we have to perform squarings (of the current result) and multi-
plying by x (of the current result) in order to achieve the over-all exponentiation.

Question: Is there a systematic way for finding the sequence in which we have to perform
squarings and multiplications (by x) for a given exponent B?

Answer: Yes, the method is the square-and-multiply algorithm.

Square-and-multiply Algorithm

The square-and-multiply algorithm (also called binary method or left-to-right exponentia-

tion) provides a chain of squarings and multiplications for a given exponent B so that an
exponentiation xB is being computed. The algorithms is based on scanning the bits of the
exponents from left (the most significant bit) to the right (the least significant bit). Roughly
speaking, the algorithm works as follows: in every iteration, i.e., for every exponent bit, the
current results is squared. If (and only if) the currently scanned exponent bit has the value
1, a multiplication of the current result by x is also executed. Let’s revisit the example from
above but let’s pay attention to the exponent bits:

101
Example: x13 = x11012 = x(b3 ,b2 ,b1 ,b0 )2

#1 (x1 )2 = x2 = x102 SQ, bit processed: b2

#2 x2 · x = x3 = x112 MUL, since b2 = 1
#3 (x3 )2 = x6 = x1102 SQ, bit processed: b1
#4 x6 · 1 = x6 = x1102 no MUL operation since b1 = 0
#5 (x6 )2 = x12 = x11002 SQ, bit processed: b0
#6 x12 · x = x13 = x11012 MUL, since b0 = 1

Why the algorithms works becomes clear if we look at a more general form of a 4-bit expo-
nentiation:
Binary representation of the exponent → xB ; B ≤ 15
B = b 3 · 23 + b 2 · 22 + b 1 · 21 + b 0
B = (b3 · 2 + b2 )22 + b1 · 2 + b0 = ((b3 · 2 + b2 )2 + b1 )2 + b0
xB = x((b3 ·2+b2 )2+b1 )2+b0

Step xB
#1 xb3 ·2
#2 (xb3 ·2 · xb2 )
#3 (xb3 ·2 · xb2 )2
#4 (xb3 ·2 · xb2 )2 · xb1
#5 ((xb3 ·2 · xb2 )2 · xb1 )2
#6 ((xb3 ·2 · xb2 )2 · xb1 )2 · xb0

102
Of course, the algorithm also works for general exponents with more than 4 bits. In the
following, the square-and-multiply algorithms is given in pseudo code. Compare this pseudo
code with the verbal description in the first paragraph after the headline Square-and-multiply
Algorithm.
Pl−1
Algorithm [Sti02]: computes z = xB mod n, where B = i=0 bi 2
i

1. z = x

2. FOR i = l − 2 DOWNTO 0:

(a) z = z 2 mod n

(b) IF (bi = 1)
z = z · x mod n

Average complexity of the square-and-multiply algorithms for an exponent B:

[log2 n] · SQ + [ 21 log2 n] · MUL.
Average complexity comparison for an exponent with about 1000 bits
Straightforward exponentiation: 21000 ≈ 10300 MUL ⇒ impossible (before sun cools down)
Square-and-multiply: 1.5 · 1000 = 1500 MUL + SQ ⇒ relatively easy

Remark 1: Remember to apply modulo reduction after every multiplication and squaring
operation, in oder to keep the intermediate results small.

Remark 2: Bear in mind that each individual multiplication and squaring involves in
practice a number with 1024 or more bits. Thus, a single multiplication (or squaring)
consists typically of 100s of 32 integer multiplications on a desktop PC (and even more
integer multiplications on an 8 bit smart card processor.)

103
Remark 3 (exponenent lengths in practice): The public exponent b is often chosen to
be a short integer, for instance, the value b = 17 is popular. This makes encryption of a
message (and verification of an RSA signature) a very fast operation. However, the private
exponent a needs to have full length, i.e., the same length as the modulus n, for security
reasons. Note that a short exponent b does not cause a to be short.

104
7.3 Attacks
There have been several attacks proposed against RSA implementations. They typically
exploited weaknesses in the way RSA was implemented rather than breaking the actual RSA
algorithms. The following is a list of attacks against the actual algorihtm that could, in
theory, be exploited. However, the only known method for breaking the RSA algorithm is
by factoring the modulus.

7.3.1 Brute Force

Given y = xb mod n, try all possible keys a; 0 ≤ a < Φ(n) to obtain x = y a mod n. In
practice |K| = Φ(n) ≈ n > 2500 ⇒ impossible.

7.3.2 Finding Φ(n)

Given n, b, y = xb mod n, find Φ(n) and compute a = b−1 mod Φ(n).

⇒ computing Φ(n) is believed to be as difficult as factoring n.

7.3.3 Finding a directly

Given n, b, y = xb mod n, find a directly and compute x = y a mod n.

⇒ computing a directly is believed to be as difficult as factoring n.

7.3.4 Factorization of n

Factoring attack: Given n, b, y = xb mod n, factor p · q = n and compute:

Φ(n) = (p − 1)(q − 1)
b = a−1 mod Φ(n)
x = y a mod n

Factoring Algorithms:

105
 1. Quadratic Sieve (QS): speed depends on the size of n; record: in 1994 factoring of
n =RSA129, log10 n = 129 digits, log2 n = 426 bits.

2. Elliptic Curve: similar to QS; speed depends on the size of the smallest prime factor
of n, i.e., on p and q.

3. Number Field Sieve: asymptotically better than QS; record: in 1999 factoring of
n =RSA155; log10 n = 155 digits; log2 n = 512 bits.

Complexities of factoring algorithms:

Algorithm Complexity
√
Quadratic Sieve O(e(1+o(1)) ln(n) ln(ln(n)) )
√
Elliptic Curve O(e(1+o(1)) 2 ln(p) ln(ln(p)) )
1/3 (ln(ln(n)))2/3
Number Field Sieve O(e(1.92+o(1))(ln(n)) )

number month MIPS-years algorithm

RSA-100 April 1991 7 quadratic sieve
RSA-110 April 1992 75 quadratic sieve
RSA-120 June 1993 830 quadratic sieve
RSA-129 April 1994 5000 quadratic sieve
RSA-130 April 1996 500 generalized number field sieve
RSA-140 February 1999 1500 generalized number field sieve
RSA-155 August 1999 8000 generalized number field sieve

Table 7.1: RSA factoring challenges

106
7.4 Implementation
Some representative performance numbers:

• Hardware (FPGA): 1024 bit decryption in less that 5 ms.

• Software (Pentium at a few 100MHz): 1024 bit decryption in 43 ms; 1024 bit encryption
with short public exponent in 0.65 ms.

In practice, hybrid systems consisting of public-key and symmetric-key algorithms are com-
monly used:

1. key exchange and digital signatures are performed with (slow) public-key algorithm

2. bulk data encryption is performed with (fast) block ciphers or stream ciphers

107
7.5 Lessons Learned — RSA
• RSA is the most widely used public-key cryptosystems. In the future, elliptic curves
cryptosystems will probably catch up in popularity.

• RSA is mainly used for key transport (i.e., encryption of keys) and digital signatures.

• The public key b can be a short integer. The private key a needs to have the full length
of the modulus.

• Decryption with the long private key is computationally demanding and can be a
bottleneck on small processors, e.g., in mobile applications.

• Encryption with a short public key is very fast.

• RSA relies on the integer factorization problem:

1. Currently, 1024 bit (about 310 decimal digits) numbers cannot be factored.

2. Progress in factorization algorithms and factorization hardware is hard to predict.

It is advisable to use RSA with 2048 bit modulus if one needs reasonable long
term security or is concerned about extremely well funded attackers.

108
Chapter 8

The Discrete Logarithm (DL)

Problem

• DL is the underlying one-way function for:

1. Diffie-Hellman key exchange.

2. DSA (digital signature algorithm).

3. ElGamal encryption/digital signature scheme.

4. Elliptic curve cryptosystems.

5. . . . . . .

• DL is based on cyclic groups.

109
8.1 Some Algebra
Further Reading: [Big85].

8.1.1 Groups
Definition 8.1.1 A group is a set G of elements together with a binary operation
“o” such that:

1. If a, b ∈ G then a ◦ b = c ∈ G → (closure).

2. If (a ◦ b) ◦ c = a ◦ (b ◦ c) → (associativity).

3. There exists an identity element e ∈ G:

e ◦ a = a ◦ e = a → (identity).

4. There exists an inverse element ã, for all a ∈ G:

a ◦ ã = e → (inverse).

Examples:

1. G= Z = {. . . , −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, . . .}
◦ = addition
(Z, +) is a group with e = 0 and ã = −a

2. G= Z
◦ = multiplication
(Z, ×) is NOT a group since inverses ã do not exist except for a = 1

3. G=C (complex numbers u + iv)

◦ = multiplication
(C, ×) is a group with e = 1 and

u − iv
ã = a−1 =
u2 + v 2

110
Definition 8.1.2 “Zn∗ ” denotes the set of numbers i, 0 ≤ i < n, which are relatively
prime to n.

111
Examples:

1. Z9∗ = {1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8}

2. Z7∗ = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

Multiplication Table

∗ mod 9 1 2 4 5 7 8
1 1 2 4 5 7 8
2 2 4 8 1 5 7
4 4 8 7 2 1 5
5 5 1 2 7 8 4
7 7 5 1 8 4 2
8 8 7 5 4 2 1

Theorem 8.1.1 Zn∗ forms a group under modulo n multiplication. The identity ele-
ment is e = 1.

Remark:
The inverse of a ∈ Zn∗ can be found through the extended Euclidean algorithm.

112
8.1.2 Finite Groups
Definition 8.1.3 A group (G, ◦) is finite if it has a finite number of g elements.
We denote the cardinality of G by |G|.

Examples:

1. (Zm , +): a + b = c mod m

Question: What is the cardinality → |Zm | = m
Zm = {0, 1, 2, . . . , m − 1}

2. (Zp∗ , ×): a × b = c mod p; p is prime

Question: What is the cardinality → |Zp∗ | = p − 1
Zp∗ = {1, 2, . . . , p − 1}

Definition 8.1.4 The order of an element a ∈ (G, ◦) is the smallest positive integer
o such that a ◦ a ◦ . . . ◦ a = ao = 1.

∗
Example: (Z11 , ×), a = 3
Question: What is the order of a = 3?
a1 = 3
a2 = 3 2 = 9
a3 = 33 = 27 ≡ 5 mod 11
a4 = 34 = 33 · 3 = 5 · 3 = 15 ≡ 4 mod 11
a5 = a4 · a = 4 · 3 = 12 ≡ 1 mod 11
⇒ ord(3) = 5

113
 Definition 8.1.5 A group G which contains elements α with maximum order
ord(α) = |G| is said to be cyclic. Elements with maximum order are called gen-
erators or primitive elements.

∗
Example: 2 is a primitive element in Z11
∗
|Z11 | = |{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}| = 10
a=2
a2 = 4
a3 = 8
a4 = 16 ≡ 5
a5 = 10;
a6 = 20 ≡ 9
a7 = 18 ≡ 7
a8 = 14 ≡ 3;
a9 = 6
a10 = 12 ≡ 1
a11 = 2 = a.
∗
⇒ ord(a = 2) = 10 = |Z11 |
∗
⇒ (1) |Z11 | is cyclic
⇒ (2) a = 2 is a primitive element

∗
Observation (important): 2i ; i = 1, 2, . . . , 10 generates all elements of Z11

i 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2i 2 4 8 5 10 9 7 3 6 1

114
Some properties of cyclic groups:

1. The number of primitive elements is Φ(|G|).

2. For every a ∈ G: a|G| = 1.

3. For every a ∈ G: ord(a) divides |G|.

Proof only for (2): a = αi

.
a|G| = (αi )|G| = (α|G|)i = 1i = 1.

∗ ∗
Example: Z11 ; |Z11 | = 10

1. Φ(10) = (2 − 1)(5 − 1) = 1 · 4 = 4

2. a = 3 → 310 = (35 )2 = 12 = 1

3. homework . . .

8.1.3 Subgroups
Definition 8.1.6 A subset H of a group G is called a subgroup of G if the elements
of H form a group under the group operation of G.

?
Example: G = Z11 :
31 = 3
32 = 9
33 ≡ 5
34 ≡ 4
35 ≡ 1
⇒ 3 is a generator of H = {1, 3, 4, 5, 9} which is a subgroup of G

115
 H
8
1 3
9
4 5
7 2

G 6
10

?
Figure 8.1: Subgroup H of G = Z11

Multiplication Table

H 1 3 4 5 9
1 1 3 4 5 9
3 3 9 1 4 5
4 4 1 5 9 3
5 5 4 9 3 1
9 9 5 3 1 4

Observation: Multiplication of elements in H is closed!

Theorem 8.1.2 Any subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic.

Example: H = {1, 3, 4, 5, 9} is cyclic (see above).

Theorem 8.1.3 An element α of a cyclic group with

ord(α) = t

generates a cyclic subgroup with t elements.

116
 ?
Example (1): ord(3) = 5 in Z11
⇒ 3 generates H with 5 elements.

Remarks:

• Since the possible element order is t, t must divide |G|.

• The possible subgroup orders also divide |G|.

?
Example (2): |Z11 | = 10
⇒ possible subgroup orders: 1, 2, 3 (,10).

{1} α=1
{1, 10} α = 10
{1, 3, 4, 5, 9} α = 3, 4, 5, 9

117
8.2 The Generalized DL Problem
Given a cyclic subgroup (G, ◦) and a primitive element α. Let

i
β=α
| ◦ α{z. . . α} = α
i times

be an arbitrary element in G.

General DL Problem:

Given G, α, β = αi , find i.

i = logα (β)

Examples:

1. (Z11 , +); α = 2; β = 2| + 2 +{z. . . + 2} = i · 2

i times

i 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
2i 2 4 6 8 10 1 3 5 7 9 0

Let i = 7: β = 7 · 2 ≡ 3 mod 11
Question: given α = 2, β = 3 = i · 2, find i
Answer: i = 2−1 · 3 mod 11
Euclid’s algorithm can be used to compute i thus this example is NOT a one-way
function.

∗
2. (Z11 , ×); α = 2; β = 2| · 2 ·{z. . . · 2} = 2i
i times
β = 3 = 2i mod 11
Question: i = log2 (3) = log2 (2i ) = ?
Very hard computational problem!

118
8.3 Attacks for the DL Problem
1. Brute force:
check:
?
α1 = β
?
α2 = β
..
.
?
αi = β
Complexity: O(|G|) steps.
p−1
Example: DL in Zp∗ ≈ 2
tests
minimum security requirement ⇒ p − 1 = |G| ≥ 280

2. Shank’s algorithm (Baby-step giant-step) and Pollard’s-ρ method:

Further reading: [Sti02]
q
Complexity: O( |G|) steps (for both algorithms).
√
Example: DL in Zp∗ ≈ p steps
minimum security requirement ⇒ p − 1 = |G| ≥ 2160

3. Pohlig-Hellman algorithm:
Let |G| = p1 · p2 · · · pl
|{z}
√ largest prime
Complexity: O( pl ) steps.
Example: DL in Zp∗ : pl of (p − 1) must be ≥ 2160
minimum security requirement ⇒ pl ≥ 2160

4. Index-Calculus method:
Further reading: [AM97].
Applies only to Zp∗ and Galois fields GF(2k )
√
Complexity: O (e(1+O(1)) ln(p) ln(ln(p)) ) steps.
Example: DL in Zp∗ : minimum security requirement ⇒ p ≥ 21024
Remark: Index-Calculus is more powerful against DL in Galois Fields GF(2k ) than

119
against DL in Zp∗ .

120
8.4 Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange
Remarks:

• Proposed in 1976 in by Diffie and Hellman [DH76].

• Used in many practical protocols.

• Can be based on any DL problem.

8.4.1 Protocol

Set-up:

1. Find a large prime p.

2. Find a primitive element α of Zp∗ or

of a subgroup of Zp∗ .

Protocol:

Alice Bob
pick kprA = aA ∈ {2, 3, . . . , p − 1} pick kprB = aB ∈ {2, 3, . . . , p − 1}
compute kpubA = bA = αaA mod p compute kpubB = bB = αaB mod p
bA
−→
bB
←−
kAB = baBA = (αaB )aA kAB = baAB = (αaA )aB

Session key kses = kAB = αaB ·aA = αaA ·aB mod p.

121
8.4.2 Security

Question: Which information does Oscar have?

Answer: α, p, bA , bB .

Diffie-Hellman Problem:

Given bA = αaA mod p, bB = αaB mod p, and α find αaA ·aB mod p.

One solution to the D-H problem:

1. Solve DL problem: aA = logα (bA ) mod p.

2. Compute: baBA = (αaB )aA = αaA ·aB mod p.

Choose p ≥ 21024 .

Note:

There is no proof that the DL problem is the only solution to the D-H problem!
However, it is conjectured.

122
8.5 Lessons Learned — Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange
• The Diffie-Hellman protocol is a widely used method for key exchange. It is based on
cyclic groups.

• In practice, the multiplicative group of the prime field Zp or the group of an elliptic
curve are most often used.

• If the parameters are chosen carefully, the Diffie-Hellman protocol is secure against
passive (i.e., attacker can only eavesdrop) attacks.

• For the Diffie-Helmann protocol in Zp? , the prime p should be at least 1024 bit long.
This provides a security roughly equivalent to an 80 bit symmetric cipher. For a better
long term security, a prime of length 2048 bit should be chosen.

123
Chapter 9

Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem

Further Reading:
Chapter 6 in [Kob94].
Book by Alfred Menezes [Men93].

Remarks:

• Relatively new cryptosystem, suggested independently:

→ 1987 by Koblitz at the University of Washington,
→ 1986 by Miller at IBM.

• It is believed to be more secure than RSA/DL in Zp∗ , but uses arithmetic with much
shorter numbers (≈ 160 – 256 bits vs. 1024 – 2048 bits).

• It can be used instead of D-H and other DL-based algorithms.

Drawbacks:

• Not as well studied as RSA and DL-base public-key schemes.

• It is conceptually more difficult.

• Finding secure curves in the set-up phase is computationally expensive.

124
9.1 Elliptic Curves
Goal: To find another instance for the DL problem in cyclic groups.
Question: What is the equation x2 + y 2 = r 2 over reals?
Answer: It is a circle.
y

r2

Figure 9.1: x2 + y 2 = r 2 over reals

Question: What is the equation a · x2 + b · y 2 = c over reals?

Answer: It is an ellipsis.
y

Figure 9.2: a · x2 + b · y 2 = c over reals

Note:

There are only certain points (x,y) which fulfill the equation. For example the
point (x = r, y = 1) fulfills the equation of a circle.

125
 Definition 9.1.1 The elliptic curve over Zp , p > 3, is a set of all pairs (x, y) ∈ Zp
which fulfill:
y 2 ≡ x3 + a · x + b mod p

where
a, b, ∈ Zp

and
4 · a3 + 27 · b2 6= 0 mod p

Question: How does y 2 = x3 + a · x + b look over reals?

y

Q+Q=2Q

Q
P
x

P+Q

Figure 9.3: y 2 = x3 + a · x + b over the reals

Goal: Finding a (cyclic) group (G, ◦) so that we can use the DL problem as a one-way
function.

We have a set (points on the curve). We “only” need a group operation on the points.

126
Group G: Points on the curve given by (x, y).
Operation ◦: P + Q = (x1 , y1 ) + (x2 , y2 ) = R = (x3 , y3 ).

Question: How do we find R?

Answer: First geometrically.

a) P 6= Q → line through P and Q and mirror point of third interception along the x-axis.

b) P = Q ⇒ P + Q = 2Q → tangent line through Q and mirror point of second intersec-

tion along the x-axis.

Point Addition (group operation):

x3 = λ2 − x1 − x2 mod p

y3 = λ(x1 − x3 ) − y1 mod p

where 
y2 −y1


x2 −x1
mod p ; if P 6= Q
λ=
 3x21 +a

2y1
mod p ; if P = Q

Remarks:

• If x1 ≡ x2 mod p and y1 ≡ −y2 mod p, then P + Q = O which is an abstract point

at infinity.

• O is the neutral element of the group: P +O= P ; for all P .

• Additive inverse of any point (x, y) = P is P +(−P ) = O such that (x, y)+(x, −y) = O.

Theorem 9.1.1 The points on an elliptic curve together with O have

cyclic subgroups.

127
Remark: Under certain conditions all points on an elliptic curve form a cyclic group as
the following example shows.

Example: Finding all points on the curve E: y 2 ≡ x3 + x + 6 mod 11.

#E = 13.
primitive element → α = (2, 7) ⇒ generates all points.
2α = α + α = (2, 7) + (2, 7) = (x3 , y3 )
3x21 +a
λ= 2y1
= (2 · 7)−1 (3 · 4 + 1) = 3−1 · 13 ≡ 4 · 13 ≡ 4 · 2 = 8 mod 11
x3 = λ2 − x1 − x2 = 82 − 2 − 2 = 60 ≡ 5 mod 11
y3 = λ(x1 − x3 ) − y1 = 8(2 − 5) − 7 = −24 − 7 = −31 ≡ 2 mod 11
2α = (2, 7) + (2, 7) = (5, 2)
3α = 2α + α = . . .
..
.
12α = 11α + α = (2, 4)
13α = 12α + α = (2, 4) + (2, 7) = (2, 4) + (2, −4) = O
14α = 13α + α =O+α = α
..
.

All 12 non-zero elements together with O form a cyclic group.

α = (2, 7) 2α = (5, 2) 3α = (8, 3)

4α = (10, 2) 5α = (3, 6) 6α = (7, 9)
7α = (7, 2) 8α = (3, 5) 9α = (10, 9)
10α = (8, 8) 11α = (5, 9) 12α = (2, 4)

Table 9.1: Non-zero elements of the group over y 2 ≡ x3 + x + 6 mod 11

Remark: In general, finding of the group order #E is computationally very complex.

128
9.2 Cryptosystems

9.2.1 Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange

The cryptosystem is completely analogous to D-H in Zp∗ .

Set-up:

1. Choose E: y 2 ≡ x3 + a · x + b mod p.

2. Choose primitive element α = (xα , yα ).

Protocol:

Alice Bob
choose kprA = aA ∈ {2, 3, . . . , #E − 1} choose kprB = aB ∈ {2, 3, . . . , #E − 1}
compute kpubA = bA = aA · α = (xA , yA ) compute kpubB = bB = aB · α = (xB , yB )
b
A
−→
b
B
←−
compute aA · bB = aA · aB · α = (xk , yk ) compute aB · bA = aB · aA · α = (xk , yk )
kAB = xk ∈ Zp kAB = xk ∈ Zp

Security:


 Oscar knows: E, p, α, bA = aA · α, bB = aB · α
Diffie-Hellman problem for elliptic curves

 Oscar wants to know: kAB = aA · aB · α

One possible solution to the D-H problem for elliptic curves:

1. Compute discrete logarithm:

Given α and α
|
+ α +{z. . . + α} = bA , find aA .
aA times

2. Compute aA · bB = aA · aB · α.

129
Attacks:

• Only possible attacks against elliptic curves are the Pohlig-Hellman scheme together
with Shank’s algorithm or Pollard’s-Rho method.
⇒ #E must have one large prime factor pl
⇒ 2160 ≤ pl ≤ 2250 .

• So-called “Koblitz curves” (curves with a, b ∈ {0, 1})

• For supersingular elliptic curves over GF(2n), DL in elliptic curves can be solved by
solving DL in GF(2k·n); k ≤ 6.
⇒ stay away from supersingular curves despite of possible faster implementations.

• Powerful index-calculus method attacks are not applicable (as of yet).

9.2.2 Menezes-Vanstone Encryption

Set-up:

1. Choose E: y 2 ≡ x3 + a · x + b mod p.

2. Choose primitive element α = (xα , yα ).

3. Pick random integer a ∈ {2, 3, . . . , #E − 1}.

4. Compute a · α = β = (xβ , yβ ).

5. Public Key: kpub = (E, p, α, β).

6. Private Key: kpr = (a).

130
Encryption:

1. Pick random k ∈ {2, 3, . . . , #E − 1}. Compute k · β = (c1 , c2 ).

2. Encrypt ekpub (x, k) = (Y0 , Y1 , Y2 ).

Y0 = k · α → point on the elliptic curve.
Y1 = c1 · x1 mod p → integer.
Y2 = c2 · x2 mod p → integer.

Decryption:

1. Compute a · Y0 = (c1 , c2 ).
a · Y0 = a · k · α = k · β = (c1 , c2 ).

2. Decrypt: dkpr (Y0 , Y1 , Y2 ) = (Y1 · c−1 −1

1 mod p, Y2 · c2 mod p) =

(x1 , x2 ).

Remark: The disadvantage of this scheme is the message expansion factor:

# bits y 4dlog2 pe
= =2
# bits x 2dlog2 pe

9.3 Implementation
1. Hardware:

• Approximatly 0.2 msec for an elliptic curve point multiplication with 167 bits on
an FPGA [OP00].

2. Software:

• One elliptic curve point multiplication a · P in less than 10 msec over GF(2155 ).

• Implementation on 8-bit smart card processor without coprocessor available

131
Chapter 10

ElGamal Encryption Scheme

10.1 Cryptosystem
Remarks:

• Published in 1985.

• Based on the DL problem in Zp∗ or GF(2k ).

• Extension of the D-H key exchange for encryption.

Principle:

Alice Bob
choose private key kprA = aA choose private key kprB = aB
compute kpubA = αaA mod p = bA compute kpubB = αaB mod p = bB
b
A
−→
b
B
←−
kAB = baBA = αaA aB mod p kAB = baAB = αaB aA mod p
y
y = x · kAB mod p −→
−1
x = y · kAB mod p

132
ElGamal:
Set-up:

1. Choose large prime p.

2. Choose primitive element α ∈ Zp∗ .

3. Choose secret key a ∈ {2, 3, . . . , p − 2}.

4. Compute β = αa mod p,
Public Key: Kpub = (p, α, β),
Private Key: Kpr = (a).

Encryption:

1. Choose k ∈ {2, 3, . . . , p − 2}.

2. Y1 = αk mod p.

3. Y2 = x · β k mod p.

4. Encryption: = ekpub (x, k) = (Y1 , Y2 ).

Decryption:

x = dkpr (Y1 , Y2 ) = Y2 (Y1a )−1 mod p.

133
Question: How does the ElGamal scheme work?

dkpr (Y1 , Y2 ) = Y2 (Y1a )−1

= x · β k ((αk )a )−1 → but β = αa
= x(αa )k ((αk )a )−1
= x · αak · α−ak
=x

Protocol:

Alice Bob
message x < p set-up phase steps 1-4
kpub = (p, α, β)
kpr = (a)
kpub =(p,α,β)
←−
choose k ∈ {2, 3, · · · , p − 2}
Y1 = αk mod p
Y2 = x · β k mod p
(Y1 ,Y2 )
−→
x = Y2 (Y1a )−1

134
Remarks:

• ElGamal is essentially an extension of the D-H key exchange protocol (α k corresponds

to Alice’s public key bA and β k corresponds to the derived session key KAB ).

Y2 = x 1 · β k 

• if x1 is known, β k can be found from Y2 .
k 
Y3 = x 2 · β 
Thus for every message block xi choose a new k!

• Message expansion factor

# of y bits 2dlog 2py e
= = 2.
# of x bits dlog 2px e

• ElGamal is non-deterministic.

10.2 Computational Aspects

10.2.1 Encryption

Y1 = αk mod p 

apply the square-and-multiply for exponentiation
Y2 = x · β k mod p 


10.2.2 Decryption

x = dkpr (Y1 , Y2 ) = Y2 (Y1a )−1 mod p.

Question: How can (Y1a )−1 be computed efficiently?

Derivation: b ∈ Zp∗ :

be = bq(p−1)+r = (bp−1 )q · br

= 1q · br mod p

= br mod p

⇒ e = r mod (p − 1)

135
 Thus, be ≡ be mod (p−1)
mod p, where b ∈ Zp∗ and e ∈ Z

The above derivation can be used for decryption:

−a mod (p−1)
(Y1a )−1 = Y1−a = Y1 mod p
= Y1p−1−a mod p

Note: Y1p−1−a mod p can be computed using the square-and-multiply algorithm.

10.3 Security of ElGamal

Oscar knows: p, α, β = αa , Y1 = αk , Y2 = x · β k .
Oscar wants to know: x

• He attempts to find the secret key a:

1. a = logα β mod p ← hard, DL problem.

2. x = Y2 (Y1a )−1 mod p ← easy.

• He attempts to find the random exponent k:

1. k = logα Y1 mod p ← hard, DL problem.

2. Y2 · β −k = x ← easy.

• In both cases Oscar has to compute the DL problem in finite fields (Zp∗ or GF(2k )).
He can use index-calculus method which forces us to implement schemes with at least
1024 bits.

136
Chapter 11

Digital Signatures

Protocols use:

• Symmetric-key algorithms.

• Public-key algorithms.

• Digital Signatures.

• Hash functions.

• Message Authentication Codes.

as building blocks. In practice, protocols are often the most vulnerable part of a cryp-
tosystem. The following chapters deal with digital signature, message authentication codes
(MACs), and hash functions.

137
11.1 Principle
The idea is similar to a conventional signature on paper: Given a message x, a digital
signature ist appended to the message. As with conventional signatures, only the person
who sends the message must be capable of generating a valid signature. In order to achieve
this with cryptography, we make the signature a function of a private key, so that only the
holder of the private key can sign a message. In order to make sure that a signature changes
with each document, we also make the signature a function of the message that is being
signed.

message x

signature f(message) = f(x)

Figure 11.1: Digital signature and message block

The main advantage which digital signatures have is that they enable communication parties
to prove that one party has actually generated the message. Such a “proof” can even have
legal meaning, for instance as in the German Signaturgesetz (signature law.)

138
 message space

signature space

sig (x) = y
Kpr

y
x

true if y = sig(x)
ver (x, y)=
Kpub false if y == sig(x)

Figure 11.2: Digital signature and message domain

Basic protocol:

1. Bob signs his message x with his private key kpr :

⇒ y = sigkpr (x).

2. Bob sends (y, x) to Alice.

3. Alice runs the verification function verkpub (x, y) with Bob’s public key.

139
Properties of digital signatures:

• Only Bob can sign his document (with kpr ).

• Everyone can verify the signature (with kpub ).

• Authentication: Alice is sure that Bob signed the message.

• Integrity: Message x cannot be altered since that would be detected through verifica-
tion.

• Non-repudiation: The receiver of the message can prove that the sender had actually
send the message.

It is important to note that the last property, sender non-repudiation, can only be achieved
with public-key cryptography. Sender authentication and integrity can also be achieved via
symmetric techniques, i.e., through message authentication codes (MACs).

140
11.2 RSA Signature Scheme
Set-up: kpr = (p, q, a); kpub = (n, b).
General Protocol:

1. Bob computes: y = sigkpr (x) = ekpr (x) = xa mod n.

2. Bob sends (x, y) to Alice.

3. Alice verifies:


 = x ⇒ true
verkpub (x, y) = dkpub (y) = y b

 6= x ⇒ false

Question: Why does it work?

dkpub (y) = dkpub (ekpr (x)) = x.

Remark:

• The role of public/private key are exchanged if compared with RSA public-key encryp-
tion.

• This algorithm was standardized in ISO/IEC 9796.

141
Drawback/possible attack:
Oscar can generate a valid signature for a random message x:

1. Choose signature y ∈ Zn .

2. Encrypt: x = ekpub (y) = y b mod n → outcome x cannot be controlled.

3. Send (x, y) to Alice.

4. Alice verifies: verkpub (x, y): y b ≡ x mod n ⇒ true.

The attack above can be prevented by formatting rules for the message x. For instance, a
simple rule could be that the first and last 100 bits of x must all be zero (or one or any
other specific bit pattern.) It is extremely unlikely that a random message x shows this bit
pattern. Such a formatting scheme imposes a rule which distinguishes between valid and
invalid messages.

142
11.3 ElGamal Signature Scheme
Remarks:

• ElGamal signature scheme is different from ElGamal encryption.

• Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) is a modification of ElGamal signature scheme.

• This scheme was published in 1985.

143
Set-up:

1. Choose a prime p.

2. Choose primitive element α ∈ Zp∗ .

3. Choose random a ∈ {2, 3, . . . , p − 2}.

4. Compute β = αa mod p.
Public key: kpub = (p, α, β).
Private key: kpr = (a).

Signing:

1. Choose random k ∈ {0, 1, 2, . . . , p−2}; such that gcd(k, p−1) = 1.

2. Compute signature:

sigkpr (x, k) = (γ, δ), where

γ = αk mod p

δ = (x − a · γ)k −1 mod p − 1

Public verification:


γ δ

 = αx mod p valid signature
verkpub (x, (γ, δ)) = β · γ
6= αx mod p invalid signature



Question: Why does this scheme work?

−1
β γ · γ δ = (αa )γ (αk )(x−a·γ)k mod (p−1)
mod p
−1 (x−a·γ)
= αa·γ · αk·k mod p

= αa·γ−a·γ+x = αx

144
11.4 Lessons Learned — Digital Signatures
• Digital signatures provide message integrity, sender authentication, and non-repudiation.

• One of the main application areas of digital signatures are certificates.

• RSA is the currently most widely used digital signature algorithm. Competitors are the
Digital Signature Standard (DSA) and the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Standard
(ECDSA.)

• RSA verification can be done with short public keys b, whereas the signature key a
must have the full length of the modulus n. Hence, RSA verification is fast and signing
is slower.

• RSA digital signature is almost identical to RSA encryption, except that the private
key is applied first to the message (signing), and the public key is applied to the signed
message in the second step (verification.)

• As with RSA encryption, the modulus n should be at least 1024 bit long. This provides
a long-term security roughly equivalent to an 80 bit symmetric cipher. For a better
long-term security, a prime of length 2048 bit should be chosen.

145
Chapter 12

Error Coding (Channel Coding)

12.1 Cryptography and Coding

There are three basic forms of coding in modern communication systems: source coding,
error coding (also called channel coding), and encryption. From an information theoretical
and practical point of view, the three forms of coding should be applied as follows:
removes adds
redundancy redundancy

Data Source Channel

Source Encryption
Coding Coding

introduces
errors and Channel
eavesdropping

Data Source Channel

Decoding Decryption Decoding
Sink

Figure 12.1: Coding in digital communication systems

146
Source Coding (Data Compression) Most data, such as text, has redundancy in it.
This means the standard representation of the message, e.g., English text, uses more
bits than necessary to uniquely represent the message contents. Source coding tech-
niques extract the redundany and, thus, reduce the message length.

Encryption (Reminder: Pretty much everything in these lecture notes) The goal of encryp-
tion is to disguise the contents of a message. Only the owner of cryptographic keys
should be able to recover the original content. Encryption can be viewed as a form of
coding.

Channel Coding (Error Coding) The purpose of channel codes is to make the data ro-
bust against errors introduced during transmission over the channel.

It is very important for an understanding of cryptography to distinguish between these three

forms of coding. In particular, error codes and encryption should not be confused. Roughly
speaking, error codes protect against non-intentional malfunction (i.e., transmission errors
due to noise), and enryption protects against malfunction due to human attackers, e.g.,
someone who tries to read or alter a message. Obviously “attacks by nature” (noise) are
quite different than attacks by a smart and well-funded eavesdropper. In order to understand
the difference between error coding and encryption better and in order to understand the
requirements of hash functions, this chapter gives a brief introduction to error codes.

147
PSfrag replacements

12.2 Basics of Channel Codes

Alice Bob

M M̂ M
encode channel decode

Figure 12.2: Simple Channel En-/ Decoding

The goal of channel codes it to make the data robust against errors on the transmission
channel. The basic idea of channel codes is to introduce extra information (i.e., to add
extra bits) to the data before transmission, so that there is a certain functional relationship
between the message bits and the extra bits.
PSfrag replacements

extra
message M
bits

M̂

Figure 12.3: Encoded Message M̂ with Redundant Bits

If this is done in a smart way it is unlikely (but not impossible) that a random error during
data transmission changes the bits in such a way that the relationship between the bits
are destroyed. The receiver (Bob) checks for the relationship between the message bits and
the extra bit. Note that channel coding adds redundancy to the message, i.e., makes the
transmitted data longer, which is the opposite of source coding.

148
 There are two types of channel codes:

1. Error detection codes

2. Error correction codes

In the remainder of this chapter, only error detection codes are discussed.

12.3 Simple Parity Check Codes

To the message M a single parity check bit P is added:
PSfrag replacements

10010101........................01 1

M P

Figure 12.4: Message with Parity Check Bit

Let M = m1 , m2 , . . . , ml be the message. Then the functional relationship between the

message and P is:
l
X
mi + P ≡ 0 mod 2
i=1

From this, the construction of P for a given message follows trivally as:
l
X
P ≡ mi mod 2
i=1

A consequence of this coding scheme is that the number of bits that have the value “1” in a
message together with the parity bit is always even. Hence, this coding scheme is also called
even parity.

149
Example: Transmission of the ASCII character “s”= 1010 011
parity bit P = 0
transmitted (M |P ) = 1010 0110
received (M |P )0 = 1010 0010 (bit error in position 6)
error will be detected since the mod 2 sum of the bits received is not equal to 0.

Properties of simple parity check codes:

• they detec all odd number of bit errors, i.e., single bit errors, 3-bit errors, 5-bit errors,
...

• they do not detect any even number of bit errors

• they do not detect swapping of bits

1010 0010 ⇒ 1010 0100

12.4 Weighted Parity Check Codes: The ISBN Book

Numbers
Simple parity check codes are well suited for random errors introduced by white noise (i.e.,
errors are equally likely at any bit position and bit errors are independent of each other.)
However, many real-world channels have a different error characteristic, for instance reorder-
ing of bits may occur. In order to detect reordering of bits on the channel, weighted parity
check codes are used. A “channel” where this occurs frequently are transmissions of data
by humans. An extremely wide spread example for a coding scheme which protects against
many reordering errors is the ISBN (international standard book notation) numbering sys-
tem.
Example:
ISBN: 3 – 540 – 59353 – 5

150
 The functional relationship between the message (the first 9 digits) and the check sum is the
following. Let
M = m10 , m9 , . . . , m2

be the message and P be the check sum, then:

10
X
i mi + P ≡ 0 mod 11
i=2

where P ∈ Z11 = {0, 1, . . . , 9, X}.

12.5 Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)

PSfrag replacements
Principle: We divide the message by a generator and consider the remainder of the division
as a checksum (CRC), which is attached to the message.

M CRC

m r
n=m+r

Figure 12.5: Message with CRC

Encoding:

1. Consider the message as a polynomial with binary coefficients:

Example: M = (1101011011) → M (x) = x9 + x8 + x6 + x4 + x3 + x + 1

2. Shift the polynomial r positions to the left: xr · M (x)

Example: r = 4
x4 · M (x) = x13 + x12 + x10 + x8 + x7 + x5 + x4

3. Divide xr · M (x) by the generator poylnomial G(x) = x4 + x + 1. The remainder of

the division is considered as checksum.

151
 Example:
(x13 +x12 +x10 +x8 +x7 +x5 +x4 ) : (x4 +x +1) = x9 + x8 + x3 + x + H(x)/G(x)
−(x13 +x10 +x9 )
(x12 +x9 +x8 +x7 +x5 +x4 )
−(x12 +x9 +x8 )
(x7 +x5 +x4 )
−(x7 +x4 +x3 )
(x5 +x3 )
−(x5 +x2 +x)
(x3 +x2 +x) = H(x)

4. Build the transmission polynomial T (x) = x4 · M (x) + H(x):

T (x) = (x13 + x12 + x10 + x8 + x7 + x5 + x4 ) + (x3 + x2 + x)

Remark:

a) deg H(x) < deg G(x)

b) T (x) is divisible by G(x):

T (x)/G(x) = (xr · M (x))/G(x) + H(x)/G(x)

= Q(x) + H(x)/G(x) + H(x)/G(x) = Q(x)

⇒ T (x) ≡ 0 mod G(x)

c) The behavior of the code is completely determined by the generator polynomial

Decoding: Divide the received polynomial R(x) by G(x). If the remainder is not zero, an
error occured. Otherwise, we assume no error occured:
(
=0 error free
R(x) mod G(x) =
6= 0 error occured

• An error at position i is represented by the error polynomial E(x) = xi

Example: error at position 0, 1, 8 → E(x) = x8 + x + 1

• Channel: R(x) = T (x) + E(x) (all bits at error positions are flipped)
Example: R(x) = x13 + x12 + x10 + x7 + x5 + x4 + x3 + x2 + x + 1

152
• Decoder:

R(x) mod G(x) = (T (x) + E(x)) mod G(x)

= T (x) mod G(x) + E(x) mod G(x)

= 0 + E(x) mod G(x)

Condition for error detection: E(x) mod G(x) 6= 0

or: error detection fails iff: E(x) = Q(x)G(x)

153
Chapter 13

Hash Functions

13.1 Introduction
The problem with digital signatures is that long messages require very long signatures. We
would like for performance as well as for security reasons to have one signature for a message
of arbitrary length. The solution to this problem are hash functions.

Note: There are many other applications of hash functions in cryptography beyond digital
signatures. In particular, hash functions have become very popular for message authentica-
tion codes (MACs.)

154
 x

x x is of arbitrary length

zi = h ( xi ||zi-1 )

z z is of fixed length

sig (z)
kpr

y = sig (z) y is of fixed length

kpr

Figure 13.1: Hash functions and digital signatures

Remarks:

• z, x don’t have the same length.

• h(x) has no key.

• h(x) is public.

Basic Protocol:

Alice Bob
1) z = h(x)
2) y = sigkpr (z)
3) (x,y)
←−
4) z = h(x)
5) verkpub (z, y)

155
Naı̈ve approach: Use of error detection codes as hash functions

Principle of error correction codes: Given a message x, the sender computes f (x), where
f () is a publically known function and sends x||f (x). The receiver obtains x0 and checks
?
f (x0 ) = f (x).

Sender Receiver
1) x
2) compute f (x)
3) (x,f (x))
←−
4) check if f (x0 ) = f (x)

Important: Error detection codes are designed to detect errors introduced during trans-
mission on the channel, e.g., errors due to noise.

Let’s try to use a column-wise parity check code. In this method, we compute an even parity
check bit for every bit position. An even parity bit is defined such that the sum of all bits
in the column is “1” if the XOR sum of all column bits is “1”, and “0” if the XOR of sum
of all column bits is “0”.
E.g., consider a text x = (x1 , x2 , ..., xl ) consisting of ASCII symbols xi . We can compute the
parity bits P = (p1 , p2 , ..., pl ) by bitwise XOR of the column entries:

x1 = 00101010

⊕ x2 = 01010011
..
.

⊕ xl = 11101000

P = (p1 , p2 , ..., pl ) = 10010100

156
157
The problem with error detection codes is, that they were designed to detect random errors,
and not “errors” introduced by an intelligent opponent such as Oscar. Oscar can easily alter
the message and additionally alter the parity bits such that the changes go undetected.

Requirements for a hash function

1. h(x) can be applied to x of any size.

2. h(x) produces a fixed length output.

3. h(x) is relatively easy to compute in software and hardware.

4. One-way: for (almost) all given output z, it is impossible to find

any input x such that h(x) = z.is one-way.

5. Weak collision resistant: given x, and thus h(x), it is impossible

to find any x0 such that h(x) = h(x0 ).

6. Strong collision resistant: it is impossible to find any two pairs

x, x0 such that
h(x) = h(x0 ).

Discussion:

• (1) — (3) are practical requirements

• (4) if h(x) is not one-way, Oscar can compute x from h(x) in cases where x is encrypted.

158
• (5) if h(x) is not weak collision free, Oscar can replace x with x0 .

Alice Oscar Bob

z = h(x)
(x,y)
←− y = sigKpr (z)
(y,x0 )
←−
z = h(x0 ) = h(x)
verKpub (z, y) = true

• (6) if h(x) is not strong collission free, Oscar runs the following attack:

a) Choose legitimate message x1 and fraudulent message x2

b) Alter x1 and x2 at “non-visible” location, i.e. replace tabs through spaces, append
returns, etc., until h(x01 ) = h(x02 ) (Note: e.g. 64 alteration locations allow 264
versions of a message with 264 different hash values).

c) Let Bob sign x01 → (x01 , sigKpr (h(x01 ))

d) Replace x01 → x02 and (x02 , sigKpr (h(x02 ))

159
 Question: Why is there no collision free hash function?
Answer: There exist far more x than z!

Z
h(x)
PSfrag replacements X

Figure 13.2: Map h(x) from X = {x} to Z = {z}

h(x) is the map from X to Z, where |X| >> |Z| with x ∈ X, z ∈ Z. A minimum in possible
collisions is the objective of any hash function. The function h(x) (and the size of Z) has to
assure that a construction of two different x’s with the same hash value z is time-consuming
and, thus, not feasible.

160
13.2 Security Considerations
Question: How many people are needed at a party so that there is a 50% chance that at
least two people have the same birthday?

In general, given a large set with n different values:

   ! k−1
1 2 k−1 Y i

P (no collission among k random elements) = 1 − 1− ··· 1− = 1−
| {z n } n n i=1 n
k
|
= 2 elt.{z }
|
k = 3 elt. {z }
k elt.
Often n is large (n = 365 in birthday paradox, n = 2160 in hash functions).
Recall:
x2 x3
e−x = 1 − x + − +···
2! 3!
if x << 1
e−x ≈ 1 − x

Thus,
k−1
Y i 1 2 3 k−1
P (no collision) ≈ e− n = e − n e− n e− n · · · e− n

i=1
k−1
Y i 1+2+3+···+k−1
e− n = e − n

i=1
Rewriting the exponent with the help of the following identity:

1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + k − 1 = k(k − 1)/2

We obtain,
k(k−1)
P (no collission) ≈ e− 2n

Define  as
DEF k(k−1)
P (at least one collission) =  ≈ 1 − e− 2n

k(k−1)
1− ≈ e− 2n
k(k − 1)
ln (1 − ) ≈ −
2n  
1
k(k + 1) ≈ −2n ln (1 − ) = 2n ln
1−

161
If k >> 1, then
 
2 1
k ≈ k(k − 1) ≈ 2n ln
s
1−
 
1
k ≈ 2n ln
1−

Example: s 
1
√ √ √
k( = 0.5) ≈ 2n ln = 2 ln 2 n = 1.18 n
1 − 0.5

√
⇒ A collission in a set of n values is found after about n trials with a probability of 0.5.
In other words, given a hash function with 40 bit output ⇒ collission after approximately
√
240 = 220 trials.

⇒ In order to provide collision resistance in practice, the output space of the hash function
should contain at least 2160 elements, that is, the hash function should have at least 160
√
output bits. Finding a collision takes then roughly 2160 = 280 steps.

162
13.3 Hash Algorithms
Overview:
Hash Algorithms

customized modular arithmetic based

e.g. MD4 family (rare, often unsecure)
block cipher based

Figure 13.3: Family of Hash Algorithms

a) MD4–family

1. SHA-1

Output: 160 bits ⇒ input size for DSS.

Input: 512 bit chunks of message x.
Operations: bitwise AND, OR, XOR, complement and cyclic shift.

2. RIPE-MD 160

Output: 160 bits.

Input: 512 bit chunks of message x.
Operations: same as SHA but runs two algorithms in parallel whose
outputs are combined after each round.

163
b) Hash functions from block ciphers

xi

H i-1 m
g e
K Hi = e g(H )
( xi ) xi
i-1

Hi

Figure 13.4: Hash Functions from Block Ciphers

where g is a simple n-to-m bit mapping function (if n = m, g can be the identity
mapping)
Last output Hl is the hash of the whole message x1 ,x2 ,. . .,xl

Also secure are:

– Hi = Hi−1 ⊕ exi (Hi−1 )

– Hi = Hi−1 ⊕ xi ⊕ eg(Hi−1 ) (xi )

Remark:

For block ciphers with less than 128 bit block length, different techniques
must be used (Sec. 9.4.1 (ii) in [AM97])

164
13.4 Lessons Learned — Hash Functions
• Hash functions are key-less. They serve as auxiliary functions in many cryptographic
protocols.

• Among the two most important applications of hash functions are: support function
for digital signatures and core function for building message authentication codes, e.g.,
HMAC.

• Hash functions should have at least 160 bit output length in order to withstand collision
attacks. 256 or more bits are better.

• SHA-1 and RIPEMD160 are considered to be secure hash functions.

165
Chapter 14

Message Authentication Codes

(MACs)

Other names: “cryptographic checksum” or “keyed hash function”.

Message authentication codes are widely used in practice for providing message integretiy
and message authentication in cases where the two communication parties share a secret key.
MACs are much faster than digital signatures since they are based on symmetric ciphers or
hash functions.

166
14.1 Principle
Similar to digital signatures, MACs append an “authentication tag” to a message. The main
difference is that MACs use a symmetric key on both the sender and receiver side.

message space
"signing"
signature space

MACK (x)

y
x

?
MACK (x) = y ; verification

Figure 14.1: Message authentication codes

Protocol:

Alice Bob
1) y = MACK (x)
(x,y)
2) ←−
3) y 0 = MACK (x)
?
y0 = y

Note: For MAC verification, Alice performs exactly the same steps that Bob used for
generating the MAC. This is quite different from digital signatures.

167
Properties of MACs:

1. Generate signature for a given message.

2. Symmetric-key based: signing and verifying party must share a

secret key.

3. Accepts messages of arbitrary length and generates fixed size sig-

nature.

4. Provides message integrity.

5. Provides message authentication.

6. Does not provide non-reputation.

Note: Properties 2, 3, and 6 are different from digital signatures.

168
14.2 MACs from Block Ciphers
MAC generation: Run block cipher in CBC mode
y0 = ek (x0 ⊕ IV ) = ek (x0 ⊕ 0000 . . .)
yi = ek (xi ⊕ yi−1 )
X = x0 , x1 , . . . , xm−1
M ACk (x) = ym−1

i=1 IV i=1 IV

Y i-1 Y i-1

Y i-1 Y i-1
i=n
X n , ... , X2 , X 1 Y n X n , ... , X2 , X 1 Yi
e e
Y’n
?
k k
Yn

X n , ... , X2 , X 1

Figure 14.2: MAC built from a block cipher in CBC mode

MAC Verification: Run the same process that was used for MAC generation on the
receiving end.

Remark: CBC with DES is standardized (ANSI X9.17).

169
14.3 MACs from Hash Functions: HMAC
• Popular in modern protocols such as SSL.

• Attractive property: HMAC can be proven to be secure under certain assumptions

about the hash function. “Secure” means here that the hash function has to be broken
in order to break the HMAC.

• Basic idea: Hash a secret key K together with the message M and consider the hash
output the authentication tag for the message: H(K||M ).

• Details

HMACK (M ) = H [(K + ⊕ opad)||H [(K + ⊕ ipad)||M ]]

where

K + = K padded with zeros on the left so that the result is b bits in length (where b
is the number of bits in a block).

ipad = 00110110 repeated b/8 times.

opad = 01011010 repeated b/8 times.

170
14.4 Lessons Learned — Message Authentication Codes
• MACs provide the two security services message integrity and message authentication
using symmetric techniques. MACs are widely used in protocols in practice.

• Both of these services are also provided by digital signatures but MACs are much
faster.

• MACs do not provide non-repudiation.

• In practice, MACs are either based on block ciphers or on hash functions.

• HMAC is a popular MAC used in many practical protocols such as SSL.

171
Chapter 15

Security Services

15.1 Attacks Against Information Systems

Information Information
source destination

(a) Normal flow (b) Interruption

(c) Interception (d) Modification

(e) Fabrication

172
 Remarks:

• Passive attacks: (c) → interception.

• Active attacks: (b) → interruption, (d) → modification, (e) → fabrication.

15.2 Introduction
Security Services are goals which information security systems try to achieve. Note that
cryptography is only one module in information security systems.

The main security services are:

• Confidentiality/Privacy. Information is kept secret from all but authorized parties.

• (Message/Sender) Authentication. Ensures that the sender of a message is who she/he

claims to be.

• Integrity. Ensures that a message has not been modified in transit.

• Non-repudiation. Ensures that the sender of a message can not deny the creation of
the message.

• Identification/Entity Authentication. Establishing of the identity of an entity (e.g. a

person, computer, credit card).

• Access Control. Restricting access to the resources to privileged entitites.

Remark: Message Authentication implies data integrity; the opposite is not true.

15.3 Privacy
Tool: Encryption algorithm.

173
 e Y dk
X k X

k k

a) Symmetric-Key

Provides:

−privacy


−message authentication and thus 



only if Bob can distinguish

−integrity  between valid and invalid X



−no non-repudiation 
 and if there are only two parties.

Remark:

In practice, authentication and integrity are often achieved with MACs

(Chapter 14)

b) Public-Key

e Y dkpr_B
X kpub_B X
ekpub_B (x)

kpub_B kpr_B

Provides:

- privacy

- integrity (if invalid x can e detected)

- no message authentication

174
15.4 Integrity and Sender Authentication
Recall: Sender authentication implies integrity.

15.4.1 Digital Signatures

(x, y) (x, y)
x x

y
y = sig (h(x)) x
Kpr_A
x h(x) sig h(x) ver true / false

Kpr_A Kpub_A

Provides:

- integrity

- sender authentication

- non-repudiation (only Alice can construct valid signature)

15.4.2 MACs

(x, y) (x, y)
x x

x MAC y x MAC true / false

K K

Provides:

175
 - integrity

- authentication

- no non-repudiation

15.4.3 Integrity and Encryption

(x, y)
x e d
eK (x, y)
y
y x compare
x K
h(x) K h(x)
y’

Provides:

- privacy

- integrity

- authentication

- no non-repudiation

Remark:

• Instead of hash functions, MACs are also possible. In this case: c = eK1 (x, MACK2 (y)).

• This scheme adds strong authentication and integrity to an encryption-protocol with

very little computational overhead.

176
Chapter 16

Key Establishment

16.1 Introduction

Secret key establishment

key distribution key agreement

One party generates Both parties generate
secret key and distributes secret key jointly
it

Figure 16.1: Key establishment schemes

Remark:

Some schemes make use of trusted authority (TA) which is trusted by and can
communicate with all users.

177
16.2 Symmetric-Key Approaches

16.2.1 The n2 Key Distribution Problem

TA generates a key for every pair of users:

Example: n = 4 users.
KAB KAC KAD KAB KBC KBD
A B

TA secure channels

D C
KAD KBD KCD KAC KBC KCD

Figure 16.2: The role of the Trusted Authority

Drawbacks:

• n secure channels are needed

• each user must store n − 1 keys

• TA must transmit n(n − 1) keys

n(n−1) n2
• TA must generate 2
≈ 2
keys

• every new network user makes updates at all other user as of necessary ⇒ scales badly

178
16.2.2 Key Distribution Center (KDC)

TA is a KDC: TA shares secret key with each user and generates session keys.

a) Basic protocol:

- ks = session key between Alice and Bob

- kA,KDC = secret key between Alice and KDC (Key encryption key, KEK)

- kB,KDC = secret key between Bob and KDC (Key encryption key, KEK)

Alice KDC Bob

ekA,KDC (ks )=yA ekB,KDC (ks )=yB
←− −→
ks = dkA,KDC (yA ) ks = dkB,KDC (yB )
y
y = eks (x) −→ x = dks (y)

Remarks:

– TA stores only n keys

– each user U stores only one key

b) Modified (advanced) protocol:

Alice KDC Bob

1a) yA = ekA (ks )
1b) yB = ekB (ks )
2) (yA ,yB )
←−
3) ks = dkA (yA )
5) (y,yB )
4) y = eks (x) −→ 7) ks = dkB (yB )
6) x = dks (y)

Remark: This approach is the basis for Kerberos.

179
16.3 Public-Key Approaches

16.3.1 Man-In-The-Middle Attack

D-H key exchange revised

Set-up:

- find large prime p

- find primitive element α ∈ Zp

Protocol:

Alice Bob
pick kprA = aA ∈ {2, 3, . . . , p − 2} pick kprB = aB ∈ {2, 3, . . . , p − 2}
compute kpubA = bA = αaA mod p compute kpubB = bB = αaB mod p
b
A
−→
b
B
←−
kAB = baBA = αaA aB mod p kAB = baAB = αaA aB mod p

Security:

1. passive attacks
⇒ security relies on Diffie-Hellman problem thus p > 21000 .

2. active attack
⇒ Man-in-the-middle attack:

Alice Oscar Bob

αa αo
−→ −→
αo αb
←− ←−
kAO = (αo )a = αao kAO = (αa )o kBO = (αo )b = αbo
kBO = (αb )o
y0
y 0 = ekAO (x) −→ x = dkAO (y 0 )
y 00
y 00 = ekBO (x) −→ x = dkBO (y 00 )

180
 Remarks:

• Oscar can read and alter x without detection.

• Underlying Problem: public keys are not authenticated.

• Man-in-the-middle attack applies to all Public-key schemes.

16.3.2 Certificates

Problem: Public keys are not authenticated!

Solution:

1. Digital signatures (asymmetric)

2. MACs (symmetric)

Review: Digital signatures

Alice Bob
(x,y)
y = sigKprA (x) −→ verKpubA (x, y)?

Idea: Sign public key together with identification.

[KpubA , ID(A)], sig[KpubA, ID(A)] = Certificate

Question: Who issues certificates?

Answer: “CA” = Certification Authority
Certificates bind ID information (e.g., name, social security number) to a public key through
digital signatures.

181
Sfrag replacements

RQST
Bob
ID(B), KpubB

RQST
CA
ID(A), KpubA C(B) = sigKprCA (ID(B), KpubB )

Alice

C(A) = sigKprCA (ID(A), KpubA )

Figure 16.3: Certification workflow

General structure of certificates:

1. Each user U :

• ID(U) = ID information such as user name, e-mail address, SS#, etc.

• private key: KprU

• public key: KpubU

2. Certifying Authority (CA):

• secret signature algorithm sigT A

• public verification algorithm verT A

• certificates for each user U:

C(U ) = (ID(U ), KpubU , sigT A (ID(U ), KpubU ))

General requirement: all users have the correct verification algorithm verT A with TA’s public
key.
Remarks:

• Certificate structures are specified in X.509, authentication services for the X.500 di-
rectory recommendation (CCITT).

182
 













  

 

 

 

 
















   

 

 

 

 












 


 


 


 
ID(U)




 




 



 


 


 


 
 KprU





 sig TA(ID(U), K prU )

Figure 16.4: General structure of the certificate C(U)

Version

Serial Number

Algorithm Identifier:
- Algorithm
- Parameters

Issuer

Period of Validity:
- Not Before Date
- Not After Date

Subject

Subject’s Public Key:

- Algorithm
- Parameters
- Public Key

Signature

Figure 16.5: Detailed structure of an X.509 certificate

183
 16.3.3 Diffie-Hellman Exchange with Certificates

Idea: Same as standard Diffie-Hellman key exchange, but each users’s public key is authen-
ticated by a certificate.

Alice Bob
KpubA = bA KpubB = bB
KprA = aA KprB = aB
C(B)=(ID(B),bB ,sigCA (ID(B),bB ))
←−
C(A)=(ID(A),bA ,sigCA (ID(A),bA ))
−→
1.) verCA (ID(B), bB ) 1.) verCA (ID(A), bA )
2.) kAB = baBA = αaB aA = αaA aB 2.) kAB = baAB = αaA aB
Question: Does Oscar have any further possibilities for an attack?
Answer:

1. Oscar impersonates Alice to obtain a certificate of the CA (with his key but Alices’
identity)

2. Oscar replaces the CA’s public key by his public key:

PSfrag replacements
KpubCA
CA Oscar

KpubCA
KpubCA KpubCA
KpubO

Figure 16.6: Simple attack on a CA

Remaining major problems with CAs:

1. The CA’s public key must initially be distributed in an authenticated manner!

2. Identity of user must be established by CA.

3. Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) must be distributed.

184
16.3.4 Authenticated Key Agreement

Idea: Alice and Bob sign their own public keys. Signatures can be correctly verified through
certificates.
Set-up:

• public verification key for verT A

• public prime p

• public primitive element α ∈ Zp

Protocol:
Alice TA Bob
C(A)=(ID(A),verA ,sigT A (ID(A),verA ))
←−
C(B)=(ID(B),verB ,sigT A (ID(B),verB ))
−→
1.) kprA = aA
b
2.) kpubA = bA = αaA mod p A
−→
3.) kprB = aB
4.) kpubB = bB = αaB mod p
5.) kAB = baAB = αaA aB mod p
(C(B),bB ,yB )
←− 6.) yB = sigB (bB , bA )
7.) verT A (C(B)): true/false
8.) verB (yB ): true/false
9.) kAB = baBA = αaA aB mod p
(C(A),yA )
10.) yA = sigA (bA , bB ) −→
11.) verT A (C(A)): true/false
12.) verA (yA ): true/false

Remark:

This scheme is also known as station-to-station protocol and is the basis for
ISO 9798-3.

185
Chapter 17

Case Study: The Secure Socket Layer

(SSL) Protocol

Note:

This chapter describes the most important security mechanisms of the SSL Pro-
tocol. For more details references [Sta02] and Netscape’s SSL web page are
recommended.

17.1 Introduction
• SSL was developed by Netscape.

• TLS (Transport Layer Security) is the IETF standard version of SSL. TLS is very close
to SSL.

• SSL provides security services for end-to-end applications.

• Most applications must be SSL enabled, i.e., SSL is not transparent.

• SSL is algorithm independent: for both public-key and symmetric-key operations, sev-
eral algorithms are possible. Algorithms are negotiated on a per-session basis.

186
 HTTP FTP SMTP
SSL or TLS
TCP

IP

Figure 17.1: Location of SSL in the TCP/IP protocol stack.

• SSL consists of two main phases:

Handshake Protocol : provides shared secret key using public-key techniques and
mutual entity authentication.

Record Protocol : provides confidentiality and message integrity for application

data, using the shared secret established during the Handshake Protocol.

187
17.2 SSL Record Protocol
The SSL Record Protocol provides two main services:

1. Confidentiality: SSL payloads are encrypted with a symmetric cipher. The keys are for
the symmetric cipher and they must be established during the preceding handshake
protocol.

2. Message Integrity: the integrity of the message is provided through HMAC, a message
authentication code.

17.2.1 Overview of the SSL Record Protocol

Application data

Fragment
































 

 
Add MAC 














 













 
 




 
 
 
 
 
 




  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Encrypt 
 










 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Append SSL 
 








record header

Figure 17.2: Simplified operations of the SSL Record Protocol

Description:

• Fragmentation: the message is devided into blocks of 214 bytes.

• MAC: a derivative of the popular HMAC message authentication code. HMACs are
based on hash functions.

MAC = H(secret-key || pad2 ||

H(secret-key || pad1 || seq-num || fragment-length || fragment))

188
 where:
H = hash algorithm; either MD5 or SHA-1.
secret-key = shared secret session key.
pad1 = the byte 0x36 (0011 0110) repeated 48 times (384 bits) for MD5 and 40
times (320 bits) for SHA-1.
pad2 = the byte 0x5C (0101 1100) repeated 48 times for MD5 and 40 times for
SHA-1.
seq-num = the sequence number of the message.
fragment-length = length of the fragment (plaintext).
fragment = the plaintext block for which the MAC is computed.

• Encrypt: the following algorithms are allowed:

1. Block ciphers:

– IDEA (128-bit key)

– RC-2 (40-bit key)

– DES-40 (40-bit key)

– DES (56-bit key)

– 3DES (168-bit key)

– Fortezza (80-bit key)

2. Stream ciphers:

– RC4-40 (40-bit key)

– RC4-128 (128-bit key)

189
17.3 SSL Handshake Protocol
Remark: Most complex part of SSL, requires costly public-key operations

17.3.1 Core Cryptographic Components of SSL

CLIENT SERVER

random, cipher suite

PHASE 1
random, cipher suite

certificate
PHASE 2

key exchange parameters

certificate
PHASE 3

key exchange parameters

Figure 17.3: Simplified SSL Handshake Protocol

Explanation:

• Phase 1: establish security capabilities.

random : 32-bit timestamp concatenated with 28-byte random value. Used

as nonces and to prevent replay attacks during the key exchange.

cipher suite : several fields, in particular:

1. Key exchange method.

190
 (a) RSA: the secret key is encrypted with the receiver’s public RSA-
key. Certificates are required.

(b) Authenticated Diffie-Hellman: Diffie-Hellman with certificate.

(c) Anonymous Diffie-Hellman: Diffie-Hellman without authentica-

tion.

(d) Fortezza

2. Secret-key algorithm (see Section 17.2).

3. MAC algorithm (MD5 or SHA-1).

• Phase 2: server authentication and key exchange.

Certificate : authenticated public key for any key exchange method except
anonymous Diffie-Hellman.

Key exchange parameters : signed public-key parameters, depending on

the key exchange method.

• Phase 3: see Phase 2.

191
Chapter 18

Introduction to Identification Schemes

Examples for electronic identification situation:

1. Money withdrawal from ATM machine (PIN).

2. Credit card purchase over telephone (card number).

3. Remote computer login (user name and password).

Distinction between identification (or entity authentication) and message authentication:

• Identification schemes are performed online.

• Identification schemes do not require a meaningful message.

Basis for identification techniques:


1. Something known (password, PIN) 

cryptography based

2. Something possessed (chipcard) 

3. Something inherent to a human individual (fingerprint, retina pattern)

192
Overview:
ID techniques

weak identification strong identification

(passwords, PINs)

private-key public-key zero-knowledge

use challenge-response (CR) protocols

Figure 18.1: Identification Techniques

⇒ passwords and PINs are weak since they violate requirement 1 below.

Goals (informal definition):

1. Alice wants to prove her identity to Bob without revealing her

identifying information to a listening Oscar. (“strong identifica-
tion”)

2. Also, Bob should not be able to impersonate Alice.

To achieve these goals, Alice has to perform a proof of knowledge which in general involves
a challenge-and-response protocol.

193
18.1 Symmetric-key Approach
Challenge-and-response (CR) protocol:
Assumption: Alice and Bob share a secret key kAB and a keyed one-way function f (x).

Alice Bob
1) generate challengex
x
←−
y
2) y = fkAB (x) −→
3) y 0 = fkAB (x)
?
4) verification: y = y 0

Example:
a) fk (x) = DESk (x).
b) fk (x) = H(k||x).
c) fk (x) = xk mod p.

Remarks:

• CR protocols are standardized in ISO/IEC 9798.

• There are many variations to the above protocol, e.g., including time stamps or serial
numbers in the response.

• Instead of block ciphers, public-key algorithms and keyed hash functions can be used.

Variant with time stamp (TS)

194
Alice Bob
1) y = ekAB (T S, ID(Bob))
y
−→
2) (T S 0 , ID 0 (Bob) = e−1
kAB (y)
? ?
T S ≤ time ≤ T S + 

195
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