1.4 : Cryptographic Solutions Flashcards
Explain the importance of using appropriate cryptographic solutions
Public Key
A cryptographic key that can be shared publicly and is used to encrypt data or verify (decrypt) digital signatures. It’s part of a pair with a private key.
Private Key
A cryptographic key that is kept secret and is used to decrypt data or create (encrypt) digital signatures. It’s part of a pair with a public key.
Key Escrow
A process where encryption keys are stored securely by a third party, allowing access under certain conditions, often used in government, legal, or corporate environments.
* There’s not actually a good / secure way to carry this out
Full-disk Encryption
Encrypts the entire disk, including the operating system, ensuring that all data is protected when the system is powered off.
Partition Encryption
Encrypts specific partitions on a disk, allowing selective protection of sensitive data without encrypting the entire disk.
File Encryption
Encrypts individual files, providing flexibility to protect only specific documents or files as needed.
Volume Encryption
Encrypts a storage volume, which can contain multiple partitions or logical drives, providing protection for a larger data set than file encryption.
Database Encryption
Encrypts data within a database, protecting sensitive information stored in structured formats from unauthorized access.
Record Encryption
Encrypts specific records within a database, allowing granular protection of individual data entries.
Transport/Communication Encryption
Encrypts data in transit, protecting it from interception or tampering as it moves across networks. Examples: SSL/TLS, HTTPS.
Asymmetric Encryption
Encryption that uses a pair of keys—a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption—offering secure key exchange and authentication
* Sender encrypts message using recipient’s public key, recipient decrypts the message using their private key
* security is based upon the difficulty of solving extremely complex math problems
Symmetric Encryption
Encryption that uses a single key for both encryption and decryption, providing faster performance but requiring secure key management.
Key Exchange
- Allows two parties to securely generate a shared secret key over an insecure channel without exchanging the key itself.
- This enables symmetric encrypted communication. Methods include out-of-band (e.g., in person, mail) or in-band using algorithms like Diffie-Hellman.
Algorithms
Mathematical formulas used to encrypt and decrypt data. Examples include AES, RSA, and SHA-256.
Key Length
The size of a cryptographic key, typically measured in bits, which determines the strength of the encryption. Longer keys provide stronger security.
TPM
Trusted Platform Module
* A hardware-based security chip that provides secure storage and processing of cryptographic keys, enhancing platform integrity.
HSM
Hardware Security Module
* A physical device that manages cryptographic keys and performs cryptographic operations
* provides a higher level of security and performance for key management and operations.
Key Management System
A system or software that manages cryptographic keys throughout their lifecycle, including generation, storage, distribution, and destruction.
Secure Enclave
A secure area within a processor that provides isolated and protected execution of security-sensitive operations, often used in mobile devices.
Steganography
The practice of hiding data within other non-secret data, such as embedding a message in an image, video, or audio file, to avoid detection.
* hide the fact that you are even communicating in the first place
Tokenization
Replacing sensitive data with non-sensitive tokens that can be mapped back to the original data through the use of a relational database (which itself must be kept secure)
Data Masking
The process of obscuring specific data within a dataset to protect it, often used in non-production environments to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information.
Hashing
The irreversible process of converting an input of any size into a fixed-size string of characters, which represents the data uniquely. Used for integrity verification. Examples: SHA-256, MD5.
Salting
Adding random data to a hash input to prevent attackers from using precomputed hash values (rainbow tables) to crack passwords.
Digital Signatures
A cryptographic mechanism used to verify the integrity and authenticity of a message, software, or digital document. It uses asymmetric encryption with two keys:
- Private Key: The sender signs the data with their private key.
- Public Key: The recipient uses the sender’s public key to verify the signature.
- Note that this is reversed from how ssymmetric crpytography normally works!
Key Concepts:
* Ensures Integrity: Verifies that the message or document has not been altered.
* Ensures Authenticity: Confirms the identity of the sender.
* Non-Repudiation: The sender cannot deny sending the message since only their private key could have created the signature.
* Commonly used with digital certificates in Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
* Add confidentiality by also encyrpying the message portion of the signature with the recipients public key (the way these things are normally used outside of signatures!)
Key Stretching
A technique used to make a weak password stronger by applying a salt and one or more rounds of hashing, making it more resistant to brute-force attacks.
Blockchain
A distributed ledger technology used to track transactions. Every participant in the blockchain network maintains an identical copy of the ledger. It ensures immutability, decentralization, and transparency. Blockchain is used in a variety of applications such as:
- Payment processing (e.g., cryptocurrencies)
- Digital identification
- Supply chain monitoring
- Digital voting
- Property ownership records
- Vital records
Open Public Ledger
A ledger that is accessible to the public and contains a record of all transactions, typically associated with blockchain technology.
Certificate Authorites (CA)
Trusted organizations that verify the identity of individuals, systems, or organizations and issue digital certificates. These certificates include the subject’s public key, and the CA uses its private key to digitally sign the certificate, ensuring authenticity and establishing trust in secure communications.
CRLs
In the context of PKI
Certificate Revocation Lists (
- Lists published by Certificate Authorities that identify certificates that are no longer valid, helping to maintain trust in the PKI system.
- Inefficient and no longer used as it requires everyone on the internet to download these lists which themselves got longer and longer
OCSP
Online Certificate Status Protocol
* A protocol used to check the revocation status of a digital certificate in real-time with the CA, providing up-to-date information on certificate validity.
* Faster and more efficient than CRLs
Self-signed Certificates
Digital certificates signed by the entity that created them, often used for internal purposes but less trusted than certificates issued by a Certificate Authority.
Third-party Certificates
Digital certificates issued by a trusted Certificate Authority, used to establish trust between parties over the internet.