3.1 Encryption Flashcards
What is cryptography?
The use of mathematical algorithms to transform information into an encrypted form that is not readable by unauthorized individuals.
What two basic operations do cryptography depend upon?
Encryption and decryption.
What does encryption essentially do?
Converts information from plaintext into ciphertext.
What does decryption do?
Converts ciphertext messages back into their plaintext form.
What do algorithms serve as in cryptography?
Mathematical recipes.
What are the two inputs required by encryption algorithms?
What’s the output produced by them?
Inputs:
- The Plaintext Message (P)
- The Encryption Key (K)
Output: The Encrypted Ciphertext (C)
What are the two inputs required by description algorithms?
What’s the output produced by them?
Inputs:
- The Ciphertext (C)
- The Decryption Key (K)
Output: The Plaintext Message (P)
What are the two major categories of encryption algorithms?
- Symmetric
2. Asymmetric
What’s the key characteristic of symmetric encryption?
Encryption and decryption use the same secret key.
What’s the key characteristic of asymmetric encryption?
Encryption and decryption use different keys from the same pair.
How many keys do asymmetric cryptography use, and what are they called?
2 Keys:
The Public Key – freely distributed to communication partners.
The Private Key – kept secret.
What must the relationship of the keys be in asymmetric cryptography?
They must be from the same pair.
How does asymmetric cryptography work?
Anything encrypted with one key from a pair can be decrypted with the other key from the same pair.
Which one is faster? Symmetric or asymmetric cryptography?
Symmetric cryptography.
What’s more suitable for large organizations, symmetric or asymmetric cryptography?
Asymmetric cryptography.
In asymmetric cryptography, each user needs only 2 keys, whereas in symmetric cryptography each user needs a key for each of the other users.
What are the five goals of cryptography?
- Confidentiality – No unauthorized access.
- Integrity – No unauthorized modification.
- Authentication – Proof of identity claims.
- Obfuscation – Hiding sensitive data.
- Non-Repudiation – Verification of origin.
When cryptography is used to protect the confidentiality of information, what are the three states of data that must be considered?
- Data at Rest
- Data in Transit
- Data in Use
What is data at rest?
Data that is stored on a hard drive or other storage.
What is data in transit?
Data that are being transmitted over a network connection.
What is data in use?
Data that are being actively processed in memory.
What technology do we use to achieve non-repudiation?
Digital signatures.