AES

Question 1

Describe block in the context of AES

Answer 1

AES is a block cipher. It processes a minimum and maximum of 128 bits (16 bytes)
Simply said the block is a reference to the bytes that are processed by the algorithm.

Question 2

In AES, what happens when the plaintext is a)smaller and b)bigger than 128 bits

Answer 2

a)plain text is padded
b)AES is executed concurrently

Question 3

Describe state in terms of AES

Answer 3

This is the current condition of the block that is being worked on. It starts off equal to the block but changes at each round of the algorithm

Question 4

What is AES in full and what is its other name

Answer 4

Advanced Encryption Standard
RIJNDAEL

Question 5

Give a brief AES history

Answer 5

NIST selected AES for sensitive but unclassified American federal information in 2002.
It was initially a variable block and key size algorithm (16, 24, 32 bytes) but NIST defined it with 16 bytes

Question 6

AES is an iterated symmetric block cipher. Explain

Answer 6

AES works by repeating the same steps a number of times
It is a secret key encryption algorithm (one key)
Operates on a fixed number of bytes