Brisk Writers

Category: Cryptography

  • “The Impact of Collisions on Message Integrity and the Likelihood of Collisions with MD5”

    Hashing is a one-way function that maps a message to a fixed-size sequence of bits (hashed value) with the assumption it is extremely difficult to reverse the process. Given the hashed-value, it is practically impossible to compute the original message given the hashed-value. It is extremely rare that two messages hash to the same value. When this happens, we refer to the event as a “collision”. In this paper, you are going to discuss why are collisions bad to message integrity. Also discuss the chances of collisions with the algorithm Message Digest 5 (MD5).

  • Title: Hashing and AES Encryption of a Message

    The hash value of a message is a one-way “unique value” that can be extracted from the message using algorithms like MD5 and SHA-x. In this paper, you are going to use a hash calculator (the best way to find one is to google hash calculator). Cut and paste the message below into a hash calculator and compute the MD5 or SHA-1 hashed value. Once you have the hashed value, store it in a text file (notepad). Now, search for an AES encryption tool on the Internet (google: AES encryption tool). Paste the hashed value into the AES tool (note that you will need to create a secret password/key to use the EAS Encryption tool. Once the encryption is completed, explain the resulting value (what is it?).

  • “Exploring the Efficiency of Elliptic Curve Cryptography: Smaller Key Sizes for Stronger Security”

    Elliptic Curve Cryptography has gained momentum in application recently because of the relatively smaller key size to achieve the same level of security using another asymmetrical algorithm like RSA. For example, a key size of 3072 in RSA has the same strength as an ECC key size of 256. In this paper, you are going to explain the Elliptic Curve Algorithm and why the key size does not have to be large to provide acceptable level of security for todays computing needs.

  • “Comparing TLS/SSL and IPSEC VPN Handshakes: Which is Better?”

    Two of the main VPN encryption protocols are TLS/SSL and IPSEC. Both protocols establish handshakes to exchange parameters which will be used to set up VPN connections. In this paper you will first describe the TLS/SSL VPN handshake followed by a the IPSEC handshake. Compare the two protocols and explain, according to you which one is better.