1.

3 Basic Concepts
Cryptography The art or science encompassing the principles and methods of transforming an
intelligible message into one that is unintelligible, and then retransforming that message back to its
original form

Plaintext The original intelligible message

Cipher text The transformed message

Cipher An algorithm for transforming an intelligible message into one that is unintelligible by
transposition and/or substitution methods

Key Some critical information used by the cipher, known only to the sender& receiver

Encipher (encode) The process of converting plaintext to cipher text using a cipher and a key

Decipher (decode) the process of converting cipher text back into plaintext using a cipher and a
key

Cryptanalysis The study of principles and methods of transforming an unintelligible message

back into an intelligible message without knowledge of the key. Also called code breaking

Cryptology Both cryptography and cryptanalysis

Code An algorithm for transforming an intelligible message into an unintelligible one using a
code-book

1.4 Cryptography
Cryptographic systems are generally classified along 3 independent dimensions:
Type of operations used for transforming plain text to cipher text
All the encryption algorithms are based on two general principles: substitution, in which each
element in the plaintext is mapped into another element, and transposition, in which
elements in the plaintext are rearranged.
The number of keys used
If the sender and receiver uses same key then it is said to be symmetric key (or)
single key (or) conventional encryption.
If the sender and receiver use different keys then it is said to be public key encryption.
The way in which the plain text is processed
A block cipher processes the input and block of elements at a time, producing output block for
each input block.
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A stream cipher processes the input elements continuously, producing output element one at a
time, as it goes along.

1.5 Cryptanalysis
The process of attempting to discover X or K or both is known as cryptanalysis. The
strategy used by the cryptanalysis depends on the nature of the encryption scheme and the
information available to the cryptanalyst.
There are various types of cryptanalytic attacks based on the amount of
information known to the cryptanalyst.
Cipher text only – A copy of cipher text alone is known to the cryptanalyst.
Known plaintext – The cryptanalyst has a copy of the cipher text and the corresponding
plaintext.
Chosen plaintext – The cryptanalysts gains temporary access to the encryption machine. They
cannot open it to find the key, however; they can encrypt a large number of suitably chosen
plaintexts and try to use the resulting cipher texts to deduce the key.

Chosen cipher text – The cryptanalyst obtains temporary access to the decryption
machine, uses it to decrypt several string of symbols, and tries to use the results to deduce the
key.

1.6 STEGANOGRAPHY
A plaintext message may be hidden in any one of the two ways. The methods of
steganography conceal the existence of the message, whereas the methods of
cryptography render the message unintelligible to outsiders by various transformations of the text.
A simple form of steganography, but one that is time consuming to construct is one in
which an arrangement of words or letters within an apparently innocuous text spells out the
real message.
e.g., (i) the sequence of first letters of each word of the overall message spells out the real
(Hidden) message.
(ii) Subset of the words of the overall message is used to convey the hidden message.
Various other techniques have been used historically, some of them are
Character marking – selected letters of printed or typewritten text are overwritten in pencil. The

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1.12 Active attacks

These attacks involve some modification of the data stream or the creation of a false stream. These
attacks can be classified in to four categories:

Masquerade – One entity pretends to be a different entity.

Replay – involves passive capture of a data unit and its subsequent transmission to produce an
unauthorized effect.
Modification of messages – Some portion of message is altered or the messages are delayed or
recorded, to produce an unauthorized effect.
Denial of service – Prevents or inhibits the normal use or management of communication
facilities. Another form of service denial is the disruption of an entire network, either by disabling
the network or overloading it with messages so as to degrade performance.
It is quite difficult to prevent active attacks absolutely, because to do so would require physical
protection of all communication facilities and paths at all times. Instead, the goal is to detect them
and to recover from any disruption or delays caused by them.

1.13 Symmetric and public key algorithms

Encryption/Decryption methods fall into two categories.
Symmetric key
Public key
In symmetric key algorithms, the encryption and decryption keys are known both to sender
and receiver. The encryption key is shared and the decryption key is easily calculated from it.
In many cases, the encryption and decryption keys are the same.
In public key cryptography, encryption key is made public, but it is
computationally infeasible to find the decryption key without the information known to the
receiver.
A MODEL FOR NETWORK SECURITY

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A message is to be transferred from one party to another across some sort of internet. The two
parties, who are the principals in this transaction, must cooperate for the exchange to take place.
A logical information channel is established by defining a route through the internet from source
to destination and by the cooperative use of communication protocols (e.g., TCP/IP) by the
two principals.
Using this model requires us to:
– design a suitable algorithm for the security transformation
– generate the secret information (keys) used by the algorithm
– develop methods to distribute and share the secret information
– specify a protocol enabling the principals to use the transformation and secret information
for a security service

MODEL FOR NETWORK ACCESS SECURITY

Using this model requires us to:

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 – select appropriate gatekeeper functions to identify users
– implement security controls to ensure only authorized users access designated
information or resources
• Trusted computer systems can be used to implement this model

1.14 CONVENTIONAL ENCRYPTION

• Referred conventional / private-key / single-key
• Sender and recipient share a common key

All classical encryption algorithms are private-key was only type prior to invention of public-
key in 1970‟plaintext - the original message
Some basic terminologies used:
• cipher text - the coded message
• Cipher - algorithm for transforming plaintext to cipher text
• Key - info used in cipher known only to sender/receiver
• encipher (encrypt) - converting plaintext to cipher text
• decipher (decrypt) - recovering cipher text from plaintext
• Cryptography - study of encryption principles/methods

• Cryptanalysis (code breaking) - the study of principles/ methods of deciphering cipher text
without knowing key
• Cryptology - the field of both cryptography and cryptanalysis

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 Here the original message, referred to as plaintext, is converted into apparently random
nonsense, referred to as cipher text. The encryption process consists of an algorithm and a key.
The key is a value independent of the plaintext. Changing the key changes the output of the
algorithm. Once the cipher text is produced, it may be transmitted. Upon reception, the
cipher text can be transformed back to the original plaintext by using a decryption algorithm
and the same key that was used for encryption. The security depends on several factors. First, the
encryption algorithm must be powerful enough that it is impractical to decrypt a message on
the basis of cipher text alone. Beyond that, the security depends on the secrecy of the key,
not the secrecy of the algorithm.
• Two requirements for secure use of symmetric encryption:
– A strong encryption algorithm
– A secret key known only to sender / receiver
Y = EK(X)
X = DK(Y)

• assume encryption algorithm is known

• implies a secure channel to distribute key
A source produces a message in plaintext, X = [X1, X2… XM] where M are the number of
letters in the message. A key of the form K = [K1, K2… KJ] is generated. If the key is
generated at the source, then it must be provided to the destination by means of some secure
channel.

With the message X and the encryption key K as input, the encryption algorithm forms the
cipher text Y = [Y1, Y2, YN]. This can be expressed as
Y = EK(X)
The intended receiver, in possession of the k e y , is able to invert the
transformation:
X = DK(Y)
An opponent, observing Y but not having access to K or X, may attempt to recover
X or K or both. It is assumed that the opponent knows the encryption and decryption algorithms.
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If the opponent is interested in only this particular message, then the focus of effort is to recover
X by generating a plaintext estimate. Often if the opponent is interested in being able to read
future messages as well, in which case an attempt is made to recover K by generating an estimate.

1.15 CLASSICAL ENCRYPTION TECHNIQUES

There are two basic building blocks of all encryption techniques: substitution and
transposition.

1.15.1 I .SUBSTITUTION TECHNIQUES

A substitution technique is one in which the letters of plaintext are replaced by other letters or by
numbers or symbols. If the plaintext is viewed as a sequence of bits, then substitution involves
replacing plaintext bit patterns with cipher text bit patterns.

1.15.1.1 Caesar cipher (or) shift cipher

The earliest known use of a substitution cipher and the simplest was by Julius Caesar. The
Caesar cipher involves replacing each letter of the alphabet with the letter standing 3 places
further down the alphabet.
e.g., plain text : pay more money
Cipher text: SDB PRUH PRQHB
Note that the alphabet is wrapped around, so that letter following „z‟ is „a‟.
For each plaintext letter p, substitute the cipher text letter c such that
C = E(p) = (p+3) mod 26
A shift may be any amount, so that general Caesar algorithm is
C = E (p) = (p+k) mod 26
Where k takes on a value in the range 1 to 25. The decryption algorithm is simply

P = D(C) = (C-k) mod 26

1.15.1.2 Playfair cipher

The best known multiple letter encryption cipher is the playfair, which treats digrams
in the plaintext as single units and translates these units into cipher text digrams. The playfair

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algorithm is based on the use of 5x5 matrix of letters constructed using a keyword. Let the
keyword be „monarchy‟. The matrix is constructed by filling in the letters of the keyword
(minus duplicates) from left to right and from top to bottom, and then filling in the remainder of
the matrix with the remaining letters in alphabetical order.
The letter „i‟ and „j‟ count as one letter. Plaintext is encrypted two letters at a time
According to the following rules:
Repeating plaintext letters that would fall in the same pair are separated with a
Filler letter such as „x‟.
Plaintext letters that fall in the same row of the matrix are each replaced by the letter to the
right, with the first element of the row following the last.
Plaintext letters that fall in the same column are replaced by the letter beneath, with the top
element of the column following the last.
Otherwise, each plaintext letter is replaced by the letter that lies in its own row
And the column occupied by the other plaintext letter.

M O N A R

C H Y B D

E F G I/J K

L P Q S T

U V W X Z

Plaintext = meet me at the school house

Splitting two letters as a unit => me et me at th es ch o x ol ho us ex
Corresponding cipher text => CL KL CL RS PD IL HY AV MP HF XL IU

Strength of playfair cipher

Playfair cipher is a great advance over simple mono alphabetic ciphers.
Since there are 26 letters, 26x26 = 676 diagrams are possible, so identification of individual
diagram is more difficult.

1.15.1.3 Polyalphabetic ciphers

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 Another way to improve on the simple monoalphabetic technique is to use different
monoalphabetic substitutions as one proceeds through the plaintext message. The general name
for this approach is polyalphabetic cipher. All the techniques have the following features in
common.
A set of related monoalphabetic substitution rules are used
A key determines which particular rule is chosen for a given transformation.

1.15.1.4 Vigenere cipher

In this scheme, the set of related monoalphabetic substitution rules consisting of
26 caesar ciphers with shifts of 0 through 25. Each cipher is denoted by a key letter. e.g., Caesar
cipher with a shift of 3 is denoted by the key value 'd‟ (since a=0, b=1, c=2 and so on). To aid
in understanding the scheme, a matrix known as vigenere tableau is
Constructed

Each of the 26 ciphers is laid out horizontally, with the key letter for each cipher to its
left. A normal alphabet for the plaintext runs across the top. The process of

PLAIN TEXT
K a b c d e f g h i j k … x y z
E a A B C D E F G H I J K … X Y Z
Y b B C D E F G H I J K L … Y Z A
c C D E F G H I J K L M … Z A B
L d D E F G H I J K L M N … A B C
E e E F G H I J K L M N O … B C D
T f F G H I J K L M N O P … C D E
T g G H I J K L M N O P Q … D E F
E : : : : : : : : : : : : … : : :
R : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
S x X Y Z A B C D E F G H … W
y Y Z A B C D E F G H I … X
z Z A B C D E F G H I J … Y

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Encryption is simple: Given a key letter X and a plaintext letter y, the cipher text is at the
intersection of the row labeled x and the column labeled y; in this case, the ciphertext is
V.
To encrypt a message, a key is needed that is as long as the message. Usually, the key is a
repeating keyword.
e.g., key = d e c e p t i v e d e c e p t i v e d e c e p t i v e PT = w e a r e d i s c o v e r e d s a
v e y o u r s e l f CT = ZICVTWQNGRZGVTWAVZHCQYGLMGJ
Decryption is equally simple. The key letter again identifies the row. The position of the
cipher text letter in that row determines the column, and the plaintext letter is at the top of that
column.

Strength of Vigenere cipher

o There are multiple cipher text letters for each plaintext letter.
o Letter frequency information is obscured.

1.15.2 One Time Pad Cipher

It is an unbreakable cryptosystem. It represents the message as a sequence of 0s and 1s.
this can be accomplished by writing all numbers in binary, for example, or by using ASCII. The
key is a random sequence of 0‟s and 1‟s of same length as the message. Once a key is used, it is
discarded and never used again. The system can be expressed as
Follows:

Ci = Pi Ki Ci - ith binary digit of cipher text Pi - ith binary digit of

plaintext Ki - ith binary digit of key

Exclusive OR operation
Thus the cipher text is generated by performing the bitwise XOR of the plaintext and the key.
Decryption uses the same key. Because of the properties of XOR, decryption simply involves the
same bitwise operation:
Pi = Ci Ki

e.g., plaintext = 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1
Key =10101100
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 ------------------- ciphertext = 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1

Advantage:
Encryption method is completely unbreakable for a ciphertext only attack.
Disadvantages
It requires a very long key which is expensive to produce and expensive to transmit.
Once a key is used, it is dangerous to reuse it for a second message; any knowledge
on the first message would give knowledge of the second.

1.16 TRANSPOSITION TECHNIQUES

All the techniques examined so far involve the substitution of a cipher text symbol
for a plaintext symbol. A very different kind of mapping is achieved by performing some sort of
permutation on the plaintext letters. This technique is referred to as a transposition cipher.

1.16.1 Rail fence

is simplest of such cipher, in which the plaintext is written down as a sequence of diagonals and
then read off as a sequence of rows.
Plaintext = meet at the school house
To encipher this message with a rail fence of depth 2, we write the message as follows:
m e a t e c o l o s
e t t h s h o h u e
The encrypted message is
MEATECOLOSETTHSHOHUE

1.16.2 Row Transposition Ciphers-

A more complex scheme is to write the message in a rectangle, row by row, and read the
message off, column by column, but permute the order of the columns. The order of columns then
becomes the key of the algorithm.
e.g., plaintext = meet at the school house

Key = 4 3 1 2 5 6 7
PT = m e e t a t t
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 h e s c h o o
l h o u s e
CT = ESOTCUEEHMHLAHSTOETO
A pure transposition cipher is easily recognized because it has the same letter frequencies
as the original plaintext. The transposition cipher can be made significantly more secure by
performing more than one stage of transposition. The result is more complex permutation that is
not easily reconstructed.

1.17 Feistel cipher structure

The input to the encryption algorithm are a plaintext block of length 2w bits and a key K.
the plaintext block is divided into two halves L0 and R0. The two halves of the data pass
through „n‟ rounds of processing and then combine to produce the ciphertext block. Each round „i‟
has inputs Li-1 and Ri-1, derived from the previous round, as well as the subkey Ki, derived from
the overall key K. in general, the subkeys K i are different from K and from each other.
All rounds have the same structure. A substitution is performed on the left half of the data (as
similar to S-DES). This is done by applying a round function F to the right half of the data and
then taking the XOR of the output of that function and the left half of the data. The round function
has the same general structure for each round but is parameterized by the round sub key ki.
Following this substitution, a permutation is performed that consists of the interchange of the
two halves of the data. This structure is a particular form of the substitution-permutation network.
The exact realization of a Feistel network depends on the choice of the following parameters and
design features:
Block size - Increasing size improves security, but slows cipher
Key size - Increasing size improves security, makes exhaustive key searching harder, but may
slow cipher
Number of rounds - Increasing number improves security, but slows cipher
Subkey generation - Greater complexity can make analysis harder, but slows cipher
Round function - Greater complexity can make analysis harder, but slows cipher
Fast software en/decryption & ease of analysis - are more recent concerns for practical use
and testing.

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