CRYPTOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION
CRYPTOGRAPHY IS A SUBJECT THAT HAS BEEN STUDIED AND APPLIED SINCEANCIENT ROMAN
TIMES, AND RESEARCH INTO BETTERENCRYPTION METHODS CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.
CRYPTOGRAPHY IS THEART OF ENCODING AND DECODING MESSAGES SO THAT MESSAGES
CAN BESECURELY TRANSMITTED FROM A SENDERTO A RECEIVERWITHOUT FEAROF AN
OUTSIDEPARTY INTERCEPTING AND READING ORALTERING THEMESSAGE'SCONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION CONTD
WHO USES CRYPTOGRAPHY?
GOVERNMENTS
SPIES
BANKS
CREDIT CARD COMPANIES
HISTORY
CAESAR'S ALPHABET
THEMOST WIDELY-KNOWN FORM OF CRYPTOGRAPHY IS CAESAR'S ALPHABET. IT'S A VERY SIMPLE
SUBSTITUTION CIPHER- A LETTERSHIFT. EVERY LETTERIN THEALPHABET IS SHIFTED A CERTAIN
NUMBEROF LETTERS TO THELEFT. THEMOST COMMON KEY IS THREE. HEREIS THEALPHABET AS WE
KNOW IT, FOLLOWED BY CAESAR'S 'ENCRYPTED' ALPHABET:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
DEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABC
PRETTY SIMPLE, NO? AS SUCH, THE'CLEARTEXT' OF 'THIS IS AN ENCRYPTED MESSAGE' WOULD
BECOMETHE'CIPHERTEXT' OF 'WKLV LV DQ HQFUBSWHG PHVVDJH'.
HISTORY OF CRYPTOGRAPHY
ENIGMA
DEVELOPED IN WORLD WARII BY THEGERMAN NAVY IN ORDERTO PASS SECRET MESSAGES WITHOUT THE
PESKY ALLIES GETTING THEMESSAGES AND INTERFERING WITH THEPLANS.
THESYSTEM WAS PRIMARILY MECHANICAL AND WAS A STREAMCIPHER- EVERY POINT IN THEMESSAGE
AFFECTED EVERY LATERPOINT.
ENIGMA USED A SERIES OF ELECTRICALLY-CONNECTIVEWHEELS TO EXCHANGEONELETTERINTO ANOTHER
MULTIPLETIMES.
MOST ENIGMA MACHINES HAD SPACES FORTHREEWHEELS, ALTHOUGH LATERINCARNATIONS USED FOUR
WHEELS TO CONFOUND THEALLIED CRYPTANALYSTS.
THESEWHEELS WERECHOSEN OUT OF ONLY A FEW POSSIBLEWHEELS. THESTANDARD ENIGMA MACHINE
CAMEWITH FIVEPOSSIBLEWHEELS.
THEGERMAN ARMY AND AIRFORCEUSED A STANDARD WHEEL SET, WHILETHENAVY USED A SET OF EIGHT
WHEELS.
ENIGMA ITSELF WAS A RECIPROCAL CRYPTOGRAPHY SYSTEM - PROVIDED THAT THEMACHINEHAD BEEN
RESET, ALL ONENEEDED TO DO TO DECRYPT A MESSAGEWAS TO ENTERTHECIPHERTEXTINTO THE
KEYBOARD, AND THECLEARTEXTWOULD BEOUTPUT ON THEDISPLAY.
HISTORY OF CRYPTOGRAPHY
THE DATA ENCRYPTION STANDARD (DES)
THEHISTORY OF DES IS LONG AND CONVOLUTED, BUT IN SHORT IT SUCCESSFULLY BROUGHT
CRYPTOGRAPHY OUT OF STRICTLY GOVERNMENTAL USEAND INTO THECOMMERCIAL
MARKET.
ORIGINALLY KNOWN AS LUCIFERAND DEVELOPED AT IBM, DES WAS IBM'S ATTEMPT TO FORM
A VIRTUAL MONOPOLY IN THEDIGITAL WORLD.
DES INTRODUCED CRYPTOGRAPHY TO THECONSUMER.
MODERN TECHNIQUES IN CRYPTOGRAPHY
SUBSTITUTION CIPHERS
SUBSTITUTION CIPHERS ARETHEMOST SIMPLE, BECAUSETHEY SWITCH ONELETTERFOR
ANOTHER, THROUGHOUT THELENGTH OF A MESSAGE.
THEY AREEASILY BROKEN BY ANALYSING THEFREQUENCY OF LETTERS IN THECIPHERTEXTAND
APPLYING THEMOST COMMONLY-USED LETTERS IN THEAPPROPRIATEPLACES.
RECIPROCAL CIPHERS
RECIPROCAL CIPHERS ENCOMPASS MORECRYPTOGRAPHY SYSTEMS, AND CAN MAKEA SYSTEM
EITHERLESS SECUREORMOREUSABLE.
A RECIPROCAL CIPHERMEANS, JUST AS ONEENTERS THECLEARTEXTINTO THECRYPTOGRAPHY
SYSTEM TO GET THECIPHERTEXT, ONECOULD ENTERTHECIPHERTEXTINTO THESAMEPLACEIN THE
SYSTEM TO GET THECLEARTEXT.
USING A RECIPROCAL SUBSTITUTION IS A FORM OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC SUICIDE- IT MAKES THE
CIPHERHALF AS DIFFICULT TO BREAK.
HOWEVER, IF ENIGMA WEREN'T RECIPROCAL, IT WOULD HAVEBEEN SIGNIFICANTLY MORE
DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT.
SYMMETRIC CIPHERS
FORA LONG TIME, SYMMETRIC CIPHERS WERETHEONLY FORM OF CRYPTOGRAPHY
AVAILABLE.
A SYMMETRIC CIPHERUSES THESAMEKEY FORENCRYPTION AND DECRYPTION.
GENERALLY, SYMMETRIC CIPHERS AREMORESECURETHAN ASYMMETRIC CIPHERS, SINCE, IN
MOST MODERN CRYPTOGRAPHY SYSTEMS, SECURING THEKEY IS MOREIMPORTANT THAN
SECURING THECRYPTOGRAPHY SYSTEM ITSELF.
STREAM AND BLOCK CIPHERS
ASYMMETRIC CIPHERS
THEIDEA OF ASYMMETRIC (ORPUBLIC KEY) CRYPTOGRAPHY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1976 BY WHITFIELD
DIFFIEAND MARTIN HELLMAN IN THEIRPAPER"NEW DIRECTIONS IN CRYPTOGRAPHY" (MENEZIE, 2).
AN ASYMMETRIC CIPHERIS ANOTHERNAMEFORA 'SPLIT-KEY' ALGORITHM.
VERY FEW SPLIT-KEY ALGORITHMS EXIST IN THEWORLD OF CRYPTOGRAPHY.
THECONCEPT OF SPLIT-KEY CRYPTOGRAPHY EMERGED IN 1975.
IT REVOLUTIONISED CRYPTOGRAPHY, AS NOT ONLY COULD THERECIPIENT OF A MESSAGEKNOW THAT
ONLY HECOULD READ THECONTENTS, BUT THAT THEMESSAGEALSO COULDHAVECOMEONLY FROM THE
SENDER.
THEY USEPUBLIC KEY AND PRIVATEKEY
EACH KEY, HOWEVERHAS A DUAL PURPOSE.
SO FARNEITHEROF THEPUBLIC KEY ALGORITHMS HAVEBEEN PROVEN SECURE.
THELEVEL OF SECURITY IS DEPENDENT ON HOW MUCH COMPUTING POWERTHECRYPTANALYST HAS, HOW
MUCH TIMEHETAKES TO BREAK THECIPHERTEXT, AND THELENGTH OF THEKEY USED.
QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY
TO UNDERSTAND THESECHANGES AND WHY THEY MUST TAKEPLACE, ONEMUST FIRST LOOK AT THE
PHYSICS PRINCIPLES BEHIND BOTH QUANTUM COMPUTING AND QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY.
THREEQUANTUM MECHANICAL PHENOMENA THAT AREUSED UNIQUELY IN BOTH OF THESEARETHE
UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE, SUPERPOSITION, AND ENTANGLEMENT.----
QUANTUM COMPUTING CAN UTILIZETHIS PROPERTY TO CARRY OUT CERTAINCOMPLEX
COMPUTATIONS VERY QUICKLY.
ENTANGLEMENT IS THEQUANTUM MECHANICAL PHENOMENA IN WHICH THEQUANTUM STATES OF
TWO ORMOREPARTICLES ARELINKED, EVEN WHEN THEY BECOMESPATIALLY SEPARATED.
FOREXAMPLE, AFTERTWO PARTICLES ARECREATED THAT AREENTANGLED, BOTH PARTICLES WOULD
HAVEA PROBABILITY OF HAVING A CERTAIN SPIN.
WHEN THEMEASUREMENT IS MADEON THEFIRST PARTICLE, THEREBY FORCING IT INTO A SINGLE
STATE, ITS ENTANGLED PARTICLETHEN ALWAYS WILL BEMEASURED TO HAVETHEOPPOSITESPIN.