The field of cryptology includes both the study of and practice of securing information in the presence of untrusted third parties or adversaries. Specifically, it is focused on creating and analyzing the protocols used to subvert attempts by adversaries to gain access to or interrupt the flow of information between trusted parties. Specific focus areas …
In the study of cryptography the terms plaintext and ciphertext are used to describe the plain language message or information and the resulting encrypted message or data that results from the use of a cipher or encryption algorithm. The resulting ciphertext is not readable by either a human or computer without the correct cipher to …
DES (Data Encryption Standard) is a commonly used method for encrypting data using a secret or private key. The strength of the DES encryption standard was previously considered to be strong enough that the United States government placed restrictions on the export of the technology to other countries. Conceptually, there are more than 72 quadrillion …
A wordlist is a text file containing a collection of words for use in a dictionary attack. Wordlist Usage A dictionary attack using a wordlist relies on the fact that most users choose weak passwords. Very common passwords include password, computer, work, and most of the popular female names. Common Dictionary Attacks Using A Wordlist …
A dictionary attack consists of trying “every word in the dictionary” as a possible password for an encrypted message. A dictionary attack is generally more efficient than a brute force attack because users typically choose poor passwords. Dictionary attacks are generally far less successful against systems that use passphrases instead of passwords. Improving Dictionary Attacks …
Rubber Hose Cryptography refers to a file system in which multiple archives are encrypted and hidden on the same disk in a way that makes each archive appear to be the size of the entire disk. Rubber Hose Cryptography is often used to hide illegal or confidential information in an attempt to prevent theft or …
Microsoft Access had no encryption capability until the release of Microsoft Access 2007. With the MS Access 2007 release, encryption is now available. Encryption Requirements To encrypt your access database you must use a new database format released with MS Access 2007, the ACCDB format. Differences between the original MDB format and the new ACCDB …
RC4 is one of the most used software-based stream ciphers in the world. The cipher is included in popular Internet protocols such as SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and WEP (for wireless network security). The cipher is fairly simplistic when compared to competing algorithms of the same strength and boasts one of the fastest speeds of …
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is the currently employed specification for encrypting electronic data by the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST. AES was selected as the U.S. standard for encryption of unclassified information in 2001 supplanting DES which had been the U.S. standards for a number of years (since 1977). AES …
The two most common types of encryption algorithm used in modern cryptography are the block and stream ciphers. The block cipher uses a deterministic algorithm that conducts operations on fixed-length groupings of bits, or blocks. By using a transformation specified by a symmetric key, a block cipher is able to encrypt bulk data, and is …