The methods of cryptography can be successful only if they are properly incorporated into an application. A cryptographic technique can be unbreakable as such, and yet could still be insecure if it is used unwisely. This observation motivates the subject of security protocols. A security protocol consists of a formal method of using a cryptographic technique in a practical application. Without a well-defined security protocol, a perfectly secure cryptographic technique could be compromised by its use. We do not draw a sharp distinction between the topic of secrecy and the topic of security. The two are closely related, and it is not helpful to attempt to draw a sharp line between them. In this context, a primitive is a basic method of obtaining secrecy and a protocol is a body of rules for using that primitive. In this chapter we will also study other forms of information protection such as identification and secret sharing that can be regarded as topics closely related to security protocols. The topic of identification deals with methods for establishing the identity of the source of a transmission. This is a subtle and difficult topic because the very concept of identity is vague and subjective. The identity of an isolated individual or device may be self-defined and subject to no outside verification. That identity is useful only to establish that all messages in a sequence of messages are from the same entity.
The methods of cryptography can be successful only if they are properly incorporated into an application. A cryptographic technique can be unbreakable as such, and yet could still be insecure if it is used unwisely. This observation motivates the subject of security protocols. A security protocol consists of a formal method of using a cryptographic technique in a practical application. Without a well-defined security protocol, a perfectly secure cryptographic technique could be compromised by its use. We do not draw a sharp distinction between the topic of secrecy and the topic of security. The two are closely related, and it is not helpful to attempt to draw a sharp line between them. In this context, a primitive is a basic method of obtaining secrecy and a protocol is a body of rules for using that primitive. In this chapter we will also study other forms of information protection such as identification and secret sharing that can be regarded as topics closely related to security protocols. The topic of identification deals with methods for establishing the identity of the source of a transmission. This is a subtle and difficult topic because the very concept of identity is vague and subjective. The identity of an isolated individual or device may be self-defined and subject to no outside verification. That identity is useful only to establish that all messages in a sequence of messages are from the same entity.
The design of secure protocols that implement arbitrarily desired functionalities is a major part of modern cryptography. Taking the opposite perspective, the design of any cryptographic scheme may be viewed as the design of a secure protocol for implementing a suitable functionality. Still, we believe that it makes sense to differentiate between basic cryptographic primitives (which involve little interaction) like encryption and signature schemes, on the one hand, and general cryptographic protocols, on the other hand. In this chapter we consider general results concerning secure multi –party computations, where the two –party case is an important special case. In a nutshell, these results assert that one can construct protocols for securely computing any desirable multi–party functionality (see the following terminology). Indeed, what is striking about these results is their generality, and we believe that the wonder is not diminished by the (various alternative) conditions under which these results hold. Our focus on the general study of secure multi–party computation (rather than on protocols for solving specific problems) is natural in the context of the theoretical treatment of the subject matter. We wish to highlight the importance of this general study to practice. Firstly, this study clarifies fundamental issues regarding security in a multi–party environment. Secondly, it draws the lines between what is possible in principle and what is not. Thirdly, it develops general techniques for designing secure protocols. And last, sometimes it may even yield schemes (or modules) that may be incorporated in practical systems.
Following its etymology, the term cryptography denotes the techniques used to ensure the confidentiality of information in its storage or transmission. Besides confidentiality, cryptography also encompasses other important functions such as authentication, signature, non-repudiation or secret sharing, to name just a few. The purpose of this section is to give a short introduction to classical cryptography, but only for areas that are relevant to quantum cryptography. For our purposes, we will only deal with confidentiality and authentication. The former is the most important function that quantum key distribution helps to achieve, while the latter is a requirement for quantum key distribution to work. Also, we will cover some topics on the security of classical cryptographic schemes so as to give some insight when comparing classical and quantum cryptography. The study of cryptography ranges from the analysis of cryptographic algorithms (or primitives ) to the design of a solution to a security problem. A cryptographic algorithm is a mathematical tool that provides a solution to a very specific problem and may be based on premises or on other primitives. A solution can be designed by combining primitives, and the requirements and functions of the primitives have to be combined properly. We will first review the confidentiality provided by ciphers that use the same key for both encryption and decryption, hence called secret-key ciphers . Then, we will discuss authentication techniques. Finally, we will show some aspects of public-key cryptography .
Introduction/purpose: The problem of efficient distribution of cryptographic keys in communication systems has existed since its first days and is especially emphasized by the emergence of mass communication systems. Defining and implementing efficient protocols for symmetric cryptographic keys establishment in such circumstances is of great importance in raising information security in cyberspace. Methods: Using the methods of Information Theory and Secure Multiparty Computation, protocols for direct establishment of cryptographic keys between communication parties have been defined. Results: The paper defines two new approaches to the problem of establishing cryptographic keys. The novelty in the protocol defined in the security model based on information theory is based on the source of common randomness, which in this case is the EEG signal of each subject participating in the communication system. Experimental results show that the amount of information leaking to the attacker is close to zero. A novelty in the second case, which provides security with keys at the level of computer security by applying Secure Multiparty Computation, is in the new application field, namely generation and distribution of symmetric cryptographic keys. It is characteristic of both approaches that within the framework of formal theories, it is possible to draw conclusions about their security characteristics in a formal way. Conclusions: The paper describes two new approaches for establishing cryptographic keys in symmetric cryptographic systems with experimental results. The significance of the proposed solutions lies in the fact that they enable the establishment of secure communication between communication parties from end to end, avoiding the influence of a trusted third party. In that way, the achieved communication level security significantly increases in relation to classical cryptographic systems.
Cryptographic protocols are used to encrypt data during their transmission over a network or to store it on a data carrier. This thesis is about the method of identity-based encryption. In this form of encryption, the name or identity of the target subject is used to encrypt the data. This property makes it a perfect tool for modern electronic communication, because all involved identities and endpoint addresses (e.g. IP addresses) have to be unique worldwide and must be known in order to establish a communication. The identity-based key agreement protocol that has been invented in this thesis has several advantages compared to existing schemes. One important property is its complete independence of key generators. This independence allows each participating security domain to set up and maintain its own key generator. They are not forced to agree on a common setup or a common secret anymore. Due to the properties of the protocol, the security domains are still compatible to each other. Users from one security domain can communicate with users from another security domain using encryption. This new property of independence is also carried over to a signature protocol. It allows users from different security domains to sign a certain object. Additionally, the act of signing is independent and the signers do not need to communicate with each other. Apart from the protocol and its security proofs with respect to standard definitions from the literature, the thesis contains an analysis of existing schemes. Attacks on known protocols and assumptions are presented, and it is shown under which circumstances these become insecure. On the one hand, a completely new approach that is based on defined or rather undefined objects in discrete structures is used. On the other hand, the method of lattice based reduction is successfully applied to the new area of secret sharing schemes. Finally, application scenarios for the protocol are presented. These scenarios are chosen such that the advantages of the protocol become apparent. Cryptographic protocols are used to encrypt data during their transmission over a network or to store it on a data carrier. This thesis is about the method of identity-based encryption. In this form of encryption, the name or identity of the target subject is used to encrypt the data. This property makes it a perfect tool for modern electronic communication, because all involved identities and endpoint addresses (e.g. IP addresses) have to be unique worldwide and must be known in order to establish a communication. The identity-based key agreement protocol that has been invented in this thesis has several advantages compared to existing schemes. One important property is its complete independence of key generators. This independence allows each participating security domain to set up and maintain its own key generator. They are not forced to agree on a common setup or a common secret anymore. Due to the properties of the protocol, the security domains are still compatible to each other. Users from one security domain can communicate with users from another security domain using encryption. This new property of independence is also carried over to a signature protocol. It allows users from different security domains to sign a certain object. Additionally, the act of signing is independent and the signers do not need to communicate with each other. Apart from the protocol and its security proofs with respect to standard definitions from the literature, the thesis contains an analysis of existing schemes. Attacks on known protocols and assumptions are presented, and it is shown under which circumstances these become insecure. On the one hand, a completely new approach that is based on defined or rather undefined objects in discrete structures is used. On the other hand, the method of lattice based reduction is successfully applied to the new area of secret sharing schemes. Finally, application scenarios for the protocol are presented. These scenarios are chosen such that the advantages of the protocol become apparent. The first application is telephony, GSM as well as Voice over IP (VoIP). In this case, the telephone number of the callee is used as the encryption key. Implementations on a modern mobile phone as well as within existing Voice over IP software are presented. The second application is IP networks. Here, the IP address of a communication unit is used as the encryption key. However, in this case, there are more problems than in the GSM/VoIP case, e.g., dynamic IP addresses or network address translation (NAT) where an IP address is substituted by another one. These are only two problems out of several for which solutions are presented.
This chapter considers key establishment protocols and related cryptographic techniques which provide shared secrets between two or more parties, typically for subsequent use as symmetric keys for a variety of cryptographic purposes including encryption, message authentication, and entity authentication. The main focus is two-party key establishment, with the aid of a trusted third party in some cases. While many concepts extend naturally to multi-party key establishment including conference keying protocols, such protocols rapidly become more complex, and are considered here only briefly, as is the related area of secret sharing. Broader aspects of key management, including distribution of public keys, certificates, and key life cycle issues, are deferred to Chapter 13 .
Quantum Cryptography is based on the use of subatomic particles (photons) and their intrinsic quantum properties (photon polarization) to develop an unbreakable system. It is not possible to measure the quantum state of any system without affecting the system. This property provides secure transmission of key between sender and receiver. Quantum Cryptography is a way to combine the relative ease and convenience of key exchange in public key cryptography with the ultimate security of a one-time pad. Quantum techniques for key distribution, the classically impossible task of distributing secret information over an insecure channel whose transmissions are subject to inspection by an eavesdropper, between parties who share no secret key initially. Quantum Cryptography uses the principles of Quantum Mechanics to implement a cryptographic system. The key problem which is solved by using quantum techniques is that of eavesdropping detection. The bits are represented as qubits, physically modeled by photons, and communicated over a quantum channel. The polarization states of photons represent 0's and 1's. Keyword: Asymmetric key, Cryptography, Protocols, Quantum, symmetric key