Computer and Network

Security
(Securty of Computer Systems)
Prof. Dr. Hasan Hüseyin BALIK

(2nd Week)
 Outline
• 2. Computer security technology and
principles
—2.1. Cryptographic Tools
—2.2. User Authentication
—2.3 Access Control
—2.4 Database and Data Center Security
—2.5 Malicious Software
—2.6. Denial-of-Service Attacks
—2.7 Intrusion Detection
—2.8 Firewalls and Intrusion Prevention Systems
2.1. Cryptographic Tools
 2.1. Outline
• Confidentiality with Symmetric Encryption
• Message Authentication and Hash Functions
• Public-Key Encryption
• Digital Signatures and Key Management
• Random and Pseudorandom Numbers
 Symmetric Encryption
• The universal technique for providing confidentiality
for transmitted or stored data
• Also referred to as conventional encryption or
single-key encryption
• Two requirements for secure use:
• Need a strong encryption algorithm
• Sender and receiver must have obtained copies
of the secret key in a secure fashion and must
keep the key secure
 Secret key shared by Secret key shared by
sender and recipient sender and recipient

K K

Transmitted
X ciphertext
Y = E[K, X] X = D[K, Y]

Plaintext Plaintext
Encryption algorithm Decryption algorithm
input output
(e.g., DES) (reverse of encryption
algorithm)

Figure 2.1 Simplified Model of Symmetric Encryption

 Attacking Symmetric
Encryption
Cryptanalytic Attacks Brute-Force Attacks
⚫ Rely on:
⚫ Try all possible keys on some
⚫ Nature of the algorithm
ciphertext until an intelligible
⚫ Some knowledge of the translation into plaintext is
general characteristics of the obtained
plaintext ⚫ On average half of all possible
⚫ Some sample plaintext- keys must be tried to achieve
ciphertext pairs success

⚫ Exploits the characteristics of

the algorithm to attempt to
deduce a specific plaintext or
the key being used
⚫ If successful all future and past
messages encrypted with that
key are compromised
Data Encryption Standard
(DES)
Until recently was the most widely used
encryption scheme
Adapted in 1977 FIPS PUB 46
Referred to as the Data Encryption
Algorithm (DEA)
Uses 64 bit plaintext block and 56 bit key to
produce a 64 bit ciphertext block

Strength concerns:
Concerns about the algorithm itself.
DES is the most studied encryption
algorithm in existence
No one has so far reported a fatal weakness in DES.
Concerns about the use of a 56-bit key
The speed of commercial off-the-shelf processors
makes this key length woefully inadequate
 Triple DES (3DES)
⚫ The life of DES was extended by the use of triple DES
⚫ Repeats basic DES algorithm three times using either
two or three unique keys
⚫ First standardized for use in financial applications in
ANSI standard X9.17 in 1985
⚫ Attractions:
⚫ 168-bit key length overcomes the vulnerability to brute-force
attack of DES
⚫ Underlying encryption algorithm is the same as in DES
⚫ Drawbacks:
⚫ Algorithm is sluggish in software
⚫ Uses a 64-bit block size
 Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES)
Needed a NIST called for Selected
replacement for proposals for a Rijndael in
3DES new AES in 1997 November 2001
Should have a security In a first round of
strength equal to or evaluation, 15 proposed
better than 3DES algorithms were
accepted
Significantly improved
3DES was not efficiency
A second round
reasonable for narrowed the field to 5
long term use algorithm
Symmetric block cipher

Published as
128 bit data and
128/192/256 bit keys FIPS 197
 Comparison of Three Popular Symmetric
Encryption Algorithms

DES Triple DES AES

Plaintext block size (bits) 64 64 128
Ciphertext block size (bits) 64 64 128
Key size (bits) 56 112 or 168 128, 192, or 256

DES = Data Encryption Standard

AES = Advanced Encryption Standard
Average Time Required for Exhaustive Key Search
Number of Time Required
Key size Alternative Time Required at 109 at 1013
(bits) Cipher Keys decryptions/s decryptions/s
56 DES 256 ≈ 7.2 ´ 1016 255 ns = 1.125 years 1 hour
AES 2127 ns = 5.3 ´ 1021
128 2128 ≈ 3.4 ´ 1038 5.3 ´ 1017 years
years
Triple DES 2167 ns = 5.8 ´ 1033
168 2168 ≈ 3.7 ´ 1050 5.8 ´ 1029 years
years
192 AES 2192 ≈ 6.3 ´ 1057 2191 ns = 9.8 ´ 1040 9.8 ´ 1036 years
years
256 AES 2256 ≈ 1.2 ´ 1077 2255 ns = 1.8 ´ 1060 1.8 ´ 1056 years
years
⚫ Typically symmetric encryption is applied to a unit of
data larger than a single 64-bit or 128-bit block
⚫ Electronic codebook (ECB) mode is the simplest
approach to multiple-block encryption
⚫ Each block of plaintext is encrypted using the same key
⚫ Cryptanalysts may be able to exploit regularities in the
plaintext
⚫ Modes of operation
⚫ Alternative techniques developed to increase the security
of symmetric block encryption for large sequences
⚫ Overcomes the weaknesses of ECB
 P1 P2 Pn

Encryption
b b b
K Encrypt K Encrypt K Encrypt
b b b

C1 C2 Cn

C1 C2 Cn

Decryption
b b b
K Decrypt K Decrypt K Decrypt
b b b

P1 P2 Pn

(a) Block cipher encryption (electronic codebook mode)

Key Key
K K

Pseudorandom byte Pseudorandom byte

generator generator
(key stream generator) (key stream generator)

k kk
Plaintext Ciphertext Plaintext
byte stream byte stream byte stream
M ENCRYPTION C DECRYPTION M

(b) Stream encryption

Figure 2.2 Types of Symmetric Encryption

Block & Stream Ciphers
Block Cipher

• Processes the input one block of elements at a time

• Produces an output block for each input block
• Can reuse keys
• More common

Stream Cipher
• Processes the input elements continuously
• Produces output one element at a time
• Primary advantage is that they are almost always faster
and use far less code
• Encrypts plaintext one byte at a time
• Pseudorandom stream is one that is unpredictable without
knowledge of the input key
Message Authentication

Protects against
active attacks
•Contents have not been
Verifies received altered
message is •From authentic source
•Timely and in correct
authentic sequence

Can use
•Only sender and receiver
conventional share a key
encryption
 Message Authentication
Without Confidentiality
• Message encryption by itself does not provide a secure
form of authentication
• It is possible to combine authentication and
confidentiality in a single algorithm by encrypting a
message plus its authentication tag
• Typically message authentication is provided as a
separate function from message encryption
• Situations in which message authentication without
confidentiality may be preferable include:
• There are a number of applications in which the same message is
broadcast to a number of destinations
• An exchange in which one side has a heavy load and cannot afford the
time to decrypt all incoming messages
• Authentication of a computer program in plaintext is an attractive service

• Thus, there is a place for both authentication and

encryption in meeting security requirements
Message

MAC
Transmit algorithm

Compare

MAC
algorithm
MAC

Figure 2.3 Message Authentication Using a Message

Authentication Code (MAC).
 Source A Destination B

Message

Message

Message
H

Compare
H K K

E D
(a) Using symmetric encryption
Message

Message

Message
H

Compare
H PRa PUa

E D
(b) Using public-key encryption
K K
Message

Message

Message
H

K K
Compare
H

(c) Using secret value

Figure 2.5 Message Authentication Using a One-Way Hash Function.
 To be useful for message
authentication, a hash function H must have the
following properties:

Can be applied to a block of data of any size

Produces a fixed-length output

H(x) is relatively easy to compute for any given x

One-way or pre-image resistant

•Computationally infeasible to find x such that H(x) = h

Computationally infeasible to find y ≠ x such that H(y) = H(x)

Collision resistant or strong collision resistance

•Computationally infeasible to find any pair (x,y) such that H(x) = H(y)
Security of Hash Functions
There are two
approaches to SHA most widely used Additional secure hash
attacking a secure hash hash algorithm function applications:
function:

Cryptanalysis Passwords
•Exploit logical SHA was developed •Hash of a password is
weaknesses in the NIST and published in stored by an operating
algorithm system
1993

Brute-force attack Intrusion detection

•Strength of hash function •Store H(F) for each file
depends solely on the on a system and secure
length of the hash code the hash values
produced by the
algorithm
 Asymmetric
• Uses two
Publicly
separate keys Some form of
proposed by Based on
• Public key protocol is
Diffie and mathematical and private needed for
Hellman in functions key distribution
1976 • Public key is
made public
for others to
use
⚫ Plaintext
⚫ Readable message or data that is fed into the algorithm as input
⚫ Encryption algorithm
⚫ Performs transformations on the plaintext
⚫ Public and private key
⚫ Pair of keys, one for encryption, one for decryption
⚫ Ciphertext
⚫ Scrambled message produced as output
⚫ Decryption key
⚫ Produces the original plaintext
 Bob (a) Encryption with public key Alice

Alice's
public key
ring
Joy
Ted
Mike Bob

PRb Bob's private PUb Bob's public

key key

X=
X Transmitted D[PUb, Y]
ciphertext

Y = E[PRb, X]

Plaintext Plaintext
Encryption algorithm Decryption algorithm
input output
(e.g., RSA)

Bob (b) Encryption with private key Alice

Figure 2.6 Public-Key Cryptography

⚫ User encrypts data using his or her own

private key

⚫ Anyone who knows the corresponding

public key will be able to decrypt the
message
 RSA (Rivest, Block cipher in which the
Most widely accepted and
plaintext and ciphertext
Shamir, Developed in 1977 implemented approach to
public-key encryption
are integers between 0 and
n-1 for some n.
Adleman)

Enables two users to

Diffie-Hellman securely reach agreement
about a shared secret that
Limited to the exchange of
key exchange can be used as a secret
key for subsequent
the keys
symmetric encryption of
algorithm messages

Digital
Provides only a digital Cannot be used for
Signature signature function with
SHA-1
encryption or key
exchange
Standard (DSS)

Elliptic curve
Security like RSA, but with
cryptography much smaller keys

(ECC)
Applications for Public-Key Cryptosystems

Algorithm Digital Signature Symmetric Key Encryption of

Distribution Secret Keys
RSA Yes Yes Yes
Diffie-Hellman No Yes No
DSS Yes No No
Elliptic Curve Yes Yes Yes
 Computationally easy
to create key pairs

Computationally
Useful if either key easy for sender
can be used for knowing public key
each role to encrypt messages

Computationally Computationally
infeasible for easy for receiver
opponent to knowing private key
otherwise recover to decrypt
original message ciphertext
Computationally
infeasible for
opponent to
determine private key
from public key
 Digital Signatures
⚫ NIST FIPS PUB 186-4 defines a digital signature as:
”The result of a cryptographic transformation of data that,
when properly implemented, provides a mechanism for
verifying origin authentication, data integrity and signatory
non-repudiation.”
⚫ Thus, a digital signature is a data-dependent bit pattern,
generated by an agent as a function of a file, message, or
other form of data block

⚫ FIPS 186-4 specifies the use of one of three digital signature

algorithms:
⚫ Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA)
⚫ RSA Digital Signature Algorithm
⚫ Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA)
 Bob Alice

Message M Message M S

Cryptographic Cryptographic
hash hash
function function

Bob’s
h Bob’s h
public
private
key
key

Digital Digital
signature signature
generation verification
algorithm algorithm

Message M S Return
signature valid
Bob’s or not valid
signature
for M

(a) Bob signs a message (b) Alice verifies the signature

Figure 2.7 Simplified Depiction of Essential

Elements of Digital Signature Process
 Unsigned certificate: Bob's ID
contains user ID, Generate hash code
information
user's public key, of certificate not
as well as information including signature
concerning the CA Bob's public key
H

H CA
information

SG SV Return signature
valid or not valid
Generate hash Signed certificate
code of unsigned
certificate

Generate digital signature Verify digital signature

using CA's private key using CA's public key

Create signed Use certificate to

digital certificate verify Bob's public key

Figure 2.8 Public-Key Certificate Use

 M essage E
Encrypted
Random message
symmetric
key
Digital
E envelope

Receiver's Encrypted
public symmetric
key key

(a) Creation of a digital envelope

D M essage
Encrypted
message Random
symmetric
key
Digital
envelope D
Encrypted Receiver's
symmetric private
key key

(b) Opening a digital envelope

Figure 2.9 Digital Envelopes

Random ⚫ Keys for public-key
algorithms
Numbers
⚫ Stream key for symmetric
stream cipher

Symmetric key for use as

Uses include ⚫
a temporary session key
generation of: or in creating a digital
envelope

⚫ Handshaking to prevent
replay attacks

⚫ Session key
 Random Number
Requirements
Randomness Unpredictability
⚫ Criteria:
⚫ Uniform distribution ⚫ Each number is
⚫ Frequency of occurrence
statistically independent
of each of the numbers
should be approximately of other numbers in the
the same sequence
⚫ Independence
⚫ No one value in the ⚫ Opponent should not be
sequence can be inferred
from the others able to predict future
elements of the
sequence on the basis of
earlier elements
 Random versus
Pseudorandom
Cryptographic applications typically make use of
algorithmic techniques for random number generation
• Algorithms are deterministic and therefore produce sequences of numbers
that are not statistically random

Pseudorandom numbers are:

• Sequences produced that satisfy statistical randomness tests
• Likely to be predictable

True random number generator (TRNG):

• Uses a nondeterministic source to produce randomness
• Most operate by measuring unpredictable natural processes
• e.g. radiation, gas discharge, leaky capacitors
• Increasingly provided on modern processors
 Practical Application:
Encryption of Stored Data
Common to encrypt transmitted data

Much less common for stored data

There is often little protection

beyond domain
authentication and operating
system access controls
Approaches to encrypt stored data:
Data are archived for
indefinite periods
Use a commercially
Library based tape Background laptop/PC
available encryption Back-end appliance
encryption data encryption
package
Even though erased, until disk
sectors are reused data are
recoverable