Using cryptography insecurely: Don’t do this at home! – But why?

We have secure cryptographic algorithms available for a number of use cases. These algorithms may have requirements on how to be used in order to stay cryptographically secure, and these requirements vary depending on the algorithm at hand. They may be to avoid reuse of an initialization vector or to avoid small prime numbers as factors. But why these requirements, and what are the consequences if they are not met? In some cases the cryptographic algorithm may become trivial to reverse, while the consequence in other cases will be that a single bit of information may leak. Both are considered catastrophic breaks in theory. This master project concerns getting an overview of the requirements for a set of cryptographic algorithms and to analyze the practical consequences if they are not met. A part of the thesis may be to implement demonstrations of the effects. Which algorithms to consider may depend on the student’s preferences.

The student should have a background and interest both in theoretical cryptography and implementation, and possibly also mathematics.

Contact us if you think this topic is interesting and want to know more about the master project.

Publisert 21. sep. 2022 17:07 - Sist endret 21. sep. 2022 21:56

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