Definition of crypto
GREAT CRYPTO QUOTES
Great Technology Quotes
Cryptographic Usability
Confusion between the semantics of authentication and of confidentiality happens because these are, in fact, subtle concepts that are as poorly understood as they are intertwined.
An important cryptologic principle:
the security properties of keys used for authentication and those used for decryption are quite different.
Protocol failures that have exactly this confusion at their root.
Authentication keys, such as login passwords, become effectively useless once they are changed (unless they are re-used in other contexts). An attacker who learns an old authentication key would have to travel back in time to make any use of it.
But old Decryption Keys, even after they have been changed, can remain as valuable as the secrets they once protected, forever. Old ciphertext can still be decrypted with the old keys, even if newer ciphertext can't.
Tools
- Steve Friedl's Unixwiz.net Tech Tips An Illustrated Guide to Cryptographic Hashes
- The Blowfish Encryption Algorithm by Bruce Schneier
- Crypto for Beginners
- #FREE EDUCATION - #APPLICATIONS
Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency
Public Affairs 9/30/2011 By Wayne Amann
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123273550
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- The Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency now has the trifecta of cryptologic machines on display. Working in concert with the National Security Agency's National Cryptologic Center Museum at Fort Meade, Md., the AFISRA History Office received on loan an M-125 Fialka, which is a 10-rotor cipher machine developed by the Soviet Union in the late 1950's and used during the Cold War until that country's collapse in 1991.
The Fialka, which in English means "violent," was unveiled at a ceremony Sept. 22 in the AFISRA Heritage Center here. It joined Nazi Germany's Enigma and the United States' Sigaba, as the only known co-located display of the three encryption/decryption devices. "I didn't find any museum, not the Imperial War Museum, not the Smithsonian, that had these three machines on display," said Gabe Marshall, from the AFISRA History Office. "It's safe to say the troika of encryption devices we have can only be found in a private collection."
The new Fialka display also features unique accessories in two glass
enclosed cases: a Soviet parade uniform, an AK-47 assault weapon and Soviet flight gear. Senior Master Sgt. Benjamin Jones, from the AFISRA History Office, designed and built the display, which took eight months to complete.
"We overcame a lot of setbacks," Jones said. "We had to replace the
doors, find the special glass which was extremely difficult, get the AK-47 to fit correctly so it would never fall down, stabilize the Fialka, reinforce the bottoms of the display (cases). Luckily I'm a carpenter so that helped. Even the display for the uniform was made from
an old lamp."
The Fialka first went into operation in 1959, officials said. According
to the rotating picture frame in the display, Eastern Bloc countries
were issued customized, upgraded versions of the Fialka machine, which included keyboards, print heads and rotor sets adapted to accommodate their respective individual alphabets and special characters. The rotor sets were each wired differently and used for inter-country communication. Few Fialkas exist today following their systematic destruction by the Soviet and subsequent Russian governments for security purposes, officials said. It remains an obscure, but highly significant Cold War cryptologic artifact today.
Maj. Gen. Robert Otto, AFISRA commander and officiating officer at the display unveiling, recognized National Cryptolgic Center Museum staff for their support promoting the efforts of the AFISRA History Office to assemble its display. All three AFISRA Heritage Center cryptologic machines are on loan from the National Cryptolgic Center museum "I don't think that museum will be asking us to return their artifacts any time soon since our displays are really world class," Otto said.
Introduction to Applied Cryptography for Secure Communication and Commerce (c)
There is no such thing as a "web of trust" signed by unknown (or corruptable) entities. Your key does *NOT* link your meatspace entity to your email address. You might have separate keys (and separate emails) for each identity you maintain. None of which need be linked to your meatspace "true name". In fact, you could have different identities of yours sign your other keys, and the gullible would believe them (you)! The eBay equivalent is having one 'identity' give positive feedback about another 'identity', fooling those who assume they are different physical-entities. Don't assume that the "web of trust" has anything to do with trust, just because it (ab)uses that word. Think about collusions of signers. Think about multiple identities.Remember that the Govt issues false "real-world" IDs when it is convenient for them to do so.