Public key cryptography

• The most important properties of public key

encryption scheme are −
• Different keys are used for encryption and decryption.
This is a property which set this scheme different than
symmetric encryption scheme.
• Each receiver possesses a unique decryption key,
generally referred to as his private key.
• Receiver needs to publish an encryption key, referred to
as his public key.
• Some assurance of the authenticity of a public key is
needed in this scheme to avoid spoofing by adversary as
the receiver.
Public-Key Cryptography
Symmetric vs Public-Key
 Public key Applications
 It can be classified into 3 categories:
 Encryption/decryption (provide secrecy)

 Digital signatures (provide authentication)

 Key exchange (of session keys)

 some algorithms are suitable for all uses,

others are specific to one
 RSA
 By Rivest, Shamir & Adleman of MIT in 1977
 Best known & widely used public-key scheme
 Based on exponentiation in a finite (Galois) field over
integers modulo a prime
 nb. exponentiation takes O((log n)3) operations (easy)

 Uses large integers (eg. 1024 bits)

 Security due to cost of factoring large numbers
 nb. factorization takes O(e log n log log n) operations (hard)
 RSA En/decryption
 To encrypt a message M the sender:
 Obtains public key of recipient PU={e,n}

 Computes: C = Me mod n, where 0≤M<n

 To decrypt the ciphertext C the owner:

 Uses their private key PR={d,n}

 Computes: M = Cd mod n

 Note that the message M must be smaller than

the modulus n (block if needed)
 RSA Key Setup

 Each user generates a public/private key pair by:

 Selecting two large primes at random: p, q
 Computing their system modulus n=p.q
 ø(n)=(p-1)(q-1)

 Selecting at random the encryption key e

 where 1<e<ø(n), gcd(e,ø(n))=1

 Solve following equation to find decryption key d

 e.d=1 mod ø(n) and 0≤d≤n

 Publish their public encryption key: PU={e,n}

 Keep secret private decryption key: PR={d,n}
 How RSA Works
 Because of Euler's Theorem:
 aø(n)mod n = 1 where gcd(a,n)=1

 In RSA have:
 n=p.q

 ø(n)=(p-1)(q-1)

 Carefully chose e & d to be inverses mod ø(n)

 Hence e.d=1+k.ø(n) for some k

 Hence :
Cd = Me.d = M1+k.ø(n) = M1.(Mø(n))k
• = M1.(1)k = M1 = M mod n
 RSA Example - Key Setup
1. Select primes: p=17 & q=11
2. Calculate n = pq =17 x 11=187
3. Calculate ø(n)=(p–1)(q-1)=16x10=160
4. Select e: gcd(e,160)=1; choose e=7
5. Determine d: de=1 mod 160 and d < 160
Value is d=23 since 23x7=161= 10x160+1
6. Publish public key PU={7,187}
7. Keep secret private key PR={23,187}
 RSA Example - En/Decryption
 Sample RSA encryption/decryption is:
 Given message M = 88 (nb. 88<187)
 Encryption:
C = 887 mod 187 = 11
 Decryption:
M = 1123 mod 187 = 88
Example
• An example of generating RSA Key pair is given below.
• For ease of understanding, the primes p & q taken here are small
values. Practically, these values are very high .
• Let two primes be p = 7 and q = 13.
• Thus, modulus n = pq = 7 x 13 = 91.
• Select e = 5, which is a valid choice since there is no number that is
common factor of 5 and p−1q−1 = 6 × 12 = 72, except for 1.
• The pair of numbers n,e = 91,5 forms the public key and can be
made available to anyone whom we wish to be able to send us
encrypted messages.
• Input p = 7, q = 13, and e = 5 to the Extended Euclidean Algorithm.
The output will be d = 29. Check that the d calculated is correct by
computing −
de = 29 × 5 = 145 = 1 mod 72
• Hence, public key is 91,5 and private keys is 91,29.
 RSA Key Generation
 Users of RSA must:
 Determine two primes at random - p, q
 Select either e or d and compute the other
 Primes p,q must not be easily derived from
modulus n=p.q
 Means must be sufficiently large
 Typically guess and use probabilistic test
 Exponents e, d are inverses, so use Inverse
algorithm to compute the other
 RSA Security
 Possible approaches to attacking RSA are:
 Brute force key search - infeasible given size of
numbers
 Mathematical attacks - based on difficulty of
computing ø(n), by factoring modulus n
 Timing attacks - on running of decryption
 Chosen cipher text attacks - given properties of
RSA
 Timing Attacks
 Developed by Paul Kocher in mid-1990’s
 Exploit timing variations in operations
 eg. multiplying by small vs large number

 Infer operand size based on time taken

 RSA exploits time taken in exponentiation
 Counter measures
 Use constant exponentiation time

 Add random delays

 Blind values used in calculations

 Chosen Ciphertext Attacks
• RSA is vulnerable to a Chosen Cipher text
Attack (CCA)
• Attackers chooses cipher texts & gets
decrypted plaintext back
• Choose cipher text to exploit properties of RSA
to provide info to help cryptanalysis
• Can counter with random pad of plaintext or
use Optimal Asymmetric Encryption Padding
(OASP)
Optimal Asymmetric Encryption Padding (OASP)
Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange
 Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange

 First public-key type scheme proposed

 By Diffie & Hellman in 1976 along with the
exposition of public key concepts
 It is a practical method for public exchange of
a secret key
 It IS used in a number of commercial products
 Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange

 A public-key distribution scheme

 cannot be used to exchange an arbitrary message

 it can establish a common key

 known only to the two participants

 Value of key depends on the participants (and their

private and public key information)
 Based on exponentiation in a finite field (modulo a
prime or a polynomial) - easy
 Security relies on the difficulty of computing discrete
logarithms (similar to factoring) – hard
 Diffie-Hellman Setup

 All users agree on global parameters:

 Large prime integer or polynomial q
 A being a primitive root mod q
 Each user (eg. A) generates their key
 Chooses a secret key (number): xA < q
xA
 Compute their public key: yA = a mod q
 Each user makes public that key yA
 Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange

 Shared session key for users A & B is KAB:

xA.xB
–
KAB = a mod q
xB
–
= y A mod q (which B can compute)
xA
–
= y B mod q (which A can compute)
 KAB is used as session key in private-key encryption
scheme between Alice and Bob
 If Alice and Bob subsequently communicate, they will
have the same key as before, unless they choose new
public-keys
 Attacker needs an x, must solve discrete log
 Diffie-Hellman Example
 Users Alice & Bob who wish to swap keys:
 Agree on prime q=353 and a=3
 Select random secret keys:

A chooses xA=97, B chooses xB=233
 Compute respective public keys:
97

yA=3 mod 353 = 40 (Alice)
233

yB=3 mod 353 = 248 (Bob)
 Compute shared session key as:
xA 97

KAB= y B mod 353 = 248 = 160 (Alice)
xB 233

KAB= y A mod 353 = 40 = 160 (Bob)
Setup: p prime and g generator of Zp*, p and g public
Example: Let p=11, g=2, then

a 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
ga 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024 2048

ga mod p 2 4 8 5 10 9 7 3 6 1 2

A chooses 4, B chooses 3, then shared secret is (23)4 = (24)3 = 212

= 4 (mod 11)
Adversaries sees 23=8 and 24=5, needs to solve one of 2x=8 and 2y=5 to
figure out the shared secret.