On the Design of Secure and Fast Double Block Length Hash Functions

In this work the security of the rate-1 double block length hash functions, which based on a block cipher with a block length of n-bit and a key length of 2n-bit, is reconsidered. Counter-examples and new attacks are presented on this general class of double block length hash functions with rate 1, which disclose uncovered flaws in the necessary conditions given by Satoh et al. and Hirose. Preimage and second preimage attacks are presented on Hirose's two examples which were left as an open problem. Therefore, although all the rate-1 hash functions in this general class are failed to be optimally (second) preimage resistant, the necessary conditions are refined for ensuring this general class of the rate-1 hash functions to be optimally secure against the collision attack. In particular, two typical examples, which designed under the refined conditions, are proven to be indifferentiable from the random oracle in the ideal cipher model. The security results are extended to a new class of double block length hash functions with rate 1, where one block cipher used in the compression function has the key length is equal to the block length, while the other is doubled

MJH: A Faster Alternative to MDC-2

Abstract. In this paper, we introduce a new class of double-block-length hash functions. Using the ideal cipher model, we prove that these hash functions, dubbed MJH, are asymptotically collision resistant up to O(2n(1−)) query complexity for any > 0 in the iteration, where n is the block size of the underlying blockcipher. When based on n-bit key blockciphers, our construction, being of rate 1/2, provides better provable security than MDC-2, the only known construction of a rate-1/2 double-length hash function based on an n-bit key blockcipher with non-trivial provable security. Moreover, since key scheduling is performed only once per message block for MJH, our proposal significantly outperforms MDC-2 in efficiency. When based on a 2n-bit key blockcipher, we can use the extra n bits of key to increase the amount of payload accordingly. Thus we get a rate-1 hash function that is much faster than existing proposals, such as Tandem-DM with comparable provable security. This is the full version of [19].

Quantum attacks on Bitcoin, and how to protect against them

The key cryptographic protocols used to secure the internet and financial transactions of today are all susceptible to attack by the development of a sufficiently large quantum computer. One particular area at risk are cryptocurrencies, a market currently worth over 150 billion USD. We investigate the risk of Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, to attacks by quantum computers. We find that the proof-of-work used by Bitcoin is relatively resistant to substantial speedup by quantum computers in the next 10 years, mainly because specialized ASIC miners are extremely fast compared to the estimated clock speed of near-term quantum computers. On the other hand, the elliptic curve signature scheme used by Bitcoin is much more at risk, and could be completely broken by a quantum computer as early as 2027, by the most optimistic estimates. We analyze an alternative proof-of-work called Momentum, based on finding collisions in a hash function, that is even more resistant to speedup by a quantum computer. We also review the available post-quantum signature schemes to see which one would best meet the security and efficiency requirements of blockchain applications.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures. For a rough update on the progress of Quantum devices and prognostications on time from now to break Digital signatures, see https://www.quantumcryptopocalypse.com/quantum-moores-law

Provably Secure Double-Block-Length Hash Functions in a Black-Box Model

In CRYPTO’89, Merkle presented three double-block-length hash functions based on DES. They are optimally collision resistant in a black-box model, that is, the time complexity of any collision-finding algorithm for them is Ω(2^<l/2>) if DES is a random block cipher, where l is the output length. Their drawback is that their rates are low. In this article, new double-block-length hash functions with higher rates are presented which are also optimally collision resistant in the blackbox model. They are composed of block ciphers whose key length is twice larger than their block length

07021 Abstracts Collection -- Symmetric Cryptography

From .. to .., the Dagstuhl Seminar 07021 ``Symmetric Cryptography\u27\u27 automatically was held in the International Conference and Research Center (IBFI), Schloss Dagstuhl. During the seminar, several participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abstracts of the presentations given during the seminar as well as abstracts of seminar results and ideas are put together in this paper. The first section describes the seminar topics and goals in general. Links to extended abstracts or full papers are provided, if available

Block Ciphers: Analysis, Design and Applications

In this thesis we study cryptanalysis, applications and design of secret key block ciphers. In particular, the important class of Feistel ciphers is studied, which has a number of rounds, where in each round one applies a cryptographically weak function