1,706 research outputs found
Strengthening the Security of Authenticated Key Exchange against Bad Randomness
Recent history has revealed that many random number generators (RNGs) used in cryptographic algorithms and protocols were not providing appropriate randomness, either by accident or on purpose. Subsequently, researchers have proposed new algorithms and protocols that are less dependent on the random number generator. One exception is that all prominent authenticated key exchange (AKE) protocols are insecure given bad randomness, even when using good long-term keying material.
We analyse the security of AKE protocols in the presence of adversaries that can perform attacks based on chosen randomness, i. e., attacks in which the adversary controls the randomness used in protocol sessions. We propose novel stateful protocols, which modify memory shared among a userâs sessions, and show in what sense they are secure against this worst case randomness failure. We develop a stronger security notion for AKE protocols that captures the security that we can achieve under such failures, and prove that our main protocol is correct in this model. Our protocols make substantially weaker assumptions on the RNG than existing protocols
The security of NTP's datagram protocol
For decades, the Network Time Protocol (NTP) has been
used to synchronize computer clocks over untrusted network paths. This
work takes a new look at the security of NTPâs datagram protocol. We
argue that NTPâs datagram protocol in RFC5905 is both underspecified
and flawed. The NTP specifications do not sufficiently respect (1) the
conflicting security requirements of different NTP modes, and (2) the
mechanism NTP uses to prevent off-path attacks. A further problem
is that (3) NTPâs control-query interface reveals sensitive information
that can be exploited in off-path attacks. We exploit these problems
in several attacks that remote attackers can use to maliciously alter a
targetâs time. We use network scans to find millions of IPs that are
vulnerable to our attacks. Finally, we move beyond identifying attacks
by developing a cryptographic model and using it to prove the security
of a new backwards-compatible client/server protocol for NTP.https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/1006.pdfhttps://eprint.iacr.org/2016/1006.pdfPublished versio
Deniable Key Establishment Resistance against eKCI Attacks
In extended Key Compromise Impersonation (eKCI) attack against authenticated key establishment (AKE) protocols the adversary impersonates one party, having the long term key and the ephemeral key of the other peer party. Such an attack can be mounted against variety of AKE protocols, including 3-pass HMQV. An intuitive countermeasure, based on BLS (BonehâLynnâShacham) signatures, for strengthening HMQV was proposed in literature. The original HMQV protocol fulfills the deniability property: a party can deny its participation in the protocol execution, as the peer party can create a fake protocol transcript indistinguishable from the real one. Unfortunately, the modified BLS based version of HMQV is not deniable. In this paper we propose a method for converting HMQV (and similar AKE protocols) into a protocol resistant to eKCI attacks but without losing the original deniability property. For that purpose, instead of the undeniable BLS, we use a modification of Schnorr authentication protocol, which is deniable and immune to ephemeral key leakages
Zero-Knowledge Password Policy Check from Lattices
Passwords are ubiquitous and most commonly used to authenticate users when
logging into online services. Using high entropy passwords is critical to
prevent unauthorized access and password policies emerged to enforce this
requirement on passwords. However, with current methods of password storage,
poor practices and server breaches have leaked many passwords to the public. To
protect one's sensitive information in case of such events, passwords should be
hidden from servers. Verifier-based password authenticated key exchange,
proposed by Bellovin and Merrit (IEEE S\&P, 1992), allows authenticated secure
channels to be established with a hash of a password (verifier). Unfortunately,
this restricts password policies as passwords cannot be checked from their
verifier. To address this issue, Kiefer and Manulis (ESORICS 2014) proposed
zero-knowledge password policy check (ZKPPC). A ZKPPC protocol allows users to
prove in zero knowledge that a hash of the user's password satisfies the
password policy required by the server. Unfortunately, their proposal is not
quantum resistant with the use of discrete logarithm-based cryptographic tools
and there are currently no other viable alternatives. In this work, we
construct the first post-quantum ZKPPC using lattice-based tools. To this end,
we introduce a new randomised password hashing scheme for ASCII-based passwords
and design an accompanying zero-knowledge protocol for policy compliance.
Interestingly, our proposal does not follow the framework established by Kiefer
and Manulis and offers an alternate construction without homomorphic
commitments. Although our protocol is not ready to be used in practice, we
think it is an important first step towards a quantum-resistant
privacy-preserving password-based authentication and key exchange system
Double or nothing: Deconstructing cultural heritage
This paper draws on the deconstruction(ist) toolbox and specifically
on the textual unweaving tactics of supplementarity, exemplarity, and
parergonality, with a view to critically assessing institutional (UNESCOâs) and
ordinary touristsâ claims to authenticity as regards artifacts and sites of âcultural
heritageâ. Through the âdestru[k]tionâ of claims to âoriginalityâ and âmyths of
originâ, that function as preservatives for canning such artifacts and sites, the
cultural arche-writing that forces signifiers to piously bow before a limited
string of âtranscendental signifiedsâ is brought to full view. The stench of the
aeons is thus forced to evaporate through a post-transcendentalist opening
towards originary mythsâ original doubles
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