988 research outputs found
The Rabin cryptosystem revisited
The Rabin public-key cryptosystem is revisited with a focus on the problem of
identifying the encrypted message unambiguously for any pair of primes. In
particular, a deterministic scheme using quartic reciprocity is described that
works for primes congruent 5 modulo 8, a case that was still open. Both
theoretical and practical solutions are presented. The Rabin signature is also
reconsidered and a deterministic padding mechanism is proposed.Comment: minor review + introduction of a deterministic scheme using quartic
reciprocity that works for primes congruent 5 modulo
On the Design of Cryptographic Primitives
The main objective of this work is twofold. On the one hand, it gives a brief
overview of the area of two-party cryptographic protocols. On the other hand,
it proposes new schemes and guidelines for improving the practice of robust
protocol design. In order to achieve such a double goal, a tour through the
descriptions of the two main cryptographic primitives is carried out. Within
this survey, some of the most representative algorithms based on the Theory of
Finite Fields are provided and new general schemes and specific algorithms
based on Graph Theory are proposed
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
Oblivious Transfer based on Key Exchange
Key-exchange protocols have been overlooked as a possible means for
implementing oblivious transfer (OT). In this paper we present a protocol for
mutual exchange of secrets, 1-out-of-2 OT and coin flipping similar to
Diffie-Hellman protocol using the idea of obliviously exchanging encryption
keys. Since, Diffie-Hellman scheme is widely used, our protocol may provide a
useful alternative to the conventional methods for implementation of oblivious
transfer and a useful primitive in building larger cryptographic schemes.Comment: 10 page
Practical fair anonymous undeniable signatures
We present a new model for undeniable signatures: fair-anonymous undeniable signatures. This protocol can not only preserve the privacy of the signer (i.e. anonymity) but also track the illegal utilization of the valid signatures. In addition, our model prevents the trusted centre from forging a valid signature for any signer
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