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Symmetric Cryptography Before the Introduction of the Asymmetric Design

Group C
Kevin Gordon - 1034072
Eshama Peters - 1033049
Tyrone Singh - 1034356
Emmanuel Forde - 1034646
Department of Computer Science, UNiversity of Guyana
Ms. Sandra Khan
May 10th, 2021
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Cryptography is associated with the method of storing and transmitting data in a

particular form so that only the intended parties can read and access the information. The
encrypting and decrypting of that information is completed using a specific key that is
either known to one or both parties. Symmetric Key Cryptography, also known as Secret
Key Cryptography, is a method that employs the use of a single key that needs to be
known to both parties in order for the information to be encrypted or decrypted. The
sender uses the key to encrypt the plaintext and sends the ciphertext to the receiver. The
receiver then applies the same key to decrypt the message and recover the plaintext. The
major setback of using this method is the distribution of the key. Unauthorized parties
may have access to the secret key causing communication to be breached.

There are guidelines that must be met to ensure the encryption of data. Dr. Auguste
Kerckoff, who was an expert in cryptography, stated that the security of a cryptographic
system is based solely on the key. Kerckoff’s principles recommends that encryption
algorithms should be public while the key should be secret. There are six basic principles
of cipher designs that should be met. The system should be indecipherable in practice, the
design should not require secrecy and compromises should not be troublesome for the
correspondent, the encryption key should be memorized and recalled without notes, the
system should have the ability to transmit the cryptogram electronically, the documents
for the system should be easy to port and lastly the system should be east, neither
carrying a long list not require mental strain.
There are two types of Symmetric Key Cryptography commonly used. Stream and Block
cipher are the most known symmetric cryptography.

Symmetric encryption has a few shortcomings. The two main ones are key exhaustion
and the key management problem. When the use of keys leaks some data that can be
potentially used by an adversary to reconstruct keys, it is referred to as key exhaustion.
Fortunately, using a key hierarchy that ensures that key-encryption or master keys are not
overused can help protect against key exhaustion.

Stream ciphers convert one symbol of plaintext directly into a symbol of ciphertext. A
stream cipher breaks a plaintext message down into single bits, which then are converted
individually into ciphertext using key bits. Speed of transformation and the low level for
an error in encrypting one symbol are advantages of using a stream cipher. While there
are positives of using this cipher there are also negatives. Low diffusion where all
information of a plaintext symbol is contained in a single ciphertext symbol and the
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susceptibility for an active interceptor who breaks the algorithm might insert spurious
text that appear authentic into the ciphertext are major breaches into stream ciphers.
Block ciphers encrypt a group of plaintext symbols as one block. A block cipher breaks
down plaintext messages into fixed-size blocks before converting them into ciphertext
using a key. Encrypting information bit-by-bit. Most modern symmetric encryption
algorithms are block ciphers. Block sizes vary (64 bits for DES, 128 bits for AES, etc.).
Advantages of using this system would be high diffusion where all information from one
plaintext is diffused into several ciphertext symbols and the immunity to tampering
ensures the safety of the information relayed. The drawback of having these advantages
are the slowness of the encryption process and the error propagation where an invalid
symbol may corrupt the entire block.
There are two branches of Block Ciphers. Data Encryption Standard (DES) and
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) are used primarily.
DES (Data Encryption Standard) is the archetypal block cipher which is an algorithm that
takes a fixed-length string of plaintext bits and transforms it through a series of
complicated operations into another ciphertext bit string of the same length. It was
created 1976 and was designed by IBM. Its structure is based on a feistel network and its
key number length is 56 bites. The DES cipher is also derived from the Lucifer cipher.
The DES however can be broken easily because of the known vulnerabilities it has.
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is a cryptographic cipher responsible for a large
amount of information security used daily. The AES was created in 1999 and was
designed by Vincent Rijmen and Joan Daemen. Its structure is based on a substitution
permutation network and key length varies from 128-bits, 192-bits and 256 bits. Unlike
DES which can encrypt 64-bits of plain text AES can encrypt 128-bits. The AES cipher
derived from the square cipher. AES is the de facto world standard seeing that it is more
secure than DES.

Cryptography was closely linked with war, the nations had to find secure ways of
exchanging information without the enemy knowing. Cryptography was struggling to
overcome the efforts of cryptanalysts on both sides during World War I. The new ciphers
were developed by arranging or mixing established ciphers that had already been
cracked/ broken. Major Joseph Mauborgne was the person that introduced the concept of
the random key to be used in ciphering messages using a Vigenere square. His
(Mauborgne) system involved producing two pads of randomly generated keys, one for
the receiver and one for the sender. The message sent was encrypted with the first key in
the pad. The receiver used the same key to decrypt the message and both parties (the
sender and the receiver) destroyed their keys. This is completely secure. This cipher is
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known as the one-time pad cipher. Unlike the Babbage method of decryption where it
relies on repetition within the key to break the cipher, there is no repetition in the key
with the one-time pad cypher. The keys consist of a string of letters that contain no
meaningful words to guide an astute cryptanalyst down the correct path to solving the
key. The number of keys is also enormous. The cipher was deemed truly unbreakable
due to the factors listed.
The enigma machine was heavily used by the German military to encrypt messages
before and during world war two. The first portion of the cipher is the scrambler; this is a
rubber disc with wires embedded inside. It was connected to a keyboard and a and lamps
that would light up when a letter was pressed. By placing wires along different paths, the
scrambler created a monoalphabetic cipher. At the end of 1938, the Germans introduced
some new procedures for their enigma operators in world war two; thirty thousand
enigma machines were used by Nazi forces which provided them with optimum security
for communications.

The Enigma Machine

An Enigma machine is a well-known German encryption system that transmits coded

messages during the Second World War. An Enigma machine can encrypt a message in
billions and trillions, making it extremely impossible for other countries to crack German
codes during war — it was unbreakable for a while. The implementation of Enigma code
and access to German codebooks made it possible for Alan Turing and other researchers
to create a Bombe machine that could break down the most demanding Enigma version
and to exploit certain flaws in its development. According to some historians, the
breaking of Enigma was the Allied powers' single most significant achievement during
WWII. The Allies were able to deter certain assaults by using information decoded
message from the Germans. To avert Nazi speculation that they had eavesdropped on
German messages, the Allies had to enable certain attacks to take place while knowing
how to stop them.
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Enigma machines use a substitution encryption method. Substitute encryption is easy to

encode messages, but it is very easy to crack these passwords. A Caesar cipher is a clear
example of a substitution encryption system. Each letter of the alphabet changes a
number of positions using a Caesar cipher. A Caesar cipher with a transformation of 11
will encrypt A as B, M as N, Z as A, etc.
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Image of a Caesar cipher with a shift spacing of 3

One-Time Pad

A one-time pad is a system where only once a randomly generated private key is used for
encrypting a message and is then decrypted with a corresponding one-time pad and key
by the recipient. Randomly encrypted messages have the benefit that, by reviewing a
series of messages, there is no way technically "breaking the code." Each encryption is
special and has no connection to the next encryption to detect patterns. However, the
person who wants to decrypt the message has to have access to the same key to encrypt
the message using a one-time pad, raising the question of how to securely obtain the key
for the decrypter or how to lock it all keys.
Frank Miller was the first person to identify the one-time telegraph safety pad device in
1882. One-time pads played an important role in coded message delivery and espionage
prior to, throughout, and after World War II, as well as during the Cold War. The
challenge of safely controlling hidden keys on the Internet prompted the creation of
public key cryptography.
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A one-time pad used by the U.S. National Security Agency, code named DIANA. The
right-hand table is a tool for translating plaintext to cipher text using the characters on the
left as the key.
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This is a simple example of how the One-time pad is used.

Each letter of the alphabet has a numerical counterpart.

Exchange letters with numbers from the table.

Divide the numbers from the one-time pad into pairs and write them in line (start from
the last line in the cipher). Add the numbers from the message.

If sum is more than 100, write last two digits in result

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Then divide the message in groups of five and transmit it as shown below.

The receiver uses the same page from his one-time pad to decode the post. The numbers
are separated into pairs and subtracted once more.

Sometimes when subtracting, it is necessary to add 100 to the amount. Then decipher the
original text by substituting letter numbers.
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