Outline of cryptography

See also: Index of cryptography articles

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to cryptography:

Cryptography (or cryptology) – practice and study of hiding information. Modern cryptography intersects the disciplines of mathematics, computer science, and engineering. Applications of cryptography include ATM cards, computer passwords, and electronic commerce.

Essence of cryptography

Uses of cryptographic techniques

Branches of cryptography

History of cryptography

Main articles: History of cryptography and Timeline of cryptography

Ciphers

Main article: Cipher

Classical

Substitution

  • Monoalphabetic substitution

Transposition

Modern symmetric-key algorithms

Main article: Symmetric-key algorithm

Stream ciphers

Main article: Stream ciphers

Block ciphers

Main article: Block ciphers
Further information: Block cipher modes of operation
  • CAST-256 (CAST6) – 128-bit block; the successor to CAST-128 and a candidate for the AES competition
  • Polyalphabetic substitution machine cyphers
  • Enigma – WWII German rotor cypher machine—many variants, any user networks for most of the variants
  • Purple – highest security WWII Japanese Foreign Office cypher machine; by Japanese Navy Captain
  • SIGABA – WWII US cypher machine by William Friedman, Frank Rowlett et al.
  • TypeX – WWII UK cypher machine
  • Hybrid code/cypher combinations
  • JN-25 – WWII Japanese Navy superencyphered code; many variants
  • Naval Cypher 3 – superencrypted code used by the Royal Navy in the 1930s and into WWII

Modern Asymmetric-key algorithms

Main article: Asymmetric key algorithm
  • ACE-KEM – NESSIE selection asymmetric encryption scheme; IBM Zurich Research
  • ECIES – Elliptic Curve Integrated Encryption System, Certicom Corporation
  • ECIES-KEM
  • ECDH – Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman key agreement, CRYPTREC recommendation

Keys

Main article: Key (cryptography)

Authentication

Main article: Key authentication

Transport/exchange

Weak keys

Main article: Weak key

Cryptographic hash functions

Main article: Cryptographic hash function
  • MD5 – one of a series of message digest algorithms by Prof Ron Rivest of MIT; 128-bit digest
  • SHA-1 – developed at NSA 160-bit digest, an FIPS standard; the first released version was defective and replaced by this; NIST/NSA have released several variants with longer 'digest' lengths; CRYPTREC recommendation (limited)

Cryptanalysis

Main article: Cryptanalysis

Classical

Modern

  • Symmetric algorithms
  • Hash functions:
  • Network attacks
  • External attacks

Robustness properties

Undeciphered historical codes and ciphers

Main category: Undeciphered historical codes and ciphers

Organizations and selection projects

Standards

Main article: Cryptography standards

General cryptographic

Open efforts

  • Data Encryption Standard (DES) – NBS selection process, ended 1976
  • RIPE – division of the RACE project sponsored by the European Union, ended mid-1980s
  • Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) – a "break-off" competition sponsored by NIST, ended in 2001
  • NESSIE Project – an evaluation/selection program sponsored by the European Union, ended in 2002
  • eSTREAM– program funded by ECRYPT; motivated by the failure of all of the stream ciphers submitted to NESSIE, ended in 2008
  • CRYPTREC – evaluation/recommendation program sponsored by the Japanese government; draft recommendations published 2003
  • CrypTool – an e-learning freeware programme in English and German— exhaustive educational tool about cryptography and cryptanalysis

Influential cryptographers

Main article: List of cryptographers

Legal issues

Academic and professional publications

Further information: Important publications in cryptography & Books on cryptography

Allied sciences

See also

External links