Experiment With Symmetric Cryptography

While you await your orders from Col. Ekson, you decide to recharge your understanding of cryptographic technology and its applications. Commander Garrett has provided the team with a resource that you decide to tap into:  introduction to cryptology . This should help you brush up on the basics of cryptology, including the relevant mathematical concepts.

The next part of the process will be to review symmetric and asymmetric cryptography and hash functions. In the following step, you’ll focus on the foundational elements of symmetric cryptography.

This project requires you to think about all cryptographic technologies and the ways they can be used for secure communication. You’ll tackle them one at a time, beginning with a thorough look at symmetric cryptography. Begin by reviewing the  foundations of symmetric cryptography .

Experiment with Symmetric Cryptography (Lab Exercise)

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Your research in the previous step has led you down a path of exploration. Review  modern symmetric cryptography  to get a deeper understanding of symmetric/secret key cryptography and the role of randomness in key selection.

Col. Ekson has granted you access to a virtual space to experiment with symmetric key cryptography. You have been given the following instructions:

1. Experiment with encryption algorithms and various encryption modes. You will be examining questions such as which mode provides more randomness or protection and how different an encrypted file becomes when the original file is changed a little bit using a specific mode.

2. Break a key programmatically in order to practice breaking a code. This will be useful in cyber offense operations. Thinking like an adversary helps you to build your defenses better. In this case, it will help you create a crypto key that is difficult to break using today’s computer technology.

3. Optionally, explore generating cryptographically acceptable random numbers using computers.

You’ve been provided with documentation and further instructions to guide you in these tasks, including questions that Col. Ekson would like you to answer. Make sure your answers are well-reasoned and backed by evidence from your experiments and relevant research. Clearly and thoroughly explain any inferences and deductions that follow from the evidence.

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