2.1 What are the essential ingredients of a symmetric cipher?

Plaintext, encryption algorithm, secret key, ciphertext, decryption algorithm.

2.2 What are the two basic functions used in encryption algorithms?

The two basic functions used in encryption algorithms are:

a. substitution: each element in the plaintext is (bit, letter, group of bits or letters) is mapped into
another element

b. transposition: elements in the plaintext are rearranged.

Substitution: The letters of plaintext are replaced by other letters or symbols or by numbers. It involves
substituiting plaintext bit patterns with cipher text bit patterns.

There are many types of substitution techniques:

1. Caser cipher

2. Monoalphabetic cipher

3. Polyalphabetic cipher

4. Playfair cipher.

Transposition: Here positions of plaintext bits are shifted accordingly, constitutes a permutation of
plaintext.

Techinques in transposition are:

1. Rail-fence

2. Columnar transposition

3. verman cipher.

2.3 How many keys are required for two people to communicate via a symmetric cipher?

Sender and receiver use the same key, so only one key is required.

For symmetric, you need n(n−1)/2 keys where n is number of people. So, Key required for 2 people
communication is 2(2-1)/2=1 (only one key is required)
2.4 What is the difference between a block cipher and a stream cipher?

A block cipher processes the input one block of elements at a time, producing an output block for each
input block. A stream cipher processes the input elements continuously, producing output one element
at a time, as it goes along.

2.5 What are the two general approaches to attacking a cipher?

brute-force approach = trying all possible keys

cryptanalysis = statistical analysis of the ciphertext (attacker must have some general idea of the type of
plaintext that is encrypted)

2.6 Why do some block cipher modes of operation only use encryption while others use both encryption
and decryption?

In some modes, the plaintext does not pass through the encryption function, but is XORed with the
output of the encryption function. For decryption in these cases, the encryption function must also be
used.

2.7 What is triple encryption?

A plaintext block is encrypted by passing it through an encryption algorithm; the result is then passed
through the same encryption algorithm two more times.

2.8 Why is the middle portion of 3DES a decryption rather than an encryption?

There is no cryptographic significance to the use of decryption for the second stage. Its only advantage is
that it allows users of 3DES to decrypt data encrypted by users of the older single DES by repeating the
key.