Cryptosmith

Cyber and security architecture, not bitcoins

crypto

  • Standardized Back Door

    Matthew Green published an entertaining rundown on the cryptographic back door in ANSI and NIST standards.…

  • Boak’s Puzzle: Disposing of Classified Trash

    Recently I was skimming through the NSA’s “classified history of COMSEC” (Volume 1 and Volume 2).  This…

  • Real-world document encryption

    I’ve been reviewing histories of cryptography recently and here’s an interesting thing about pre-computer encryption: it’s…

  • One-Time Pads

    One-Time Pads

    The one-time pad is the only encryption technique that has been mathematically proven to be uncrackable.…

  • Encrypting with XOR: A Graphic Example

    The exclusive or operation – a logical function applied to binary bits, like AND, OR, and…

  • Stream ciphers

    Whenever your browser establishes a “secure” connection to a web site, it encrypts the data. The…