Placement of Encryption Function
Lecture 3
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Points of Vulnerability
Adversary can eavesdrop from a machine
on the same LAN
Adversary can eavesdrop by dialing into
communication server
Adversary can eavesdrop by gaining
physical control of part of external links
twisted pair, coaxial cable, or optical fiber
radio or satellite links
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Confidentiality using Symmetric
Encryption
have two major placement alternatives
link encryption
encryption occurs independently on every link
All traffic over all communication links is secured
implies must decrypt traffic between links because the
switch must read the address in the packet header
Each pair of nodes that share a unique key, with a
different key used on each link, many keys.
Message is vulnerable at each switch
If working with a public network, the user has not
control over the security of the nodes
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Confidentiality using Symmetric
Encryption
end-to-end encryption
encryption occurs between original source and
final destination
need devices at each end with shared keys
Secure the transmission against attacks on the
network links or switches
end-to-end principle
What part of each packet will the host encrypt?
Header or user data?
A degree of authentication, only alleged sender
shares the relevant key
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Placement of Encryption
Can place encryption function at various
layers in OSI Reference Model
link encryption occurs at layers 1 or 2
end-to-end can occur at layers 3, 4, 6, 7
If move encryption toward higher layer
less information is encrypted but is more
secure
application layer encryption is more complex,
with more entities and need more keys
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Scope of Encryption
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Traffic Analysis
is monitoring of communications flows
between parties
useful both in military & commercial spheres
can also be used to create a covert channel
link encryption obscures header details
but overall traffic volumes in networks and at
end-points is still visible
traffic padding can further obscure flows
but at cost of continuous traffic
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Traffic Analysis
when using end-to-end encryption must
leave headers in clear
so network can correctly route information
hence although contents protected,
traffic pattern flows are not
ideally want both at once
end-to-end protects data contents over
entire path and provides authentication
link protects traffic flows from monitoring
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Key Distribution Center
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Symmetric Cryptographic System
cryptanalysis
M
encryption
Alice
decryption
Bob
K
key
Eve
M
K
Secure channel
Alice: sender
Bob: receiver
Eve: eavesdropper / Oscar : opponent
Alice and Bob are the celebrities in cryptography.
Ciphertext C = EK(M); Plaintext M = EK-1(C)
One of the greatest difficulties: key management
Algorithms: DES, CAST, IDEA, RC2/4/5 (Rivests Code), AES,
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Symmetric Key Management
Each pair of communicating entities needs a shared key
Why?
For a n-party system, there are n(n-1)/2 distinct keys in the system
and each party needs to maintain n-1 distinct keys.
How to reduce the number of shared keys in the system
Centralized key management
Public keys
K4
K1
K5
K7
K2
K6
K3
K8
K9
K10
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Centralized Key Management
Online Central Server
K2
K1
session key
Alice
Bob
Only n keys, instead of n(n-1)/2 in the system.
Central server may become the single-point-of-failure of the
entire system and the performance bottleneck.
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Key Distribution
symmetric schemes require both
parties to share a common secret key
issue is how to securely distribute
this key
often secure system failure due to a
break in the key distribution scheme
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Key Distribution
given parties A and B have various
key distribution alternatives:
1. A can select key and physically deliver to B
2. third party can select & deliver key to A & B
3. if A & B have communicated previously can use
previous key to encrypt a new key
4. if A & B have secure communications with a
third party C, C can relay key between A & B
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Key Distribution Scenario
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Key Distribution Issues
hierarchies of KDCs required for large
networks, but must trust each other
session key lifetimes should be limited
for greater security
controlling purposes keys are used for
lots of keys to keep track of
binding management information to key
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Key Distribution Center (KDC)
Q: How does KDC allow Bob, Alice to determine shared
symmetric secret key to communicate with each other?
KDC
generates
R1
KA-KDC(A,B)
Alice
knows
R1
KA-KDC(R1, KB-KDC(A,R1) )
KB-KDC(A,R1)
Bob knows to
use R1 to
communicate
with Alice
Alice and Bob communicate: using R1 as
session key for shared symmetric encryption
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