Encryption Algorithms Flashcards
(13 cards)
AES
Advanced Encryption Standard
Symmetric Encryption
Block Size: 128 bits
Key Length: 128 bits, 192 bits, and 256 bits.
Replacement for DES.
RSA
Asymmetric Encryption
Key Lengths:
1024 bits - Weak and outdated
2048 bits - Strong, used in most cases
3072 and 4096 bits - Used in the most sensitive cases
Named after creators.
ECC
Asymmetric Encryption
As secure as RSA, with smaller key sizes. 224 bits would be similar to 2048 bits. It’s basically the future of asymmetric encryption.
Diffie-Hellman
Asymmetric
Key exchange protocol, not an encryption algorithm.
DSA
Asymmetric
Digital Signature Algorithm
Exclusively used for digital signatures - it does not encrypt or exchange keys, just signs and verifies messages.
DES
Data Encryption Standard
Symmetric Encryption
Block Size: 64 bits
Key Length: 56 bits
Developed in the 1970s, replaced by AES.
RC
Rivest’s Cipher
Symmetric Encryption
RC2 Block Size: 64 bits
RC2 Key Length: 1 to 128 bits
RC4 Block Size: Stream Cipher (Doesn’t use blocks)
RC4 Key Length: 40 to 2048 bits
Several versions with RC6 being the newest. It was a finalist for AES, but ultimately lost (obvs).
IDEA
International Data Encryption Standard
Symmetric Encryption
Block Size: 64 bits
Key Length: 128 bits
Extremely secure, but slower than AES and uses smaller block sizes.
Blowfish
Symmetric Encryption
Block Size: 64 bits
Key Length: 32 bits to 448 bits
Alternative to DES. Replaced by Twofish.
Twofish
Symmetric Encryption
Block Size: 128 bits
Key Length: 128 bits, 192 bits, or 256 bits
Replaces Blowfish. It was a finalist for AES, but ultimately lost (obvs). Still in use today (Hipster AES).
CAST
Symmetric Encryption
CAST-128 (CAST5)
Block Size: 64 bits
Key Length: 40 to 128 bits
CAST-256
Block Size: 128 bits
Key Length: 128, 160, 192, 224, or 256 bits
Might seen paired with Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) and OpenPGP.
Symmetric Encryption
Used for transferring large amounts of data.
Asymmetric Encryption
Good for key exchange and digital signatures.
