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Diffie Hellman Algorithm Riley

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66 views

Diffie Hellman Algorithm Riley

Uploaded by

mario
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Diffie-Hellman Algorithm

Riley Lochridge
April 11, 2003
Overview

• Introduction

• Implementation

• Example

• Applications

• Conclusion
Introduction

• Discovered by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman


– “New Directions in Cryptography”

• Diffie-Hellman key agreement protocol


– Exponential key agreement
– Allows two users to exchange a secret key
– Requires no prior secrets
– Real-time over an untrusted network
Introduction

• Security of transmission is critical for many


network and Internet applications
• Requires users to share information in a way that
others can’t decipher the flow of information

“It is insufficient to protect ourselves with laws; we


need to protect ourselves with mathematics.”
-Bruce Schneier
Introduction

• Based on the difficulty of computing discrete


logarithms of large numbers.

• No known successful attack strategies*

• Requires two large numbers, one prime (P), and


(G), a primitive root of P
Implementation

• P and G are both publicly available numbers


– P is at least 512 bits
• Users pick private values a and b
• Compute public values
– x = ga mod p
– y = gb mod p
• Public values x and y are exchanged
Implementation

Copyright, 2001 by NetIP, Inc. and Keith Palmgren, CISSP.


Implementation

• Compute shared, private key


– ka = ya mod p
– kb = xb mod p

• Algebraically it can be shown that ka = kb


– Users now have a symmetric secret key to
encrypt
Implementation

Copyright, 2001 by NetIP, Inc. and Keith Palmgren, CISSP.


Example

• Two Internet users, Alice and Bob wish to


have a secure conversation.
– They decide to use the Diffie-Hellman protocol
Example

• Bob and Alice are unable to talk on the


untrusted network.
–Who knows who’s listening?
Example

• Alice and Bob get public numbers


– P = 23, G = 9

• Alice and Bob compute public values


– X = 94 mod 23 = 6561 mod 23 = 6
– Y = 93 mod 23 = 729 mod 23 = 16

• Alice and Bob exchange public numbers


Example

• Alice and Bob compute symmetric keys


– ka = ya mod p = 164 mod 23 = 9
– kb = xb mod p = 63 mod 23 = 9
• Alice and Bob now can talk securely!
Applications

• Diffie-Hellman is currently used in many


protocols, namely:
– Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer
Security (TLS)
– Secure Shell (SSH)
– Internet Protocol Security (IPSec)
– Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
Conclusion

• Authenticated Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement


(1992)
– Defeats middleperson attack
• Diffie-Hellman POP Algorithm
– Enhances IPSec layer
• Diffie-Hellman continues to play large role in
secure protocol creation
Additional Sources

• http://www.sans.org/rr
/encryption/algorithm.php

• http://www.hack.gr/users/dij
/crypto/overview/index.html

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