Compare and contrast a conventional signature and a digital signature.
Answer
Basic Digital signature can be visualised as an electronic "fingerprint", that is
encrypted and identifies the person's identity who actually signed it.
Electronic signature could be any symbol, image, process attached to the message or
document signifies the signer's identity and act an consent on it.
Authentication mechanism Certificate-based digital ID Verifies signers identity
through email, phone PIN, etc.
Used for Securing a document. Verifying a document.
Validation Performed by trusted certificate authorities or trust service providers. No
specific validation process.
Security Highly secure Vulnerable to tampering
List the security services provided by a digital signature.
Answer
The three core security services provided by digital signatures are:
Signer authentication. Proof of who actually signed the document i.e. digital
signatures linking the user's signature to an actual identifiable entity.
Data integrity. Proof that the document has not been changed.
Non-repudiation.
Compare and contrast attacks on digital signatures with attacks on cryptosystems.
Answer
Attacks on digital signatures:
Following are the three types of attacks that are attempted against the digital signature:
Chosen Message Attack: The attacker tricks the genuine user into digitally signing a Message
that the user does not normally intend to sign. As a result, the attacker gets a pair of the
original message that was signed and the digital signature. using this, the attacker tries to
create a new message that she wants a genuine user to sign and uses the previous signature
Known Message Attack: In this type of attack, the attacker obtains some messages that the
user sends and a key to create a new fault message and forge of the user.
Key only Attack: In this type of attack, it is assumed that the user name some information
public and the attacker try to misuse this public information. Attackers try to create the user.
RSA and digital signature.
Attacks on cryptosystems:
Attacks are typically categorized based on the action performed by the attacker. An attack,
thus, can be passive or active.
Compare and contrast existential and selective forgery.
Answer
In a cryptographic digital signature or MAC system, digital signature forgery is the ability to
create a pair consisting of a message, m, and a signature, \sigma, that is valid for m, but has
not been created in the past by the legitimate signer. There are different types of forgery.
Existential forgery is a weak message related forgery against a cryptographic digital signature
scheme. Existential forgery defines the outcome of an attack, not the way how or how often
the attacker can interact with the attacked signer while the attack is performed .
Define the RSA digital signature scheme and compare it to the RSA cryptosystem.
Answer
RSA idea is also used for signing and verifying a message it is called RSA digital signature
scheme. The verifier compares the message and the output of the function for congruence. If
the result is two true the message is accepted.
Define the ElGamal scheme and compare it to the RSA scheme.
Answer
RSA and ElGamal both use asymmetric key techniques. The fundamental difference lies in
the number of variables used. RSA uses two variables during encryption while ElGamal uses
three variables. The RSA algorithm's strength is at the difficulty level in factoring the
numbers into a prime factor.
Define the Schnorr scheme and compare it to the ElGamal scheme.
Answer
In cryptography, a Schnorr signature is a digital signature produced by the Schnorr signature
algorithm that was described by Claus Schnorr. It is a digital signature scheme known for its
simplicity, is efficient and generates short signatures. It is one of the protocols used to
implement “Proof Of Knowledge”.
In cryptography, the ElGamal encryption system is an asymmetric key encryption algorithm
for public-key cryptography which is based on the Diffie–Hellman key exchange. It was
described by Taher Elgamal in 1985.
Define the DSS scheme and compare it with the ElGamal and the Schnorr schemes.
Answer
Digital Signature Standard (DSS) is a Federal Information Processing Standard(FIPS) which
defines algorithms that are used to generate digital signatures with the help of Secure Hash
Algorithm(SHA) for the authentication of electronic documents.
In cryptography, a Schnorr signature is a digital signature produced by the Schnorr signature
algorithm that was described by Claus Schnorr. It is a digital signature scheme known for its
simplicity, is efficient and generates short signatures. It is one of the protocols used to
implement “Proof Of Knowledge”.
In cryptography, the ElGamal encryption system is an asymmetric key encryption algorithm
for public-key cryptography which is based on the Diffie–Hellman key exchange. It was
described by Taher Elgamal in 1985.
Define the elliptic curve digital signature scheme and compare it to the elliptic curve
cryptosystem.
Answer
Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) is a Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA)
which uses keys derived from elliptic curve cryptography (ECC). While functionally
providing the same outcome as other digital signing algorithms, because ECDSA is based on
the more efficient elliptic curve cryptography, ECDSA requires smaller keys to provide
equivalent security and is therefore more efficient.
Mention three variations of digital signatures discussed in this chapter and briefly state the
purpose of each.
Answer
Based on the assurance it offers, eIDAS recognizes three types:
Simple or Basic electronic signature (SES)
Advanced electronic or digital signature (AES)
Qualified advanced electronic or digital signature (QES)
