130 UNI T18 Data Security 1

SPECIALIST READING Safe Data Transfer

Secure transactions across the Internet have
Flnd the answers to these questions in the three goals. First, the two parties engaging in a
followingtext. transaction (say, an email or a business
purchase) don't want a third party to be able to
1 What does data encryption provide? read their transmission. Some form of data
a privacy encryption is necessary to prevent this. Second,
b integrity the receiver of the message should be able to
detect whether someone has tampered with it in
c authentication
transit. This calls for a message-integrity
2 A message encrypted with the recipient's scheme. Finally, both parties must know that
public key can only be decrypted with they're communicating with each other, not an
a the sender's private key impostor. This is done with user authentication.
b the sender's publickey Today's data encryption methods rely on a
c the recipient's privatekey technique called public-key cryptography.
3 What system is commonly used for Everyone using a public-key system has a public
encryption? key and a private key. Messages are encrypted
and decrypted with these keys. A message
4 What is the opposite of 'encrypt'?
encrypted with your public key can only be
5 A message-digest function is used to: decrypted by a system that knows your private
a authenticate a user key.
b create a MAC
For the system to work, two parties engaging in
c encrypt a message a secure transaction must know each other's
6 What information does a digital certificate public keys. Private keys, however, are closely
give to aclient? guarded secrets known only to their owners.
When I want to send you an encrypted message,

This shows the complex process that's required to send data three basic tenets of secure transfer: data encryption,
securely across open communication lines while satisfying the interference prevention, and user authentification.

Message- Message-
digest authentication
Public
Sender function code 2 The sender encrypts
the MAC with their
1 The sender takes a document and produces a message- private key.
authentication code (MAC) using a message-digest function.

3 The sender attaches the encrypted MAC to the document 4 When the recipient receives the document,
and encrypts both with the recipient's public key. they can decrypt it with their private key.

Sender

5 The recipient produces a local copy of the document's MAC

using the same message-digest function the sender used.

Recipient
Recipient 7 The recipient compares its local copy of the MAC to the
sender's unencrypted MAC. If the two match, then the recipient
6 The recipient decrypts the sender's knows the document hasn't been tampered with and that only
MAC using the sender's public key. the sender could have created the original message.
 UNIT 18 Data Security 1 131

I use your public key to turn my message into

gibberish. I know that only you can turn the Re-read the text to find the answers to
gibberish back into the original message, these questions.
because only you know your private key. Public-
key cryptography also works in reverse - that is, 1 Match the functions in Table 1 with the keys
only your public key can decipher your private in Table 2.
key's encryption.
To make a message tamper-proof (providing Table 1
message integrity), the sender runs each
message through a message-digest function. This a to encrypt a message for sending
function within an application produces a b to decrypt a received message
number called a message-authentication code
(MAC). The system works because it's almost c. to encrypt the MAC of a message
impossible for an altered message to have the
d. to encrypt the MAC of a digital signature
same MAC as another message. Also, you can't
take a MAC and turn it back into the original
message. Table 2
The software being used for a given exchange
i. sender's private key
produces a MAC for a message before it's
encrypted. Next, it encrypts the MAC with the ii. trusted issuer's private key
sender's private key. It then encrypts both the iii.the recipient's private key iv
message and the encrypted MAC with the
recipient's public key and sends the message. the recipient's public key
When the recipient gets the message and
decrypts it, they also get an encrypted MAC. The 2 Match the terms in Table A with the
software takes the message and runs it through statements in Table B.
the same message-digest function that the
sender used and creates its own MAC. Then it
Table A
decrypts the sender's MAC. If the two are the
same, then the message hasn't been tampered a. Gibberish
with.
b. Impostor
The dynamics of the Web dictate that a user-
authentication system must exist. This can be c. Decipher
done using digital certificates. d. MAC
A server authenticates itself to a client by e. Tenets
sending an unencrypted ASCII-based digital
certificate. A digital certificate contains f. Tamper
information about the company operating the
server, including the server's public key. The Table B
digital certificate is 'signed' by a trusted digital-
certificate issuer, which means that the issuer i Message-authentication code
has investigated the company operating the ii Principal features
server and believes it to be legitimate. If the
client trusts the issuer, then it can trust the iii. Meaningless data
server. The issuer 'signs' the certificate by iv. Person pretending to be someone else
generating a MAC for it, then encrypts the MAC
with the issuer's private key. If the client trusts v Make unauthorised changes
the issuer, then it already knows the issuer's vi Convert to meaningful data
public key.
The dynamics and standards of secure
transactions will change, but the three basic
tenets of secure transactions will remain the
same. If you understand the basics, then you're
already three steps ahead of everyone else. Additional exercises on page 129

[Jeff Downey, 'Power User Tutor', PC Magazine, August 1998]

 Answers

B1:
a- iv b- iii c- i d-ii

B2:
a- iii b- iv c- vi d- i e- ii f- v