Understanding Methods of Cryptanalytic Attacks
As you have seen, there are various ways that cryptography can be used to keep your data and systems secure. Encryption and verification continually develop as technology and methodology progress. But as defensive systems are becoming more powerful, attackers are finding new ways to break encryption systems. There are two basic forms of attacks on encryption to break a cipher. These are active and passive attacks. With an active attack, the hacker has access to the victim’s network or system. Such attacks make it more likely the attacker will be discovered. Passive attacks break encryption largely through MITM attacks away from systems the victim owns. Attackers can attack different components of encryption, for example, the cipher, key, algorithm, or message. Common encryption attacks follow, starting with brute force attacks:
- Brute force attack: When an attacker launches a brute force attack, they are going to try and...
