Lecture

Secure Communications: TLS and Security Protocols

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In course

COM-401: Cryptography and security

This course introduces the basics of cryptography. We review several types of cryptographic primitives, when it is safe to use them and how to select the appropriate security parameters. We detail how they work and sketch how they can be implemented. ...

Description

This lecture covers the setup of secure channels and secure communications, focusing on the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol. It discusses the use of block ciphers, padding oracle attacks, security properties of communication channels, session integrity, and fair termination problems. The instructor explains synchronization protocols like Keep-in-Touch (KiT) and their security implications. Additionally, it explores the history of TLS versions, cipher suites, key exchanges, and the TLS 1.3 protocol. Various applications of secure communications are presented, including Personal Area Network setup, Voice over IP using ZRTP, P2P PGP channel setup, and disaster recovery scenarios.

Instructor

Serge Vaudenay

Serge Vaudenay entered at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in 1989 with a major in mathematics. He earned his agrégation (secondary teaching degree) in mathematics in 1992, then a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Paris 7 - Denis Diderot in 1995. He subsequently became a senior research fellow at the CNRS, prior to being granted his habilitation à diriger des recherches (a postdoctoral degree authorizing the recipient to supervise doctoral students). In 1999, he was appointed as a Professor at the EPFL, where he created the Security and Cryptography Laboratory.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Computer engineering

Computer security: Public-key cryptography

Related concepts (32)

Block cipher

In cryptography, a block cipher is a deterministic algorithm that operates on fixed-length groups of bits, called blocks. Block ciphers are the elementary building blocks of many cryptographic protocols. They are ubiquitous in the storage and exchange of data, where such data is secured and authenticated via encryption. A block cipher uses blocks as an unvarying transformation. Even a secure block cipher is suitable for the encryption of only a single block of data at a time, using a fixed key.

Key management

Key management refers to management of cryptographic keys in a cryptosystem. This includes dealing with the generation, exchange, storage, use, crypto-shredding (destruction) and replacement of keys. It includes cryptographic protocol design, key servers, user procedures, and other relevant protocols. Key management concerns keys at the user level, either between users or systems. This is in contrast to key scheduling, which typically refers to the internal handling of keys within the operation of a cipher.

Secure Shell

The Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network. Its most notable applications are remote login and command-line execution. SSH applications are based on a client–server architecture, connecting an SSH client instance with an SSH server. SSH operates as a layered protocol suite comprising three principal hierarchical components: the transport layer provides server authentication, confidentiality, and integrity; the user authentication protocol validates the user to the server; and the connection protocol multiplexes the encrypted tunnel into multiple logical communication channels.

Multi-factor authentication

Multi-factor authentication (MFA; two-factor authentication, or 2FA, along with similar terms) is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence (or factors) to an authentication mechanism. MFA protects personal data—which may include personal identification or financial assets—from being accessed by an unauthorized third party that may have been able to discover, for example, a single password.

Mutual authentication

Mutual authentication or two-way authentication (not to be confused with two-factor authentication) refers to two parties authenticating each other at the same time in an authentication protocol. It is a default mode of authentication in some protocols (IKE, SSH) and optional in others (TLS). Mutual authentication is a desired characteristic in verification schemes that transmit sensitive data, in order to ensure data security. Mutual authentication can be accomplished with two types of credentials: usernames and passwords, and public key certificates.

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