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What is Cryptanalysis? Types of Cryptanalysis Attacks

Before we get into the details of Cryptanalysis, it’s better to understand the term “cipher”

Cipher

Ciphers also termed Encryption Algorithms are systems that are used to encrypt or decrypt data.

Cipher converts the original text popularly known as Plaintext, into cipher text using the key to determine how it is done and processed.

Points to Ponder:

What is Cryptanalysis?
What is Cryptology?
Who are cryptanalysts?
Roles and Responsibilities of a Cryptanalyst
How does Cryptanalysis work?
Who uses Cryptanalysis?
What is a Cryptanalytic attack?
Cryptanalysis techniques and attacks
Difference between Cryptography and Cryptanalysis
Conclusion

Do watch this youtube video, to get a gist of the topic.

What is Cryptanalysis?

Cryptanalysis is the art of study which is an emulsion of exercise and practice of decrypting and analyzing ciphers, codes, and encrypted text and messages without the use of a key.
It assumes that the professionals in the field of mathematics, science, and cryptoanalysis are unaware of the process and lack the key used for encryption and decryption.
It is also a means of examining the plain text content of communication when you do not have access to the decryption key.

What is Cryptology?

Cryptology is the mathematics that underpins cryptography and cryptanalysis, such as number theory and formula and algorithm application. Because the principles of cryptanalysis are highly specialized and advanced, this talk will concentrate on some of the essential mathematical concepts underlying cryptography, as well as recent applications.

Data must be transformed in such a way that an unauthorized individual cannot understand its real meaning in order to be secure for storage or transfer. To do this, security systems and software use mathematical equations that are extremely difficult to solve unless certain conditions are met. The difficulty of solving a specific equation is known as its intractability. These equations form the foundation of cryptology.

Who are cryptanalysts?

Codes are deciphered by cryptanalysts. The term “cryptanalysis” is derived from the Greek words kryptós (meaning “hidden”) and analein (meaning “analysis”) (meaning “to analyze”). As a cryptanalyst, you are in charge of decoding or decrypting data to understand hidden signals, even if you do not have the encryption key.

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Roles and Responsibilities of a Cryptanalyst

As a cryptanalyst, you will investigate ciphers, codes, and encryption systems in order to understand how they work and gain access to data that would otherwise be hard to read.

Tasks and responsibilities:

The particular responsibilities you will have as a cryptanalyst will vary depending on the company and organization for which you work.

The following are some real-world cryptanalyst positions and responsibilities:

Data collection, processing, and analysis
Investigate jumbled intercepts
Use encrypted materials
Debug software applications
Discover weaknesses in cryptography algorithms.
Make new tools for cryptanalysis.
Create tactics for taking advantage of computer network weaknesses.

How does Cryptanalysis work?

While the purpose of cryptanalysis is to detect weaknesses in or otherwise defeat cryptographic algorithms, cryptographers employ cryptanalysts’ research findings to improve, strengthen, or replace flawed techniques. Cryptology, or the mathematical study of codes, ciphers, and associated algorithms, encompasses both cryptanalysis, which focuses on deciphering encrypted data, and cryptography, which focuses on developing and improving encryption ciphers and other methods.

Researchers may discover attack methods that completely break an encryption algorithm, allowing ciphertext encrypted using that algorithm to be decrypted without requiring access to the encryption key. Often, cryptanalytic results show faults in the design or implementation of the method, lowering the number of keys that must be tried on the target ciphertext.

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Who uses Cryptanalysis?

Cryptanalysis is used by a wide range of organizations, including governments attempting to decrypt the confidential communications of other countries; companies developing security products that use cryptanalysts to test their security features; and hackers, crackers, and independent researchers, and academicians looking for flaws in cryptographic protocols and algorithms.
The continual conflict between cryptographers attempting to safeguard information and cryptanalysts attempting to break cryptosystems propels the entire body of cryptology knowledge forward.

What is a Cryptanalytic attack?

To determine a cryptographic system’s weak points, it must be attacked. They are known as cryptanalytic assaults. The attacks are dependent on the algorithm’s nature as well as knowledge of the general qualities of the plaintext, which can be a traditional English document or Java code. As a result, the nature of the plaintext should be known before attempting to use the attacks.

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Cryptanalysis techniques and attacks

Known-Plaintext Analysis (KPA): Some plaintext-ciphertext combinations are previously known in this type of attack. In order to find the encryption key, the attacker maps them. This assault is easy to carry out because a large amount of information is already available.
Chosen-Plaintext Analysis (CPA): The attacker selects random plaintexts, obtains the ciphertexts, and attempts to decrypt the message. It is as straightforward to implement as KPA, but its success rate is much lower.
Ciphertext-Only Analysis (COA): In this sort of attack, the attacker only has some ciphertext and attempts to decrypt the encryption key and plaintext using only the ciphertext. It is the most complex to implement, but it is also the most vulnerable to attack due to the fact that it merely requires ciphertext.
Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack: This type of attack involves the attacker intercepting the message/key passed between two communicating parties across a secure channel.
ACPA (Adaptive Chosen-Plaintext Analysis) is a similar attack to CPA. Following the acquisition of ciphertexts for certain messages, the attacker demands ciphertexts for more plaintexts.

Difference between Cryptography and Cryptanalysis

Cryptography is used to disguise information, particularly via an unprotected route or transmission method. Most messages, including bank interactions and email correspondence, are now sent via the internet. As a result, message security is essential. This technique converts a plaintext (message to be conveyed) message to a ciphertext message using encryption techniques. Decryption is the process of converting plaintext to ciphertext.

Cryptanalysis is a method of converting ciphertext to plaintext. An unauthorized individual attempts to decode the communication by listening in on the unsecured connection. It is also known as code-breaking. This person is not bound by any rules. He may obtain in any manner.

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Conclusion

That is, in a nutshell, what cryptanalysis is. Instead of being a direct attack, it works more like a tool. But if it starts and facilitates an attack, then it counts as an attack. The cryptanalyst gets a little bit more information at each level of the game until they reach the payload: the decryption of your secrets. Once the attacker is aware of your secrets, a whole new set of potential attacks and exploits are open to them.

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