cryptography
Let an agent explain cryptography and its main building blocks at a conceptual level, relay standards and recommendations from standards bodies, distinguish cryptography from related fields, and route implementation and security decisions to current standards and qualified practice rather than improvising.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent explain cryptography and its main building blocks at a conceptual level, relay standards and recommendations from standards bodies, distinguish cryptography from related fields, and route implementation and security decisions to current standards and qualified practice rather than improvising.
The practice and study of techniques for secure communication and data protection in the presence of adversaries, using encryption, digital signatures, hash functions and protocols built on mathematical hardness assumptions; modern cryptography underpins secure web traffic, payments, messaging and digital identity, and is governed by standards, export rules and research on new threats such as quantum computing.
What it is for: Confidentiality, integrity, authentication and non-repudiation of information.
It can be explain concepts and building blocks; relay standards and recommendations; distinguish cryptography from cryptanalysis, coding and steganography; route implementation choices to standards and experts.
Distinguishing features
Security defined against adversaries
Based on hardness assumptions
Standardised primitives and protocols
Continuous evolution against new attacks
What it looks like
Not visible; algorithms and protocols in software and hardware.
How it is recognised
Mathematical techniques for security against adversaries
Symmetric, asymmetric and hash primitives
Cryptocurrency mining and cybersecurity in general are related but distinct
Related models
is a kind of - a discipline within it
is contrasted with - the study of breaking ciphers
is used in - the application field
is standardised by - and other bodies
In practice
Families and kinds
symmetric encryption
public key cryptography and digital signatures
hash functions and message authentication
cryptographic protocols such as TLS
post-quantum cryptography
applied areas such as white-box cryptography and cryptovirology as research topics
Identifiers
standard identifiers FIPS and NIST SP numbers, RFC numbers for algorithms and protocols
Standards and regulation
NIST FIPS and SP 800 series
IETF RFCs for protocols such as TLS
ISO/IEC 18033 and related standards
Export control rules and national encryption laws
Failure modes and hazards
Home-made or misused algorithms
Weak keys and poor randomness
Deprecated algorithms still in use
Agents advising on operational attacks or bypassing protections
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Concept What cryptography is.
Definition.
Definition
Goals and primitives.
Definition
Definition.
- What are the goals of cryptography, and what primitives achieve them? definition
- Is the question about cryptography, cryptanalysis, cybersecurity or cryptocurrency? boundary
Assumptions
Hardness assumptions.
Assumptions
Assumptions.
- On what mathematical assumptions do modern schemes rest, and what is provable security? definition
- Which entry fits a specific primitive? action
Practice Standards and use.
Practice.
Standards
Standards.
Standards
Standards.
- Which standards and recommendations govern algorithm choice and key sizes? provenance
- Which entry fits a specific standard? action
Protocols
Protocols.
Protocols
Protocols.
- How do protocols such as TLS combine primitives, in general terms? provenance
- Is the user asking how to bypass a protection or attack a system, which the model declines? boundary
Threats Attacks and evolution.
Care.
Attacks
Classes of attack.
Attacks
Attacks.
- What classes of attack exist at a conceptual level, and why do algorithms get deprecated? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Quantum
Post-quantum transition.
Quantum
Quantum.
- How does quantum computing threaten current schemes, and what is the post-quantum transition? provenance
- Which entry fits post-quantum cryptography? action
Context Law, history and teaching.
Context.
Law
Law and policy.
Law
Law.
- What laws and debates surround encryption, export and lawful access, with positions attributed? provenance
- Is the presentation neutral? boundary
History
History.
History
History.
- How did cryptography develop from classical ciphers to public key systems? provenance
- Which entry fits the history of cryptography? action
What the second pass must settle
- Should each primitive be a separate entry?
- How should standards be linked by version?
- The registry entry has merged aliases for cryptocurrency mining and research subfields; should they be split off?