What do most attacks on hash functions involve?

Question

A. Finding Collisions
B. Pre-generating millions of hashes and comparing them to the plain text that generates it.
C. Really good random guessing.

options:

A and B
A and B

A and C
A and C

B and C

Answer 1

Most attacks on hash functions primarily involve finding collisions, which refers to trying to find two different inputs that produce the same hash output. Therefore, option A (Finding Collisions) is a significant aspect of hash function attacks.

Pre-generating hashes (option B), such as through rainbow tables or other methods, is also a common attack strategy, especially when attackers want to reverse-engineer original values from their hashed representations by checking them against known precomputed values.

While good guessing (option C) can occur, it is generally less relevant compared to the systematic methods of attacks represented by A and B.

Given this analysis, the correct answer would be:

A and B

Answer 2

_____________ is the process of decrypting coded messages without being told the key.

options:

Cryptography
Cryptography

Cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis

Cryptology

Answer 3

The process of decrypting coded messages without being told the key is known as Cryptanalysis.

• Cryptography refers to the practice of designing secure communication systems and techniques for encoding messages.
• Cryptology is the broader study of both cryptography and cryptanalysis.

Therefore, the correct answer is:

Cryptanalysis

Answer 4

The practice of solving and writing encryptions is ______________.

options:

cryptology
cryptology

cryptanalysis
cryptanalysis

cryptography

Answer 5

The practice of solving and writing encryptions is referred to as cryptography.

• Cryptography involves the creation of secure communication methods, including designing encryption algorithms and writing the codes to protect information.
• Cryptanalysis is the practice of breaking or analyzing encrypted messages without having the decryption key.
• Cryptology is the broader field that encompasses both cryptography and cryptanalysis.

Therefore, the correct answer is:

cryptography

Answer 6

________________ is the output from any input that has been processed through a hashing algorithm/function.

options:

Digest
Digest

Collision
Collision

Firewalls

Answer 7

The output from any input that has been processed through a hashing algorithm/function is known as a Digest.

• A Digest is a fixed-size string of characters that represents the hashed version of the input data.
• A Collision refers to a situation in which two different inputs produce the same hash output, which is generally an undesired occurrence in a secure hashing function.
• Firewalls are network security devices that monitor and control incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules, and are not related to hashing.

Therefore, the correct answer is:

Digest

Answer 8

A general property of a good encryption is good encryptions are easy to encrypt but very hard to decrypt

options:

true or false

Answer 9

True.

A general property of a good encryption algorithm is that it should be easy to encrypt data (so that it can be processed efficiently), but very difficult to decrypt without the proper key or authorization. This principle helps ensure the security and confidentiality of the encrypted data.

Answer 10

The word hashing literally means to scramble.

true or false

Answer 11

False.

The word "hashing" does not literally mean to scramble. Instead, hashing refers to the process of transforming input data of any size into a fixed-size string of characters, which typically appears random. While the output may seem scrambled, the term "hashing" comes from the idea of taking a large amount of data and "hashing" it down into a smaller representation, similar to how a hash can refer to a mix or blend of ingredients in cooking. So, the statement is misleading.