Symmetric Cryptography
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Video Transcription
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>> Hello. We talked about
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the basic elements of cryptography,
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and in the last section we talked about algorithms.
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We said that algorithms are
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the math functions that are used to provide
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the substitution from plaintext to ciphertext,
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and then we said an algorithm
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>> has to be used with the key
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>> because a key provides
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the instructions on how to
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use the mouth of the algorithm.
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Now we're going to talk about two different types of
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cryptography: symmetric and asymmetric.,
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and these terms refer to the key that is used.
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It has to do with what key is,
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how you get the key, and how you
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use the key, and so forth.
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The first type we're going to talk
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about is symmetric cryptography.
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With symmetric cryptography,
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the same key is used by both parties.
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Encrypt data with that key and when you get it,
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you have to decrypt it with the same key.
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It's like your house key you, use it to
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lock the door and unlock the door.
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Now let's take a look at some of
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the drawbacks to symmetric cryptography.
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It's really important with symmetric cryptography that
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we find a way to securely distribute the keys.
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Let's say I need a person to watch my dogs
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this weekend and you offer to do it.
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I have two puppies and a 14-year-old dog.
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As you can imagine the 14-year-old dog
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is not amused by the puppies at all,
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but anyway the problem is that I
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need to find a way to give my house key to you.
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I could hide it under my little garden or
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my front porch, but that's not secure.
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How can I get it to you in a secure fashion?
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The most secure way is to walk
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over and give it to you in-person,
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but that's not practical.
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Since I will be giving you the key in
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a different environment that are normal communications,
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we call this an out-of-band key distribution.
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That's one of the downsides of symmetric cryptography.
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Symmetric cryptography is usually
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pretty easy to understand
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because most of the logs we work with in
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our lives use symmetric cryptography.
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The hardest thing about symmetric cryptography
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is to remember all the different names it can go by;
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secret key, private key,
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shared key, or in some cases session key.
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Now going back to my need for a dog walker, Let's see,
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I've chosen one person to walk my dogs,
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and let's see that I do find a way to
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get that person the key security.
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As long as we're both trustworthy, it can work.
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Next, let's say we decide
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we're going to join in dogs and in club,
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and at any given moment you could ask one of
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us to come over that evening and walk your dogs.
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They would be able to do it because we are
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all going to share our house keys.
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Everyone would have everyone's house key.
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Can you imagine how many
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keys we would have to keep up with?
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That's just not possible, that's crazy.
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Well, that's the second problem
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is symmetric cryptography.
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As your numbers increase you need a key for
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each communication channel but
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also they need a key for each communication channel,
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so this is not a solution that scales well.
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Then the other problem with
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symmetric cryptography is that
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it does not provide non repudiation.
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Remember when we talked about pain and
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the security services you want with
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cryptography: privacy,
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authenticity, integrity, and non-repudiation,
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we said that those are security systems
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that we want with cryptography.
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Well, the only one of those services that you get
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with symmetric cryptography is privacy.
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There is nothing that guarantees
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non-repudiation because the key is shared.
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If you and I share a key to
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some data and that data gets leaked to media,
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I can only say that you leaked
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it because we both share the same key.
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Or as another example,
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if you and I share a locker
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>> in the back of the classroom
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>> and one of us leaves a [inaudible] damage
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in the locker over the weekend,
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even though we all know it was me I could
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see it was you because we share the same logger.
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With all the issues in symmetric cryptography,
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why do we even talk about it?
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Because it's fast.
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We want speed, so just put
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it in the back of your mind for future use
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that we want to send bulk data with
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symmetric cryptography due to its speed.
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