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Two researchers have improved a well-known technique for lattice basis reduction, opening up new avenues for practical experiments in cryptography and mathematics. In our increasingly digital lives, ...

A formula used to turn ordinary data, or "plaintext," into a secret coded message known as "ciphertext." The ciphertext can reside in storage or travel over unsecure networks without its contents ...

Members can download this article in PDF format. In the last two articles, we covered the basic concepts and two basic types of cryptography. In this article, we will look at specific implementation ...

A proprietary algorithm developed by RSA Data Security, Inc., RC2 is an alternative to DES. The algorithm expands a single message by up to 8 bytes. RC2 is a block cipher that encrypts data in blocks ...

Algorithms for encrypting computer data come in two main varieties: symmetric and asymmetric. Each encryption type has inherent strengths and weaknesses. Symmetric algorithms convert plain-text data ...

In the last section we discussed the potential for optimizing algorithms, which can be done, but sometimes may not result in the type of performance required. As was mentioned, you can always move the ...

Researchers have solved one aspect of the discrete logarithm problem. This is considered to be one of the 'holy grails' of algorithmic number theory, on which the security of many cryptographic ...

In 1994, a Bell Labs mathematician named Peter Shor cooked up an algorithm with frightening potential. By vastly reducing the computing resources required to factor large numbers—to break them down ...