CPSA Cryptography Exam Questions
and Answers5
MAC (Message Authentication Code) - ANSWERS-keyd hash function
Digital Signature - ANSWERS-based on asymmetric key algorithm
symmetric vs asymmetric encryption - ANSWERS-shared key vs public/private key pair
block cipher modes - ANSWERS-ECB, CBC, CFB, OFB, CTR
Common encryption algorithms - ANSWERS-DES, 3DES, IDEA, RC4, RC5, AES, RSA
MD4 and MD5 bit length - ANSWERS-128 bits
SHA-1 bit length - ANSWERS-160
SHA-2 bit length - ANSWERS-224, 256, 384 or 512 bits
Birthday Attack - ANSWERS-Attack on hashing functions through brute force; attacker tries to
find two messages with the same hashing value (collision)
HMAC - ANSWERS-Hashed Message Authentication Code
Digital signature systems: RSA - ANSWERS-encrypts message hash with private key
, ElGamal digital signature - ANSWERS-rarely used in practice
digital signature standard (DSS) - ANSWERS-digital signature algorithm
What is a digital certificate? - ANSWERS-binds an identity to a public key
What is X.509? - ANSWERS-standard for public key certificate format
Password Hash Formats - ANSWERS-unix crypt; salted MD5; SQL Server; Windows LANMAN;
Windows NTLM
Encoded passwords - ANSWERS-Cisco Type 7: reversible algorithm
Password cracking techniques - ANSWERS-rainbow tables; brute forcing; dictionary attack
What is Diffie-Hellman? - ANSWERS-method of securely exchanging cryptographic keys over a
public channel
What is RSA? - ANSWERS-an asymmetric cryptographic algorithm
What is Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS)? - ANSWERS-encryption style which creates unique
session keys for each session initiated by the user
WEP encryption - ANSWERS-RC4 cipher with 24-bit IV; integrity: 32-bit CRC; no key management
What is TKIP? - ANSWERS-temporal key integrity protection; replacement for WEP
and Answers5
MAC (Message Authentication Code) - ANSWERS-keyd hash function
Digital Signature - ANSWERS-based on asymmetric key algorithm
symmetric vs asymmetric encryption - ANSWERS-shared key vs public/private key pair
block cipher modes - ANSWERS-ECB, CBC, CFB, OFB, CTR
Common encryption algorithms - ANSWERS-DES, 3DES, IDEA, RC4, RC5, AES, RSA
MD4 and MD5 bit length - ANSWERS-128 bits
SHA-1 bit length - ANSWERS-160
SHA-2 bit length - ANSWERS-224, 256, 384 or 512 bits
Birthday Attack - ANSWERS-Attack on hashing functions through brute force; attacker tries to
find two messages with the same hashing value (collision)
HMAC - ANSWERS-Hashed Message Authentication Code
Digital signature systems: RSA - ANSWERS-encrypts message hash with private key
, ElGamal digital signature - ANSWERS-rarely used in practice
digital signature standard (DSS) - ANSWERS-digital signature algorithm
What is a digital certificate? - ANSWERS-binds an identity to a public key
What is X.509? - ANSWERS-standard for public key certificate format
Password Hash Formats - ANSWERS-unix crypt; salted MD5; SQL Server; Windows LANMAN;
Windows NTLM
Encoded passwords - ANSWERS-Cisco Type 7: reversible algorithm
Password cracking techniques - ANSWERS-rainbow tables; brute forcing; dictionary attack
What is Diffie-Hellman? - ANSWERS-method of securely exchanging cryptographic keys over a
public channel
What is RSA? - ANSWERS-an asymmetric cryptographic algorithm
What is Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS)? - ANSWERS-encryption style which creates unique
session keys for each session initiated by the user
WEP encryption - ANSWERS-RC4 cipher with 24-bit IV; integrity: 32-bit CRC; no key management
What is TKIP? - ANSWERS-temporal key integrity protection; replacement for WEP
