Acronyms and Definitions
22
5 Acronyms and Definitions
The following table lists and describes the acronyms and definitions used throughout this document.
Table 7.
Acronyms and Definitions
Term
Definition
AES
Advanced Encryption Standard. A fast block cipher with a 128-bit block, and keys of lengths
128, 192, and 256 bits. Replaces DES as the US symmetric encryption standard.
API
Application Programming Interface.
Attack
Either a successful or unsuccessful attempt at breaking part or all of a cryptosystem. Various
attack types include an algebraic attack, birthday attack, brute force attack, chosen ciphertext
attack, chosen plaintext attack, differential cryptanalysis, known plaintext attack, linear
cryptanalysis, and middleperson attack.
CBC
Cipher Block Chaining. A mode of encryption in which each ciphertext depends upon all
previous ciphertexts. Changing the Initialization Vector (IV) alters the ciphertext produced by
successive encryptions of an identical plaintext.
CFB
Cipher Feedback. A mode of encryption that produces a stream of ciphertext bits rather than a
succession of blocks. In other respects, it has similar properties to the CBC mode of operation.
CRNG
Continuous Random Number Generation.
CTR
Counter mode of encryption that turns a block cipher into a stream cipher. It generates the next
keystream block by encrypting successive values of a counter.
DES
Data Encryption Standard. A symmetric encryption algorithm with a 56-bit key. See also Triple
DES.
Diffie-Hellman
The Diffie-Hellman asymmetric key exchange algorithm. There are many variants, but typically
two entities exchange some public information (for example, public keys or random values) and
combines them with their own private keys to generate a shared session key. As private keys
are not transmitted, eavesdroppers are not privy to all of the information that composes the
session key.
DSA
Digital Signature Algorithm. An asymmetric algorithm for creating digital signatures.
DRBG
Deterministic Random Bit Generator.
Dual ECDRBG
Dual Elliptic Curve Deterministic Random Bit Generator.
EC
Elliptic Curve.
ECAES
Elliptic Curve Asymmetric Encryption Scheme.
ECB
Electronic Codebook. A mode of encryption that divides a message into blocks and encrypts
each block separately.