Cryptography works, but needs a system-wide view

Keith Martin
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Keith Martin: Information Security Group, UK

Cyber Security: A Peer-Reviewed Journal, 2023, vol. 7, issue 1, 73-81

Abstract: Cryptography lies at the heart of most cyber security technologies, providing the core security services that enable notions of security to be constructed in cyberspace. Cryptographic algorithms are based on mathematics and increasingly subjected to such demanding levels of scrutiny that established cryptographic algorithms rarely fail from a theoretical perspective. Cryptography exists, however, to support practical information systems. It is thus necessary to take a system-wide view when assessing the effectiveness of cryptography in delivering security in cyberspace. This paper considers the wider system within which cryptography is deployed, identifying the most common points of failure, where even use of strong cryptographic algorithms may fail to deliver intended security. The paper also discusses the possible impacts of some future developments. The core message is that cryptography works, but only if the wider system in which it is deployed is given full consideration.

Keywords: cryptography; cryptographic algorithms; key management; Snowden revelations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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