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Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Are ratios the same as fractions?

    We often write ratios as fractions, especially to help us to do the math, but are they the same as fractions? Generally ratios are best written as fractions when the second term, called the consequent term, is the total of the set. For example, if we have 8 apples and 12 oranges, our ratio of…

  • Ratios, Fractions, & Percentages

    As we discussed in ratios for kids, ratios can be written as fractions. We can do this to help reduce ratios to their simplest form. Here’s an example of using fractions to help reduce the ratio: Reduce the ratio 6:72 to its simplest form 6:72 can be written as the fraction 6/726/72 can be reduced to 3/36…

  • Hierarchy of CA

    With vast networks and requirements of global communications, it is practically not feasible to have only one trusted CA from whom all users obtain their certificates. Secondly, availability of only one CA may lead to difficulties if CA is compromised. In such case, the hierarchical certification model is of interest since it allows public key…

  • Certifying Authority (CA)

    As discussed above, the CA issues certificate to a client and assist other users to verify the certificate. The CA takes responsibility for identifying correctly the identity of the client asking for a certificate to be issued, and ensures that the information contained within the certificate is correct and digitally signs it. Key Functions of…

  • Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)

    PKI provides assurance of public key. It provides the identification of public keys and their distribution. An anatomy of PKI comprises of the following components. Digital Certificate For analogy, a certificate can be considered as the ID card issued to the person. People use ID cards such as a driver’s license, passport to prove their…

  • Public Key Infrastructure

    The most distinct feature of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is that it uses a pair of keys to achieve the underlying security service. The key pair comprises of private key and public key. Since the public keys are in open domain, they are likely to be abused. It is, thus, necessary to establish and maintain…

  • Importance of Digital Signature

    Out of all cryptographic primitives, the digital signature using public key cryptography is considered as very important and useful tool to achieve information security. Apart from ability to provide non-repudiation of message, the digital signature also provides message authentication and data integrity. Let us briefly see how this is achieved by the digital signature −…

  • Cryptography Digital signatures

    Digital signatures are the public-key primitives of message authentication. In the physical world, it is common to use handwritten signatures on handwritten or typed messages. They are used to bind signatory to the message. Similarly, a digital signature is a technique that binds a person/entity to the digital data. This binding can be independently verified…

  • Message Authentication

    In the last chapter, we discussed the data integrity threats and the use of hashing technique to detect if any modification attacks have taken place on the data. Another type of threat that exist for data is the lack of message authentication. In this threat, the user is not sure about the originator of the message.…

  • Whirlpool

    This is a 512-bit hash function. Applications of Hash Functions There are two direct applications of hash function based on its cryptographic properties. Password Storage Hash functions provide protection to password storage. Data Integrity Check Data integrity check is a most common application of the hash functions. It is used to generate the checksums on…

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