Cryptography Essay and Calculations

Learning Outcomes tested by this assignment: 1. define and explain the meaning of a range of terms in cryptology 2. demonstrate a thorough understanding of, as well as critically analyse, algorithms for private-key and public-key ciphers, digital signatures and authentication; 3. analyse critically the merits of various strategies for key management and key exchange and demonstrate a keen awareness of the additional complexities imposed by the need for effective practical protocols; 4. use appropriate mathematical techniques that underpin cryptology and associated technologies with confidence Scenario (This is a fictitious scenario.) An environmental charity wants to monitor the usage of electricity, gas and water by homes remotely for forecasting and predictive purposes. It has a central HQ in London, and has signed up a number of volunteers throughout the UK. The volunteers will log into a Web-based system at monthly intervals to complete a survey of their usage of utilities and other factors. The web-based service is hosted by a different company and employees of the charity log into the same web-based system as well, in order to extract the recorded data at regular intervals. The charity employs a web developer who maintains the site. Task 1: Password Storage Description (1200 words) (LO 1, 2, 4) Your task is to describe clearly one secure mechanism by which passwords could be stored on the web server, so that a person who is able to get hold of the information stored in the password database stored on the server nevertheless cannot obtain the actual password without considerable effort. You should also try to estimate the length of time this would take an attacker to obtain a password from the file, given reasonable (and researched) assumptions that you make. You should assume that this is for the passwords INITIALLY set by the charity and not for passwords selected by the user later. Ensure you define and describe cryptographic terms you use. Task 2: Password Distribution and Password Security (1200 words) (LO 3) (a) Devise a good mechanism to allow passwords and usernames to be distributed to the volunteer users. Discuss the security implications of your mechanism. (b) Then, assuming that the users can change these initial passwords to ‘something more memorable’ while they are on the web site, describe some computer implementable rules (NB you do not have to produce an implementation) that would help ensure that the new password was a good password. Harvard Referencing Format with Min. of 20 references ( it cannot contain only online sources - will need books and articles ) Budget 20$