ASSIGNMENT 3
Title: Implementation of Diffie-Hellman key exchange.
Problem Statement: To understand the implementation of Diffie-Hellman key exchange.
Objective: To learn the encryption and decryption of message using Diffie-Hellman key exchange
method.
Outcome: Students will learn the encryption and decryption of message using Diffie-Hellman key
exchange method.
S/W and H/W Requirements: Ubuntu 6.0 OS.
Theory:
Diffie-Hellman key exchange, also called exponential key exchange, is a method of digital encryption
that uses numbers raised to specific powers to produce decryption keys on the basis of components that
are never directly transmitted, making the task of a would-be code breaker mathematically
overwhelming.
To implement Diffie-Hellman, the two end users Alice and Bob, while communicating over a channel
they know to be private, mutually agree on positive whole numbers p and q, such that p is a prime
number and q is a generator of p. The generator q is a number that, when raised to positive whole-
number powers less than p, never produces the same result for any two such whole numbers. The value
of p may be large but the value of q is usually small.
Once Alice and Bob have agreed on p and q in private, they choose positive whole-number personal
keys a and b, both less than the prime-number modulus p. Neither user divulges their personal key to
anyone; ideally they memorize these numbers and do not write them down or store them anywhere.
Next, Alice and Bob compute public keys a* and b* based on their personal keys according to the
formulas
a* = qa mod p
and
b* = qb mod p
The two users can share their public keys a* and b* over a communications medium assumed to be
insecure, such as the internet or a corporate wide area network (WAN). From these public keys, a
number x can be generated by either user on the basis of their own personal keys. Alice computes x
using the formula,
x = (b*)a mod p
Bob computes x using the formula,
x = (a*)b mod p
The value of x turns out to be the same according to either of the above two formulas. However, the
personal keys a and b, which are critical in the calculation of x, have not been transmitted over a public
medium. Because it is a large and apparently random number, a potential hacker has almost no chance
of correctly guessing x, even with the help of a powerful computer to conduct millions of trials. The
two users can therefore, in theory, communicate privately over a public medium with an encryption
method of their choice using the decryption key x.
The most serious limitation of Diffie-Hellman in its basic or "pure" form is the lack of authentication.
Communications using Diffie-Hellman all by itself are vulnerable to man in the middle attacks. Ideally,
Diffie-Hellman should be used in conjunction with a recognized authentication method such as digital
signitures to verify the identities of the users over the public communications medium. Diffie-Hellman
is well suited for use in data communication but is less often used for data stored or archived over long
periods of time.
Step by Step Explanation:
Alice Bob
Public Keys available = P, G Public Keys available = P, G
Private Key Selected = a Private Key Selected = b
Key generated = Key generated =
Exchange of generated keys takes place
Key received = y key received = x
Generated Secret Key = Generated Secret Key =
Algebraically it can be shown that
Users now have a symmetric secret key to encrypt
Algorithm:
Step 1: Alice and Bob get public numbers P = 23, G = 9
Step 2: Alice selected a private key a = 4 and
Bob selected a private key b = 3
Step 3: Alice and Bob compute public values
Alice: x =(9^4 mod 23) = (6561 mod 23) = 6
Bob: y = (9^3 mod 23) = (729 mod 23) = 16
Step 4: Alice and Bob exchange public numbers
Step 5: Alice receives public key y =16 and
Bob receives public key x = 6
Step 6: Alice and Bob compute symmetric keys
Alice: ka = y^a mod p = 65536 mod 23 = 9
Bob: kb = x^b mod p = 216 mod 23 = 9
Step 7: 9 is the shared secret.
Advantages:
1: Sharing of secret key is safe.
2: Sender and reciever have no prior knowledge of each other.
3: Communication can take place through an insecure channel.
Disadvantages:
1: Cannot be used for asymmetric key exchange.
2: Cannot be used for signing digital signitures.
3: Susceptible to man in the middle attack.
Applications:
1: Trap door function.
2: IP security.
3: Secure Shell(SSH).
Test Cases:
Test case Expected output Actual output
Conclusion: Students will learn the encryption and decryption of message using Diffie-Hellman key
exchange method.
