RSA
/ˌɑːr-ɛs-ˈeɪ/
n. “Keys, math, and a little bit of trust.”
RSA is one of the most well-known public-key cryptosystems, named after its inventors Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman. Introduced in 1977, it allows secure communication over insecure channels without requiring the sender and receiver to share a secret key in advance. Instead, RSA uses a pair of mathematically linked keys: a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption.
Counter Mode
/ˌsiː-tiː-ˈɑːr/
n. “Turning blocks into streams, one counter at a time.”
Galois/Counter Mode
/ˌdʒiː-siː-ˈɛm/
n. “Authenticated encryption with speed and style.”
GCM, or Galois/Counter Mode, is a modern mode of operation for block ciphers that provides both confidentiality and data integrity. Unlike traditional encryption modes such as CBC, which only encrypts data, GCM combines encryption with authentication, ensuring that any tampering with the ciphertext can be detected during decryption.
Cipher Block Chaining
/ˌsiː-biː-ˈsiː/
n. “Chaining blocks like a linked chain of trust.”
CBC, or Cipher Block Chaining, is a mode of operation for block ciphers used in cryptography. It was designed to improve the security of block cipher encryption by ensuring that each block of plaintext is combined with the previous ciphertext block before being encrypted. This creates a “chain” effect where the encryption of each block depends on all previous blocks, making patterns in the plaintext less discernible in the ciphertext.
Browser Exploit Against SSL/TLS
/biːst/
n. “The cipher’s hungry monster that chews SSL/TLS.”
BEAST, short for Browser Exploit Against SSL/TLS, is a cryptographic attack discovered in 2011 that targeted vulnerabilities in the SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0 protocols. Specifically, it exploited weaknesses in the way block ciphers in Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) mode handled initialization vectors, allowing attackers to decrypt secure HTTPS cookies and potentially hijack user sessions.
POODLE
/ˈpuːdəl/
n. “The sneaky browser bite that ate SSL.”
POODLE, short for Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption, is a security vulnerability discovered in 2014 that exploited weaknesses in older versions of the SSL protocol, specifically SSL 3.0. It allowed attackers to decrypt sensitive information from encrypted connections by taking advantage of how SSL handled padding in block ciphers. Essentially, POODLE turned what was supposed to be secure, encrypted communication into something leak-prone.
Secure Sockets Layer
/ˌɛs-ɛs-ˈɛl/
n. “The grandparent of TLS, keeping secrets before it got serious.”
SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is the predecessor to TLS and was the original cryptographic protocol designed to secure communications over the internet. Developed by Netscape in the mid-1990s, SSL enabled encrypted connections between clients and servers, protecting sensitive information like passwords, credit card numbers, and private messages from eavesdropping or tampering.
Transport Layer Security
/ˌtiː-ɛl-ˈɛs/
n. “Encrypts it so nobody can peek while it travels.”
TLS, or Transport Layer Security, is the cryptographic protocol that ensures data transmitted over networks remains private, authentic, and tamper-proof. It evolved from the older SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocols and has become the foundation of secure communication on the internet. Websites, email servers, VPNs, and numerous other networked services rely on TLS to protect sensitive information like passwords, credit card numbers, and personal communications.