When cryptographers hear the name Keccak, they almost invariably think of the SHA-3 hash function. While it certainly excels at that role, thinking of Keccak as just another hash algorithm is like thinking of a powerful engine as being useful only f…
In the world of physical security, intuition tells us that adding more locks makes something safer. If one lock is good, two must be better. It’s a simple, comforting logic. So, when the original DES cipher with its 56-bit key began to show its age,…
When single DES was on its way out, the world needed a replacement, and it needed it fast. The result was Triple DES (3DES), a clever stopgap that gave the aging algorithm a new lease on life. But looking at its structure, one detail has always seem…
Every legendary fortress, no matter how imposing, has its quirks—a hidden passage, a strange echo, a gate that doesn't quite latch perfectly. The Data Encryption Standard (DES), for all its historical strength, was no different. Beyond the major…
For decades, a subtle but devastating vulnerability haunted an entire generation of hash functions, from the infamous MD5 to the widely used SHA-1 and SHA-2. This vulnerability, known as the 'length extension attack', wasn't a flaw in th…
In the precise and deterministic world of blockchain, details matter. For developers working with Ethereum, one of the most common points of confusion lies with a seemingly simple function: the hash. Many believe that Ethereum uses SHA3-256, the mod…
The genius of Keccak, the algorithm behind the SHA-3 standard, lies not just in its elegant Sponge Construction but in the powerful engine at its heart: the Keccak-f permutation. This function is a masterclass in cryptographic design, a mathematical…