From 61f8a76bd6abf755cdd98827abd878ff87147a1a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Tammi L. Coles" Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2023 17:39:16 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] simplify AEAD language, correct punctuation of footnote --- book/source/03-cryptography.md | 8 ++++---- 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/book/source/03-cryptography.md b/book/source/03-cryptography.md index 57e8284..dac0b15 100644 --- a/book/source/03-cryptography.md +++ b/book/source/03-cryptography.md @@ -59,15 +59,15 @@ Where symmetric keys are used in OpenPGP for data encryption, they are called ei ### Authenticated encryption with associated data (AEAD) -[Authenticated encryption](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authenticated_encryption) is a class of cryptographic schemes that gives additional guarantees besides confidentiality. +[Authenticated encryption](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authenticated_encryption) offers more than just confidentiality; it ensures data integrity too. -In OpenPGP version 6, AEAD was introduced as a successor to the MDC[^MDC] mechanism. AEAD is a common mechanism to solve the problem of "malleability": In past versions of the OpenPGP protocol, some malicious changes to ciphertext were undetectable. AEAD protects against undetected changes of ciphertext. +In OpenPGP version 6, AEAD replaced the MDC[^MDC] mechanism to address malleability. In earlier OpenPGP versions, malicious alterations to ciphertext might go unnoticed. AEAD guards against such undetected changes. [^MDC]: In OpenPGP version 4, a mechanism called MDC (Modification Detection Code) was introduced to serve a comparable purpose as AEAD. While MDC is a non-standard mechanism, as of this writing, there are no known attacks against the scheme. -Protecting against malleability counters a variation of the EFAIL[^efail] attack. +By addressing the malleability problem, AEAD also counters a variation of the EFAIL[^efail] attack. -[^efail]: A variation of the [EFAIL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFAIL) attack can be prevented by both the MDC and AEAD mechanisms. Also see ["No, PGP is not broken, not even with the Efail vulnerabilities"](https://proton.me/blog/pgp-vulnerability-efail), especially the section "Malleability Gadget Exfiltration Channel Attack". +[^efail]: A variation of the [EFAIL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFAIL) attack can be prevented by both the MDC and AEAD mechanisms. Also see ["No, PGP is not broken, not even with the Efail vulnerabilities,"](https://proton.me/blog/pgp-vulnerability-efail) especially the section "Malleability Gadget Exfiltration Channel Attack." ## Public-key, or asymmetric cryptography