.NET Security and Cryptography

Cryptanalytic Attacks

There is an accepted terminology used to categorize the various possible types of cryptanalytic attacks. The following types of attacks are listed in order from hardest to easiest in terms of analytical difficulty, but from most likely to least likely in terms of the probability of the opportunity being presented to the attacker. This is not an exhaustive list, but it gives a basic overview of the most important types of attacks.

• Ciphertext-only attack: Attacker has only some randomly selected ciphertext.

• Known plaintext attack: Attacker has some randomly selected plaintext and corresponding ciphertext.

• Chosen plaintext attack: Attacker has some chosen plaintext and corresponding ciphertext.

• Chosen ciphertext attack: Attacker ...