Description
In this exercise, you will assume the role of a cryptanalyst and attempt to break a cryptographic
system composed of the two Python scripts EncryptForFun.py and DecryptForFun.py described
in Section 2.11 in Lecture 2. As you will recall, the script EncryptForFun.py can be used for
encrypting a message file while the script DecryptForFun.py recovers that message from the
ciphertext produced with the previous script. Both these scripts can be found on the ECE 404
webpage for the Lecture Notes (click on the “download code” tab for Lecture 2).
Problem
With the parameter BLOCKSIZE set to 16, the script EncryptForFun.py produces the following
ciphertext for a plaintext message that is a quote from Douglas Adams:
3c2b223a71277173636930742f6c296b33702e2a7d127b086b146c09721821083d092c112
645265e7b202574126f147c0b690b3d392d2b342b40
all in one line. You can assume that the passphrase stays the same (that is, the passphrase is
“Hopes and dreams of a million years”).
Your job is to recover both the original quote and the encryption key by mounting a
brute-force attack on the encryption/decryption algorithms.
HINT 1: The correctly decrypted message should contain the words Douglas Adams.
HINT 2: The logic used in the scripts assumes that the effective key size is 16 bits when the
BLOCKSIZE variable is set to 16. So your brute-force attack needs to search through a keyspace
of size 216
.
Instructions
• To accomplish this, you need to implement the following function:
1 def cryptBreak(ciphertextFile, key_bv):
2 # Arguments:
3 # * ciphertextFile: String containing file name of the ciphertext
4 # * key_bv: 16-bit BitVector for the decryption key
5 #
6 # Function Description:
7 # Attempts to decrypt the ciphertext within ciphertextFile file using
key_bv and returns the original plaintext as a string
• The function must be implemented and saved in a file named cryptBreak.py.
• This function must be implemented to decrypt the message for a single key and not to
perform complete brute force analysis – the brute force analysis must be done within the
code’s main function/statement or in a separate Python file by importing cryptBreak.py
into that file.
• Note that the string returned by the above function may or not may not be the correct
plaintext since the correct key bv is unknown. Therefore to determine the correct value for
key bv, you will need to brute force all possible values for key bv and check the returned
string to find the right one.
• You need to submit only the cryptBreak.py file which will be auto-graded – hence make
sure that the cryptBreak.py file does not run the entire brute force analysis or any other
routine when imported.
Example of Usage
Below is an example of how your implemented function could be used – if your function is
implemented correctly, the following code snippet should run without any errors:
1 import cryptBreak
2 from BitVector import *
3 someRandomInteger = 9999 #Arbitrary integer for creating a BitVector
4 key_bv = BitVector(intVal=someRandomInteger, size=16)
5 decryptedMessage = cryptBreak.cryptBreak(’encrypted.txt’, key_bv)
6 if ’Douglas Adams’ is in decryptedMessage:
7 print(’Encryption Broken!’)
8 else:
9 print(’Not decrypted yet’)
To submit your work, please read the following two sections for instructions.
Failure to follow these instructions may result in loss of points!.
Submission Instructions
• For this assignment, you will electronically submit your work (see the Electronic Turn-In
section below for more info).
• In your program file, include a header as described on the ECE 404 Homework Page
(https://engineering.purdue.edu/ece404/homework.htm)
• As mentioned previously, put the code for your brute force analysis in an
if __name__ == “__main__” statement (assuming you are using Python) so your test code
won’t be executed when cryptBreak function is imported.
• If using Python, please denote the Python version in your code with a shebang line (e.g.
#!/usr/bin/env python2)
• If for whatever reason BitVector is not available for Python 3 on the ECN machines, you can
use the following command to install it on your ECN account:
pip3 install –user BitVector
• Note: This homework assignment is not the same as the one at the end of the Lecture Note
2. Please do not solve and turn in the homework assignments from the Lecture Notes – they
will not be accepted.
Electronic Turn-In
• You must turn in two files electronically. Do not turn in files other than those listed below.
Your submission must include:
– The file containing your cryptBreak implementation
– A pdf containing:
∗ The recovered plaintext quote
∗ The recovered encryption key
∗ A brief explanation of your code
• We will be using the turnin command on your shay machines (shay.ecn.purdue.edu) to submit
the homework electronically. You can use ThinLinc, Putty (on Windows) or the ssh command
(on Linux) to access your shay machine remotely.
• To actually get your homework files onto your shay machine, you can use the WinSCP
program (for Windows) or the scp command (for Linux).
• Once you have your files on your shay machine, the command you use to submit them should
look like one of the following (without the dash at the beginning):
turnin -c ece404 -p hw01 hw01.pdf cryptBreak.py (if using Python)
turnin -c ece404 -p hw01 hw01.pdf cryptBreak.pl (if using Perl)
