Module 1: Advanced Foundations of Cryptography and Symmetric Encryption - Question
Bank
Part A: 2-Mark Questions (Short Answer)
(These questions test the fundamental recall of definitions, terms, and basic concepts.)
1. Define a passive security attack. Give one example. (Easy)
2. Differentiate between a security service and a security mechanism. (Medium)
3. What is the fundamental difference between a substitution cipher and a transposition
cipher? (Easy)
4. Define steganography and give a classic example of its use. (Easy)
5. What is the key size of the original Data Encryption Standard (DES), and why is it
considered insecure today? (Easy)
6. State Shannon's concept of "confusion" in the context of a block cipher. (Medium)
7. State Shannon's concept of "diffusion" in the context of a block cipher. (Medium)
8. What is a Feistel cipher structure? Name one famous cipher that uses it. (Easy)
9. What is the primary difference between a stream cipher and a block cipher? (Easy)
10. List any two applications of lightweight cryptography. (Easy)
11. What is cryptanalysis? (Easy)
12. In the context of DES, what is the purpose of the Initial Permutation (IP)? (Medium)
13. What is the role of the S-Boxes in DES? (Medium)
14. Define the term "mode of operation" for a block cipher. (Easy)
15. Why is the Electronic Codebook (ECB) mode generally not recommended for encrypting
large amounts of data? (Medium)
16. What does the term "resource-constrained environment" mean in the context of
lightweight cryptography? (Easy)
17. What is the main strength of the DES algorithm from a design perspective? (Hard)
18. Distinguish between a one-time pad and a stream cipher. (Medium)
19. What is the fundamental principle behind a brute-force attack? (Easy)
20. List two design goals of a lightweight block cipher. (Medium)
Part B: 4-Mark Questions (Brief Explanation/Analysis)
(These questions require a more detailed explanation, comparison, or analysis of concepts.)
21. Explain the relationship between security attacks, services, and mechanisms with a simple
example. (Medium)
22. Encrypt the message "MEET" using a Caesar cipher with a key of 3. Show your
steps. (Easy)
23. Describe the Playfair cipher. How does it improve upon a simple substitution
cipher? (Medium)
24. Compare and contrast stream ciphers and block ciphers in terms of speed, error
propagation, and implementation complexity. (Hard)
25. Explain the working principle of the Cipher Feedback (CFB) mode. How does it turn a
block cipher into a stream cipher? (Hard)
26. Illustrate with a diagram the basic structure of a Feistel cipher for one round. Label all
components. (Medium)
27. Explain how the avalanche effect is a practical demonstration of Shannon's principle of
diffusion. Use a small example to illustrate. (Hard)
28. Briefly describe the concept of linear cryptanalysis. What type of information does it aim to
recover? (Hard)
29. Briefly describe the concept of differential cryptanalysis. What type of information does it
aim to recover? (Hard)
30. What are the main limitations of DES that led to the need for the Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES)? (Medium)
31. Explain the purpose of the Counter (CTR) mode. What advantage does it offer over other
modes for parallel processing? (Medium)
32. Why is lightweight cryptography important for the Internet of Things (IoT)? Discuss the
constraints of IoT devices. (Medium)
33. Compare the Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) mode and the Electronic Codebook (ECB)
mode. Why is CBC preferred over ECB? (Medium)
34. What is a key schedule in the context of a block cipher like DES? Why is it
important? (Medium)
35. Explain the concept of "meet-in-the-middle" attack on double DES. Why does using 2DES
not provide the security of a 112-bit key? (Hard)
Part C: 6-Mark Questions (Detailed Explanation/Design/Evaluation)
(These questions demand in-depth knowledge, the ability to synthesize information, and provide
critical evaluation.)
36. Describe the general architecture of a modern block cipher. How does it incorporate
Shannon's principles of confusion and diffusion? Provide specific examples of how these
are achieved in a cipher like DES. (Hard)
37. Explain the complete structure of the Data Encryption Standard (DES), including the
initial permutation, the 16-round Feistel network, and the final permutation. Draw a high-
level block diagram. (Medium)
38. Describe the inner workings of the DES round function (the F-function). Explain the roles
of expansion, S-Box substitution, and permutation in detail. (Hard)
39. Discuss the strengths and limitations of the Data Encryption Standard (DES). How did its
limitations influence the development of modern cryptography? (Medium)
40. Compare and contrast all five block cipher modes of operation: ECB, CBC, CFB, OFB,
and CTR. For each mode, discuss its characteristics, advantages, disadvantages, and a
typical use case. (Hard)
41. Design a simple hypothetical 4-bit Feistel cipher for two rounds. Define a simple round
function (e.g., XOR with a subkey). Encrypt a 4-bit plaintext (e.g., 1010) with a given
master key, showing all intermediate steps. (Hard)
42. Explain the need for lightweight cryptography. Describe at least three design
characteristics or techniques commonly used in lightweight block ciphers (e.g., simpler S-
Boxes, smaller block sizes, on-the-fly key scheduling) to make them suitable for constrained
environments. (Medium)
43. Describe the Vigenère cipher. Why was it historically considered "unbreakable" (le chiffre
indéchiffrable)? Explain Kasiski's method as a form of cryptanalysis against it. (Medium)
44. Assume a very simple substitution cipher has been used. The frequency analysis of the
ciphertext shows the most frequent letter is 'J', and the second most frequent is 'Q'. If the
underlying language is English, what would be your first guesses for the plaintext letters
mapped to 'J' and 'Q'? Explain the cryptanalysis process. (Easy)
45. Compare and contrast the design philosophy and key features of a traditional block cipher
like DES and a modern lightweight block cipher (like PRESENT or SPECK). Focus on
aspects like block size, key size, round structure, and hardware/software efficiency. (Hard)
46. Explain the principle of operation of a stream cipher using a Linear Feedback Shift
Register (LFSR). Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using LFSRs for
cryptographic purposes. (Hard)
47. You are tasked with choosing a symmetric encryption algorithm for two different
scenarios: (a) encrypting a large, static database on a server, and (b) encrypting
communication from a low-power IoT sensor. For each scenario, recommend a suitable
mode of operation and cipher type (stream/block, lightweight/traditional) and justify your
choices. (Hard)
48. Describe the Encrypt-then-MAC paradigm. Why is it important to consider not just
confidentiality, but also integrity and authentication when designing a secure
communication system? (Medium)
49. Explain the process of cryptanalysis. Distinguish between a ciphertext-only attack and a
known-plaintext attack. Which type of attack is linear and differential
cryptanalysis? (Medium)
50. Discuss the significance of the key schedule in a block cipher. What properties should a
good key schedule possess to resist attacks like related-key attacks? (Hard)