Malicious Cryptography: Exposing Cryptovirology

Adam Young · Moti Yung

Jul 2004 · John Wiley & Sons

About this ebook

Hackers have uncovered the dark side of cryptography—that device developed to defeat Trojan horses, viruses, password theft, and other cyber-crime. It’s called cryptovirology, the art of turning the very methods designed to protect your data into a means of subverting it. In this fascinating, disturbing volume, the experts who first identified cryptovirology show you exactly what you’re up against and how to fight back.

They will take you inside the brilliant and devious mind of a hacker—as much an addict as the vacant-eyed denizen of the crackhouse—so you can feel the rush and recognize your opponent’s power. Then, they will arm you for the counterattack.

This book reads like a futuristic fantasy, but be assured, the threat is ominously real. Vigilance is essential, now.

• Understand the mechanics of computationally secure information stealing
• Learn how non-zero sum Game Theory is used to develop survivable malware
• Discover how hackers use public key cryptography to mount extortion attacks
• Recognize and combat the danger of kleptographic attacks on smart-card devices
• Build a strong arsenal against a cryptovirology attack

About the author

Dr. Adam Young (Herndon, VA) is a research scientist at Cigital, Inc. a software security company. He is involved in research for the Department of Defense and is a well-known cryptography consultant holding six US patents and two international patents of novel methods for security implementation.

Dr. Moti Yung (New York, NY) is Senior Researcher at Columbia University and a well-known cryptography consultant. Previously the VP/Chief Scientist at CertCo, Inc. Moti is on the Steering Committee for the Cryptographer’s Track for RSA 2004. He is the holder of numerous technology US patents, won the IBM Outstanding Innovation Award, and co-discovered, with Adam, numerous cryptovirology attacks.