| A One way function in cryptography is a mathematical function which is easily solved in a particular direction, but would take very long to crack when used in the reverse direction. Where can we use one way function. Explain the mechanism behind a one way function as used in cryptography. What is a trap door one way function? |
A one way function is a mathematical calculation which is easier to compute in one direction. But reverse direction may take years or sometimes not possible. These one way functions are mainly useful in cryptography for generation of pseudo random numbers, bit commitment schemes, private key encryption schemes, message authenticating codes and digital signature techniques. A trap door one way function is a function in which inverse direction is easy with certain information about the trap door.
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One-way functions in cryptography have applications in the area of authentication such as passwords. They generate one output and cannot be inverted. This creates greater security for authentication information because it cannot be deduced from any information present other than plain text or similar data. Cryptographic hash functions are an example of this concept: input consistently produces the same obfuscated “keys” every single time, but those keys alone cannot be used to retrieve any revealing information. A trap-door, one-way function is essentially a function that behaves like a one-way function, but possesses an “unlocking” value or information that will allow it to be inverted.
