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Reading the previous couple of articles in this series have hopefully helped you to know about Wei Dai, and B-Money, a protocol proposed by him and one of the predecessors of the crowned crypto asset Bitcoin.
In this article, we are going to discuss some of his contributions to cryptography in brief, including Crypto++ library, VMAC Internet Draft and some more.
Let’s start with the Crypto++ library
Crypto++ Library
Crypto++ Library is an open source cryptographic scheme offered by the B-money founder Wei Dai back in 1995. The scheme contains a vast array of algorithms including authenticated crypto schemes, high speed ciphers, hash operations, message authentication codes and more.
The latest version of Crypto++ Library (8.6.0) supports Visual Studio 2003-2019, Apple Clang 4.3 -12.0, Intel C++ Compiler 9 – 16.0, IBM XL C/C++ 10.0 – 14.0, and more.
The cryptographic library makes use of compiled DLL optimized for Windows, and is currently listed on Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP), rendering it unvalidated.
Crypto++ Library tries to tackle side channel hacks via several of its remedying approaches. Hardware instructions are at the vanguard in this process. It also makes use of other approaches including cache aware methods, constant-time and making its way to the patterns to reduce the leak to as low as possible.
VMAC Internet Draft
The VMAC Internet Draft was proposed by Wei Dai alongside Ted Krovetz based on block ciphers. The prime motive behind this draft was to push the limits of the 64-bit softwares while operating on 32-Bit infrastructures. VMAC makes use of VHASH function.
The internet draft consists of 6 parts, beginning with the basic operations and notation, followed by key and pad derivation operations, VMAC tag creation, VHASH, and Security and IANA considerations.
A Counter Against SSH2 Protocol
Wei Dai sniped the vulnerabilities of SSH2 protocol or Secure Shell 2.0 protocol, a code consisting of several framework layers, involving connection, authentication, and mobilization.
He says that an attacker is able to initiate a plaintext attack if he is able to observe the previous ciphertext block, as it acts as the IV for the remainder of the message.
He has also offered notes regarding the Lucas Protocol, offering practical use cases of the protocol in cryptography.
I’ll conclude the article here, and in the next part, we are going to discuss PipeNet, a protocol optimized for low-latency anon comms.
Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.
