CPM Dictionary: K

Kerberos: Single sign-on authentication system developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that uses passwords and symmetric cryptography (Data Encryption Standard) to implement ticket-based, peer entity authentication service and access control service distributed in a client-server network environment

Kernel: Core element of a computer operating system; provides basic services for all other parts of the operating system; contrast with shell, the outermost part of an operating system that interacts with user commands

Key: Data used in cryptosystems to perform encryption

Key Length: Based on the fact that most modern encryption algorithms are mathematically based, key length is a major determining element in an algorithm’s strength. See also Key Space

Key Management: Procedures and policies involved with handling and controlling cryptographic keys and related material during their life cycle in a cryptographic system; includes ordering, generating, distributing, storing, loading, escrowing, archiving, auditing, and destroying material

Key Pair: Within an asymmetric encryption system, a private, or confidential, key and its (mathematically) related public key. See also Private Key, Public Key

Key Space: Range of possible values of a cryptographic key, or the number of distinct transformations supported by a particular cryptographic algorithm; considered a better determinant of cryptographic strength than simple key length

Key Tasks: Priority procedures and actions in a business continuity plan that must be carried out within the first few minutes/hours following plan invocation

Keyed Hash: Cryptographic hash or digest in which mapping to a hash result is varied by a second input parameter, typically a cryptographic key; if input data object changes, a new hash result cannot be correctly computed without knowledge of the secret key, thus protecting the hash result so it can be used as a checksum even when there is a threat of an active attack on the data

Kit: Program used to produce a virus from a menu or a list of characteristics; involves no skill on the user’s part

Known-Plaintext Attack: Cryptanalysis technique where analyst tries to determine the key from knowledge of some plaintext-ciphertext pairs or other evidence

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