I. Overview:

EC‐Council's Certified Encryption Specialist (ECES) program is designed to introduce professionals and students to the intricate field of cryptography. Covering a broad spectrum of topics, the ECES program delves into modern symmetric key cryptography, offering detailed insights into Feistel Networks, Data Encryption Standard (DES), and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithms. Additionally, students gain familiarity with various other algorithms, including Blowfish, Twofish, Skipjack, CAST, TEA, and more. The curriculum extends to information theory basics as applied to cryptography, covering essential concepts such as hashing algorithms (MD5, MD6, SHA, GOST, RIPMD 256) and asymmetric cryptography with in-depth discussions on Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA), Elgamal, Elliptic Curve, and Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA).

II. Duration: 24 hours (3 days)

III. Objective:

What You'll Learn?

• Types of encryption standards and their differences
• How to select the best standard for your organization
• How to enhance your pentesting knowledge in encryption
• Correct and incorrect deployment of encryption technologies
• Common mistakes made in implementing encryption technologies
• Best practices when implementing encryption technologies
• Quantum computing and cryptography

IV. Intended Audience:

• Penetration Testers and Computer Forensics Specialists
• Cloud security architects, designers, and developers
• Anyone involved in selecting and implementing VPNs or digital certificates, information security operations.
• Anyone involved in developing operating systems, cryptography systems, blockchain-based solutions, etc.

V. Prerequisites:

No prior knowledge of cryptography is assumed, and no mathematical skills beyond basic algebra are required.

VI. Course outlines:

1. Module 01: Introduction and History of Cryptography

• Gaps in Crypto Knowledge
• What is Cryptography?
• History of Cryptography
• Mono-Alphabet Substitution
  • Caesar Cipher
  • Atbash Cipher
  • Affine Cipher
  • ROT13 Cipher
  • Scytale
  • Single Substitution Weaknesses

• Multi-Alphabet Substitution
  • Cipher Disk
  • Vigenère Cipher
    • Vigenère Cipher: Example
    • Breaking the Vigenère Cipher
  • Playfair Cipher
  • ADFGVX Cipher

• Homophonic Substitution
• Null Ciphers
• Book Ciphers
• Rail Fence Ciphers
• Vernam Cipher
• The Enigma Machine
• CrypTool

2. Module 02: Symmetric Cryptography & Hashes

• Symmetric Cryptography
• Information Theory
  • Information Theory Cryptography Concepts

• Kerckhoffs’s Principle
• Substitution
• Transposition
• Binary Math
  • Binary AND
  • Binary OR
  • Binary XOR

• Block Cipher vs. Stream Cipher
• Symmetric Block Cipher Algorithms
  • Basic Facts of the Feistel Function
  • S-Box
    • S-Box Design
  • The Feistel Function
  • Unbalanced Feistel Cipher
  • Data Encryption Standard (DES)
  • 3DES
    • DESx
    • Whitening
  • Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
    • AES General Overview
    • AES Specifics
  • Blowfish
  • Serpent
  • Twofish
  • Skipjack
  • International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA)
  • CAST
  • Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA)
  • SHARK
  • GOST
  • McGuffin

• Symmetric Algorithm Methods
  • Electronic Codebook (ECB)
  • Cipher-Block Chaining (CBC)
  • Propagating Cipher-Block Chaining (PCBC)
  • Cipher Feedback (CFB)
  • Output Feedback (OFB)
  • Counter (CTR)
  • Initialization Vector (IV)

• Symmetric Stream Ciphers
  • Example of Symmetric Stream Ciphers: RC4
  • Example of Symmetric Stream Ciphers: FISH
  • Example of Symmetric Stream Ciphers: PIKE

• Hash Function
  • Hash – Salt
  • MD5
    • The MD5 Algorithm
  • MD6
  • Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA)
  • FORK-256
  • RIPEMD-160
  • Tiger
  • Blake
  • Hava
  • Whirlpool
  • Skein
  • NTLM – Windows Hashing
    • NTLM
  • MAC and HMAC
  • MAC & HMAC
  • Key Stretching
• CryptoBench

3.  Module 03: Number Theory and Asymmetric Cryptography

• Asymmetric Encryption
• Basic Number Facts
  • Prime Numbers
  • Mersenne Primes
  • Fermat Prime
  • Co-Prime Numbers
  • Euler’s Totient
  • Modulus Operator
  • Congruence Numbers
  • Solving Congruence
  • Fibonacci Numbers
  • Algebraic Group
  • Rings
  • Field
  • Galois Field
  • Logarithms
  • Natural Logarithms
  • Discrete Logarithms

• Birthday Theorem
  • Birthday Paradox
    • Birthday Paradox: Probability
  • Birthday Attack

• Random Number Generator
  • Classification of Random Number Generator
  • Traits of a Good PRNG
  • Middle Square Method
  • Naor-Reingold and Mersenne Twister Pseudorandom Function
  • Linear Congruential Generator
  • Lehmer Random Number Generator
  • Lagged Fibonacci Generator (LFG)
  • Blum Blum Shub
  • Yarrow
  • Fortuna

• Diffie-Hellman
• Rivest Shamir Adleman (RSA)
  • RSA – How it Works
  • RSA Example

• Menezes–Qu–Vanstone
• Digital Signature Algorithm
  • Signing with DSA
• Elliptic Curve
  • Elliptic Curve Variations
  • Elliptic Curve
• Elgamal
• Cramer – Shoup
• YAK
• Forward Secrecy
• CrypTool

4. Module 04:Applications of Cryptography

• FIPS Standards
• Digital Signatures
• What is a Digital Certificate?
  • Digital Certificates
    • X.509
    • X.509 Certificates
    • X.509 Certificate Content
    • X.509 Certificate File Extensions

• Certificate Authority (CA)
• Registration Authority (RA)
• Certificate Authority – Verisign
• Certificate Types
• Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
• Digital Certificate Terminology
• Server-based Certificate Validation Protocol
• Digital Certificate Management
• Trust Models
• Certificates and Web Servers
• Microsoft Certificate Services
• Windows Certificates: certmgr.msc
• Authentication
  • Password Authentication Protocol (PAP)
  • Shiva Password Authentication Protocol (S-PAP)
  • Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP)
  • Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)
  • Kerberos
    • Components of Kerberos System
    • Kerberos Authentication Process
• PGP Certificates
• Wi-Fi Encryption
  • Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
  • WPA – Wi-Fi Protected Access
  • WPA2
  • WPA3
• SSL
• TLS
  • TLS v 1.3
• Diagram
• Protocols
• Common SSL/TLS Libraries
• Virtual Private Network (VPN)
  • Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP)
    • PPTP VPN
  • Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol VPN
  • Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) VPN
    • IPsec
    • IPSec – Terms
    • IPSec – Protocol Suite
  • SSL/TLS VPN
• Split Tunneling
• VPN Modes
• Encrypting Files
  • Backing up the EFS key
  • Restoring the EFS Key
• BitLocker
  • BitLocker: Screenshot
• Disk Encryption Software: VeraCrypt
• Common Cryptography Mistakes
• Steganography
  • Steganography Terms
  • Historical Steganography
  • Steganography Details
  • Other Forms of Steganography
  • How to Embed?
  • Steganographic File Systems
  • Steganography Implementations
  • Demonstration
• Steganalysis
  • Steganalysis – Raw Quick Pair
  • Steganalysis – Chi-Square Analysis
  • Steganalysis – Audio Steganalysis
• Steganography Detection Tools
• National Security Agency and Cryptography
  • NSA Suite A Encryption Algorithms
  • NSA Suite B Encryption Algorithms
  • National Security Agency: Type 1 Algorithms
  • National Security Agency: Type 2 Algorithms
  • National Security Agency: Type 3 Algorithms
  • National Security Agency: Type 4 Algorithms
• Unbreakable Encryption
• Blockchain

5. Module 05:Cryptanalysis

• Breaking Ciphers
• Cryptanalysis
• Frequency Analysis
• Kasiski
• Cracking Modern Cryptography
  • Cracking Modern Cryptography: Chosen Plaintext Attack
  • Cracking Modern Cryptography: Ciphertext-only and Related-key Attack
• Linear Cryptanalysis
• Differential Cryptanalysis
• Integral Cryptanalysis
• Cryptanalysis Resources
• Cryptanalysis Success
• Rainbow Tables
  • Rainbow Table
• Password Cracking
• Tools

6. Module 06: Quantum Computing and Cryptography

• Quantum Computing and Cryptography
• Timeline
• Issues for QC
• Two Branches
  • Quantum Key Distribution (QKD)
    • QKD
    • What do we need?
    • Qubits
    • Trends
  • Quantum Computers
    • The Problem
    • Why?
• NIST
• Major Approaches
• Lattice-Based Crypto
• Learning with Errors
• GGH
• NTRU
• Overview
• Module Overview