Abstract
In this paper, we study issues related to the notion of “secure” hash functions. Several necessary conditions are considered, as well as a popular sufficient condition (the so-called random oracle model). We study the security of various problems that are motivated by the notion of a secure hash function. These problems are analyzed in the random oracle model, and we prove that the obvious trivial algorithms are optimal. As well, we look closely at reductions between various problems. In particular, we consider the important question “does collision resistance imply preimage resistance?”. We provide partial answers to this question – both positive and negative! – based on uniformity properties of the hash function under consideration.
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Communicated by: P. Wild
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Stinson, D.R. Some Observations on the Theory of Cryptographic Hash Functions. Des Codes Crypt 38, 259–277 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10623-005-6344-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10623-005-6344-y