Tuesday 17 November 2009

Secure Communication Using Java Security APIs

What is secure Communication ?


Secure communication between two business entities must ensure the following :

     - Data Integrity
     - Confidentiality
     - Authentication
     - Non-repudiation


Data Integrity

When information is sent by one business entity to another, the communication framework must ensure that the data has not been tampered with or altered in any way.

This is achieved by creating a message digest i.e. a hash based on the data and sending it to the recipient along with the data.(see authentication section below for more details).

Confidentiality

Only the intended recipient of the information should be able to read and understand the information. Confidentiality is achieved by using Cryptography techniques i.e. converting the plain text into encrypted cipher text using key-based symmetric or asymmetric encryption algorithms.

Symmetric Algorithm

Symmetric algorithm uses the same key for encryption and decryption, the key is referred to as secret key. Some of the popular symmetric algorithms are DES and triple DES and IDEA.

Merits

  • Symmetric algorithm is faster than asymmetric algorithm.

  • Hardware implementation is possible, which can result in very high-speed data encryption.


De-merits

  • Problem of both parties mutually agreeing on a key.

  • Preserving the secrecy of the key can also pose challenges, as the same key must be known to more than one person i.e. both the sender and the receiver. So, failure in being able to preserve the secrecy of the key on any one side will result in a complete breakdown of the security infrastructure.


Asymmetric algorithm

There are two keys involved in this. A public key and a private key forming a keypair. Data encrypted by public key from a keypair can be decrypted using the private key and vice-versa.

The public key of the recipient is known to the sender and is used to encrypt the information. The recipient then uses his private key to decrypt the message.It is to be noted here that the recipient's private key is not shared with anyone else.
Popular asymmetric algorithms are DSA and RSA.


Merits

  • No bottleneck of mutual agreement by both parties on a single key.

  • The security infrastructure is dependent on two keypairs i.e. four separate keys and not just one secret key, making the setup more robust.


De-Merits

  • Asymmetric encryption, decryption using keypairs is a slow process and if large amounts of data is involved, it can be time consuming and require a lot of system resources.


Authentication

There should be some form of proof to ensure that the information received has the stamp of approval from the intended sender. This is achieved by a digital signature from the sender.

A digital signature is an encrypted message digest i.e. an encrypted hash.

A message digest is a hash generated using hashing algorithms like MD5 or SHA-1. These algorithms accept input data and generates a hash based on that data. MD5 produces a 128-bit hash whereas SHA-1 produces a 160-bit hash.

A digital signature of the sender is created by :

  • Generating a message digest as explained above.

  • Then encrypting the message digest using the sender's private key.



How does the digital signature fulfil the authentication requirements ?

The encryption of the hash using the sender's private key provides the stamp of approval from the sender because the private key should only be known to the sender, as per the principles of the asymmetric algorithm security setup. This fulfils authentication requirement.

The hash itself fulfils the data integrity requirement.

The recipient needs to first:

  • Decrypt the encrypted hash.

  • Then regenerate a hash based on the information received from sender.

  • Compare the newly generated hash with the one received as part of the digital signature. If both match then the data has reached the recipient unaltered/untampered.


Non-Repudiation

There should also be a means to vouch for the fact that the information and digital signature has come from the original sender and not from someone else, fraudulently using the sender's identity.

This can be confirmed by a digital certificate issued by a trusted third party i.e. a certificate Authority (CA).

How to obtain a digital certificate ?

In order to get a digital certificate a sender needs to :

  • Generate a keypair.

  • Then send the public key along with some proof of identification to a certificate authority.

  • If the CA is satisfied with the proof of identification supplied, a certificate is issued by the CA by signing the sender's public key with the private key of CA.


This certificate is often referred to as X.509 certificate.

What is certificate Chaining ?

If just one certificate authority cannot provide the required trust, then one can use certificate chaining i.e. one CA vouching for another


-: Java Security APIs for secure communication


There are four main API’s for security in Java:

     - Java Cryptography Architecture (JCA)
     - Java Cryptography Extensions (JCE)
     - Java Secure Socket Extensions (JSSE)
     - Java Authentication and Authorization Services (JAAS)


Java Cryptography Architecture (JCA)

Java Cryptography Architecture (JCA) encapsulates the overall architecture of Java’s cryptography concepts and algorithms.JCA includes both java.security and javax.crypto packages.

Some of the engine classes used by JCA to provide cryptographic concepts are as follows:

     - MessageDigest
     - Signature
     - KeyFactory
     - KeyPairGenerator
     - Cipher


Java Cryptography Extensions (JCE)

 Java Cryptography Extensions (JCE) provides software implementations that enables developers to encrypt data, create message digests and perform key management activities.

The JCE APIs cover the following implementations:

     - Symmetric bulk encryption, such as DES, RC2, and IDEA
     - Asymmetric encryption, such as RSA
     - Password-based encryption (PBE)
     - Key generation and key agreement
     - Message Authentication Codes (MAC)


Java Secure Socket Extensions (JSSE)

Java Secure Socket Extensions (JSSE) provides application developers a framework and an implementation for SSL and TLS transport layer protocols. This enables secure data transmission between application client and server via a HTTP or FTP request.

Java Authentication and Authorization Services (JAAS)

Java Authentication and Authorization Service enables developers to setup client restrictions and access control to application's functionality.

This is generally provided by the policies and permissions setup and controlled by the Java SandBox and JVM.

The JAAS-related classes and interfaces are as follows:

      -: Common classes :-

     - Subject
     - Principal
     - Credential

      -: Authentication classes and interfaces :-

     - LoginContext
     - LoginModule
     - CallbackHandler
     - Callback

      -: Authorization classes :-

     - Policy
     - AuthPermission
     - PrivateCredentialPermission.

All of them belong to either the Java.Security or java.Security.auth packages.

1 comment:

  1. I too agree that digital signature play an important part in secure Communication as it facilitate that receiver can recognize that the data received is sent by intended sender
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    ReplyDelete