Lab Assignment: Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
This exercise uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). The United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) adopted AES as Federal Information Processing Standards Publications 197 (FIPS PUB 197) in 2001. AES supports key lengths of 128, 192, and 256 bits; JavaScrypt uses 256 bit keys exclusively.
For this exercise, you will need to use two different e-mail accounts (i.e., your Strayer email account and your personal email account). You will be creating an encrypted message and sending it from your first e-mail account to your second e-mail account.
Instructions
• Capture a screen shot as you complete each one of the lab steps and paste it in the designated spot below each step.
Example:
Step 1:
If there is a question in a step, your response should be included directly under the screen shot of that step.
• Submit the lab worksheet as an attachment in the online course shell.
Lab Steps:
1. Go to the JavaScrypt Encryption and Decryption page.
2. Create a key and enter it into the text box under the "Key" section. (The text option button under the textbox should be selected.) Next, click the "Generate" command button. Copy the contents of the "Key" text box to a notepad file because you will need it later.
3. Then, go to the "Plain Text"" box immediately underneath the "Key" text box and enter text that you want to encrypt. (The "Codegroup" option button under the textbox should be selected.) Click the "Encrypt" command button.
4. Look at the "Cipher Text" text box located below the "Encrypt" command button. Explain what is there.
5. Login to your second e-mail account and open a new email.
6. Copy the contents of the "Cipher Text" text box into the body of the email that you will be sending to your second email account.
7. Clear the contents of each of the "Key," "Plain Text," and "Cipher Text" text boxes.
8. Send the email from your first email account to your second email account.
9. Go to your second email account and open the email that you sent to yourself. Copy the encrypted message and paste it into the "Cipher Text" text box. Click the "Decrypt" command button.
10. Look back in the "Plain Text" text box. What do you see? Discuss what happened.
11. Now, enter the key (plain or encrypted) into the "Key" text box. Which key did you enter? Can you enter the plain (unencrypted) key or do you have to use the encrypted one in order for the contents of the encrypted "Cipher Text" text box to be unencrypted and displayed in the "Plain Text" text box? Provide a rationale for your response.
12. If a person does not have the original encrypted key, can he or she encrypt the original key that he or she entered in the "Key" text box? Provide a rationale for your response. Note:No screen shot is needed for this step.
13. Explain the differences, if any, between using AES encryption versus a DES one. Note:No screen shot is needed for this step.
14. Why do many consider AES encryption more secure than DES? Provide a rationale for your response.
Note:No screen shot is needed for this step. there is a question in a step, your response should be included directly under the screen shot of that step.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.