Security objective

As explained in Hacking Cryptography

A desired protection property for information or digital entities, such as confidentiality, integrity, or authenticity.

A security objective is a desired protection property for information or digital entities. Cryptography commonly targets confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity: hiding sensitive data, preventing alteration, and preventing impersonation. section 1.1

The lockbox model

Confidentiality resembles shipping an impenetrable lockbox: observers can see its destination but cannot read its contents without the specific key. Digital cryptography applies the same intuition to messages traveling as internet packets, while integrity and authenticity provide evidence against tampering or impersonation. section 1.1

Treat the objective as an engineering requirement, not merely a mathematical property:

• Map each system requirement to the protection property it needs: secrecy, resistance to alteration, or resistance to impersonation. section 1.1
• Inspect implementations as carefully as the underlying theory; subtle coding failures can defeat the intended objective. section 1.3
• Avoid relying on privately written cryptographic implementations when established guidance warns that implementation flaws commonly break security. section 1.3

A failed objective

A gaming console could require only approved software, yet faulty random-number generation in a key operation enabled recovery and publication of a critical private key. The failure was in implementation rather than cryptographic theory. section 1.3

Figure 1.1 Security goals of cryptography

Use the security-goals figure to compare confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity as distinct protection targets. section 1.1

How Hacking Cryptography covers it

How deep it goes

Defines three core goals and illustrates implementation failure, but stops short of detailed algorithms, code, or attack procedures.

Examples

Uses a lockbox and internet packets, then contrasts them with a gaming-console private-key failure caused by weak randomness.

What it assumes

Introduces the goals from plain-language examples without requiring advanced mathematical background.

What you can do after

Evaluate whether a system targets secrecy, tamper resistance, or identity assurance, while treating cryptographic implementation as a major attack surface.

How it connects

Connects cryptography with confidentiality, integrity, authenticity, private keys, random-number generation, and implementation security.

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Related concepts

• data integrityincludes · Data integrity is the property that data remains accurate, complete, consistent, and valid, with changes made only through authorized actions.
• cryptographyaddressed by · Cryptography is the study and application of mathematical techniques for protecting information and communications through confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and related security properties.
• authenticityincludes · Authenticity is the quality of being genuine and faithfully representing a claimed identity, source, origin, expression, experience, or content.
• confidentialityincludes · Confidentiality is the security property of protecting information from access or disclosure to unauthorized parties.
• security policyconfigured by · A security policy is a set of rules, requirements, or directives that defines how systems, data, and resources are protected and accessed.
• metricconfigured by · A metric is a quantitative measure used to characterize or assess a property, condition, behavior, performance, or outcome.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Hacking Cryptography. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.