Chapter 9 of 9 · EC-Council 312-50
Cryptography
Algorithms, hashing, PKI, email and disk encryption, cryptanalysis and countermeasures, worth 5 percent.
- 3topics
- 15 minfast track
- 1diagrams and exhibits
- 5%of the exam
Topics in this chapter
Take them in order, or jump to the one you need.
- 1Cryptography Concepts and Encryption AlgorithmsLearn symmetric and asymmetric encryption, hashing and digital signatures, with key sizes for DES, 3DES, AES, RSA, ECC, MD5 and…5 min
- 2PKI, Email Encryption and Disk EncryptionUnderstand PKI components such as CAs and certificates, email protection with PGP and S/MIME, and full disk encryption with…Diagram5 min
- 3Cryptography Tools, Cryptanalysis and CountermeasuresLearn common cryptography tools, cryptanalysis methods such as known plaintext, brute force and side channel, famous crypto…5 min
About this chapter
What this chapter covers
Cryptography is 5% of the EC-Council CEH v13 312-50 exam. It covers the concepts and algorithms behind encryption and hashing, the tools that apply them, public key infrastructure (PKI), email and disk encryption, how cryptography is attacked, and how those attacks are countered.
Questions are single-answer multiple choice. You are asked to recognize an algorithm and its key size, a PKI component, a cryptanalysis method or a countermeasure.
It has eight outline topics, grouped into three pages.
How the topics fit together
The chapter moves from the building blocks to their use and then to attacks on them.
- Concepts and algorithms define the vocabulary and the numbers you must memorize.
- PKI, email and disk encryption show where cryptography is applied.
- Tools, cryptanalysis and countermeasures show what practitioners use and how weaknesses are exploited and fixed.
Memorize a small table of algorithm, type and key or output size. A large share of cryptography questions are answered from that table alone.
How to use these pages
Each topic page has the same shape, so you can skim for what you need.
- What it is: the idea in plain words.
- How it works: the mechanism, with diagrams and example commands.
- What to remember for the exam: the facts to memorize.
- Common mistakes: the classic traps.
- Check yourself: three questions to test your understanding.
Try to match each short scenario to its attack category before reading the answer. The exam often describes symptoms and asks for the attack name or the best fix.
Ready for more practice?
The full EC-Council 312-50 question bank has 1,000 questions, with timed practice exams and an explanation for every answer.
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