Quiz Entry - updated: 2026.07.14
According to the Handbook of Applied Cryptography (Menezes, van Oorschot, Vanstone), what are the four fundamental cryptographic goals?
The four goals are: (1) Confidentiality/Privacy, (2) Data Integrity, (3) Authentication, and (4) Non-repudiation.
From [MOV], the standard reference work:
| Goal | Definition |
|---|---|
| Confidentiality | Keeping information content secret from unauthorized parties. Synonymous with privacy and secrecy. |
| Data Integrity | Detecting unauthorized alteration of data, including insertion, deletion, and substitution. |
| Authentication | Identifying entities and verifying information origin. Subdivided into entity authentication and data origin authentication. |
| Non-repudiation | Preventing an entity from denying previous commitments or actions. |
Key insight from MOV: "Cryptography is not the only means of providing information security, but rather one set of techniques." This emphasizes that cryptography is a tool, not a complete solution.
Important relationship: Data origin authentication implicitly provides data integrity — because if a message has been modified, its source has effectively changed.
How this maps to the framework above:
- MOV's goals 2, 3, and 4 (integrity, authentication, non-repudiation) are all combined into the single concept of "Data Authenticity/Integrity"
- This framework adds User Authentication as a third separate goal
- This is an example of how different authorities organize the same concepts differently — terminology and groupings vary from one reference work to the next