OpenSSL ciphers: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:48, 13 October 2015

This is a list of the ciphers that OpenSSL supports to generate an RSA key. (openssl genrsa...)

Cipher	Bits	Switch
DES	56 bits	-des
DES3	168 bits	-des3
Seed	128 bits	-seed
AES-128	128 bits	-aes128
AES-192	192 bits	-aes192
AES-256	256 bits	-aes256
Camellia-128	128 bits	-camellia128
Camellia-192	192 bits	-camellia192
Camellia-256	256 bits	-camellia256

Infomation

DES is an old, very weak standard. It was one of the original Export Ciphers that could easily be broken by the US Government. It is not recommended to use DES unless you have a specific need to as all modern ciphers surpass the security of DES, with modest compatibility. In this day and age, DES is easily broken in a modest amount of time. Disabled in most modern browsers.
DES3 is DES run 3 times with a key whitener. It is slightly more secure than DES, but is still considered susceptible to attack. Used in Payment Card EV terminals but it is being recommended to phase out this cipher.
Seed is an older, more obscure cipher that should only be used if you have a specific need.
AES is currently the strongest security available, used by NSA for up to top secret information. Modern processors can accelerate encryption/decryption with hardware and program support (OpenSSL will use acceleration). 256-bit keys provide the best security.
Camellia was a runner up behind AES. It is a strong cipher although a little more obscure than AES so expect less support. Although secure, it has recently been disabled in modern browsers.

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-* DES is an old, very weak standard. It is not recommended to use DES unless you have a specific need to as all modern ciphers way surpass the security of DES, with modest compatibility. Disabled in most modern browsers.
+== Infomation ==
-* DES3 is DES run 3 times with a key whitener. It is slightly more secure than DES, but is still susceptible to attack. It just takes longer to break. Treat the same as legacy DES.
+* DES is an old, very weak standard. It was one of the original Export Ciphers that could easily be broken by the US Government. It is not recommended to use DES unless you have a specific need to as all modern ciphers surpass the security of DES, with modest compatibility. In this day and age, DES is easily broken in a modest amount of time. Disabled in most modern browsers.
+* DES3 is DES run 3 times with a key whitener. It is slightly more secure than DES, but is still considered susceptible to attack. Used in Payment Card EV terminals but it is being recommended to phase out this cipher.
 * Seed is an older, more obscure cipher that should only be used if you have a specific need.
-* AES is currently the strongest security available, used by NSA for upto top secret documents. Modern processors can accelerate encryption/decryption with program support (OpenSSL will use acceleration). Using it at 256 bit will provide you with the best security.
+* AES is currently the strongest security available, used by NSA for up to top secret information. Modern processors can accelerate encryption/decryption with hardware and program support (OpenSSL will use acceleration). 256-bit keys provide the best security.
-* Camellia was a runner up behind AES. It is just as secure, although a little more obscure than AES. However, most browsers that support AES support Camellia too. Recently disabled in modern browsers.
+* Camellia was a runner up behind AES. It is a strong cipher although a little more obscure than AES so expect less support. Although secure, it has recently been disabled in modern browsers.