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TLS-ECDH-ECDSA-WITH-RC4-128-SHA Cipher Suite
A breakdown of the Cipher Suite TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA, its strengths, and its weaknesses.
Key Exchange Mechanism
Elliptic Curve Diffie Hellman - ECDH
Grade - B
Static Elliptic Curve Diffie Hellman (ECDH) does not use ephemeral (temporary) keys, meaning it violates perfect forward secrecy. ECDHE should be used in preference.
Authentication
Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm - ECDSA
Grade - A
ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) is used in cipher suites for authentication and integrity verification. Its efficiency in generating and verifying digital signatures makes it suitable for secure communication protocols like TLS, ensuring data confidentiality and integrity during exchanges over networks.
Cipher
Rivest Cipher 4 - RC4
Grade - D
RC4 should not be used as a cipher due to several vulnerabilities, including biases in its keystream and susceptibility to various attacks such as the Fluhrer-Mantin-Shamir attack. These weaknesses compromise the confidentiality and integrity of encrypted data, making RC4 unsuitable for secure communications in modern cryptographic applications. Deprecated in RFC 7465.
Hash
Secure Hash Algorithm - SHA
Grade - D
Chosen prefix attacks for SHA1 are feasible at an accessible cost to a well-funded adversary. This level of expense, while significant, does not pose a substantial barrier to attackers with sufficient resources, making such attacks a credible threat.
Key Size
128 Bit - 128
Grade - A
128-bit symmetric encryption keys are considered secure because they provide an astronomically large number of possible combinations (2^128), making brute-force attacks computationally infeasible with current technology. This level of security is sufficient for most practical purposes and is widely adopted in various encryption protocols.
