Converting Secret Keys to and from Byte Arrays

This section provides a quick introduction of the SecretKeySpec class and the KeySpec interface. They can be used to convert secret keys into byte arrays to store them in external files.

Converting a secret key to a byte array is supported by the SecretKey interface with the getEncoded() method. All secret key implementation classes use the RAW encoding format.

Converting a secret key from a byte array is not so easy. Two options are available:

1. javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec is a class represents a secret key in a generic fashion. It offers the following constructor and methods:

SecretKeySpec() - Convert a secret key from the specified byte array according to the specified algorithm and constructs a SecretKeySpec object based on the secret key.

getAlgorithm() - Returns the algorithm name used to generate the key.

getEncoded() - Returns the key as a byte array in its primary encoding format.

getFormat() - Returns the name of the primary encoding format of this key.

2. java.security.spec.KeySpec is an interface providing a grouping point for algorithm specific key specification implementations. There are two implementations for secret key algorithms:

javax.crypto.spec.DESKeySpec is a KeySpec implementation for DES algorithm. It offers DESKeySpec() to construct a KeySpec object from the specific byte array.

javax.crypto.spec.DESedeKeySpec is a KeySpec implementation for DESede algorithm. It offers DESedeKeySpec() to construct a KeySpec object from the specific byte array.

javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeyFactory is a class as a conversion tool between SecretKey objects and algorithm specific KeySpec objects. It offers the following methods:

getInstance() - Returns a SecretKeyFactory object of the specified algorithm and the specified security package provider. If not specified, the default security package provider will be used.

generateSecret() - Generates a SecretKey object from the specified KeySpec object, and returns it.

getKeySpec() - Converts a SecretKey object to a KeySpec object, and returns it.

getAlgorithm() - Returns the algorithm name of this object.

getProvider() - Returns the provider as a provider object of this object.

See the next section on how to use the SecretKeySpec class and the KeySpec interface in a sample program.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Cryptography Terminology

 Cryptography Basic Concepts

 Introduction to AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)

 Introduction to DES Algorithm

 DES Algorithm - Illustrated with Java Programs

 DES Algorithm Java Implementation

 DES Algorithm - Java Implementation in JDK JCE

 DES Encryption Operation Modes

 DES in Stream Cipher Modes

 PHP Implementation of DES - mcrypt

 Blowfish - 8-Byte Block Cipher

Secret Key Generation and Management

 javax.crypto.SecretKey - The Secret Key Interface

 javax.crypto.KeyGenerator - Generating Secret Keys

Converting Secret Keys to and from Byte Arrays

 JceSecretKeyTest.java - Secret Key Test Program

 Cipher - Secret Key Encryption and Decryption

 Introduction of RSA Algorithm

 RSA Implementation using java.math.BigInteger Class

 Introduction of DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm)

 Java Default Implementation of DSA

 Private key and Public Key Pair Generation

 PKCS#8/X.509 Private/Public Encoding Standards

 Cipher - Public Key Encryption and Decryption

 MD5 Mesasge Digest Algorithm

 SHA1 Mesasge Digest Algorithm

 OpenSSL Introduction and Installation

 OpenSSL Generating and Managing RSA Keys

 OpenSSL Managing Certificates

 OpenSSL Generating and Signing CSR

 OpenSSL Validating Certificate Path

 "keytool" and "keystore" from JDK

 "OpenSSL" Signing CSR Generated by "keytool"

 Migrating Keys from "keystore" to "OpenSSL" Key Files

 Certificate X.509 Standard and DER/PEM Formats

 Migrating Keys from "OpenSSL" Key Files to "keystore"

 Using Certificates in IE

 Using Certificates in Google Chrome

 Using Certificates in Firefox

 Archived Tutorials

 References

 Full Version in PDF/EPUB