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Cryptology Academy · Lesson

ECB vs CBC: Patterns & IVs

Demonstrate the ECB penguin attack and why CBC with a random IV is required.

Welcome

ECB and CBC are two block cipher modes. ECB is famously insecure due to pattern leakage. CBC with a random IV is much stronger. Let's understand both deeply.

ECB Mode: Electronic Codebook

ECB encrypts each block independently: Ci = AES(K, Pi). Same plaintext block → same ciphertext block every time. Blocks in one message or across messages are identical if content matches.

All lessons in this course

  1. Block Cipher Fundamentals & Padding
  2. ECB vs CBC: Patterns & IVs
  3. CTR Mode & Stream-Cipher Behavior
  4. GCM & Authenticated Encryption
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