RC4 stream cipher
E20655
The RC4 stream cipher is a once-widely used symmetric key algorithm known for its simplicity and speed in software, but now considered insecure due to multiple discovered vulnerabilities.
All labels observed (7)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| RC4 | 5 |
| RC4 stream cipher canonical | 5 |
| A5/1 | 1 |
| ARC4 | 1 |
| RC4 is no longer considered secure for TLS | 1 |
| RC4A | 1 |
| Rivest Cipher 4 | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T165901 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
Target entity: RC4 stream cipher Context triple: [Wired Equivalent Privacy, usesEncryptionAlgorithm, RC4 stream cipher]
-
A.
ChaCha20
ChaCha20 is a modern stream cipher designed by Daniel J. Bernstein, widely used for its high performance and strong security in protocols like TLS.
-
B.
Diffie–Hellman key exchange
Diffie–Hellman key exchange is a foundational cryptographic protocol that enables two parties to securely establish a shared secret over an insecure communication channel.
-
C.
RSA
RSA is a widely used public-key cryptographic algorithm that enables secure key exchange and digital signatures in many internet security protocols.
-
D.
New Directions in Cryptography
New Directions in Cryptography is a landmark 1976 paper that introduced the concepts of public-key cryptography and digital signatures, fundamentally reshaping modern cryptography and secure communications.
-
E.
Probabilistic Encryption
Probabilistic Encryption is a cryptographic technique that uses randomness in the encryption process so that the same message encrypts to different ciphertexts, enhancing security against attackers.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
Target entity: RC4 stream cipher Target entity description: The RC4 stream cipher is a once-widely used symmetric key algorithm known for its simplicity and speed in software, but now considered insecure due to multiple discovered vulnerabilities.
-
A.
ChaCha20
ChaCha20 is a modern stream cipher designed by Daniel J. Bernstein, widely used for its high performance and strong security in protocols like TLS.
-
B.
Diffie–Hellman key exchange
Diffie–Hellman key exchange is a foundational cryptographic protocol that enables two parties to securely establish a shared secret over an insecure communication channel.
-
C.
RSA
RSA is a widely used public-key cryptographic algorithm that enables secure key exchange and digital signatures in many internet security protocols.
-
D.
New Directions in Cryptography
New Directions in Cryptography is a landmark 1976 paper that introduced the concepts of public-key cryptography and digital signatures, fundamentally reshaping modern cryptography and secure communications.
-
E.
Probabilistic Encryption
Probabilistic Encryption is a cryptographic technique that uses randomness in the encryption process so that the same message encrypts to different ciphertexts, enhancing security against attackers.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (56)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
cryptographic algorithm
ⓘ
stream cipher ⓘ symmetric-key algorithm ⓘ |
| algorithmType | byte-oriented stream cipher ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
RC4 stream cipher
ⓘ
surface form:
ARC4
Alleged RC4 ⓘ RC4 stream cipher ⓘ
surface form:
Rivest Cipher 4
|
| blockSizeBits | 1 ⓘ |
| cipherCategory | software-oriented cipher ⓘ |
| considered | insecure ⓘ |
| deprecatedBy |
Google
ⓘ
Internet Engineering Task Force ⓘ
surface form:
IETF
Microsoft ⓘ Mozilla ⓘ |
| deprecatedIn |
RFC 5246
ⓘ
surface form:
TLS 1.2
|
| designedBy |
Ronald L. Rivest
ⓘ
surface form:
Ron Rivest
|
| designGoal |
fast in software
ⓘ
simple implementation ⓘ |
| developedBy | RSA Security ⓘ |
| firstPublicDescriptionPublishedOn | Cypherpunks mailing list ⓘ |
| hasVulnerability |
distinguishing attacks
ⓘ
key-stream bias ⓘ plaintext recovery attacks ⓘ related-key attacks ⓘ weaknesses in initial keystream bytes ⓘ |
| influenced |
RC4 stream cipher
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
RC4A
Spritz cipher ⓘ VMPC stream cipher ⓘ |
| keySizeMaxBits | 2048 ⓘ |
| keySizeMinBits | 40 ⓘ |
| keyType | symmetric key ⓘ |
| knownFor |
high software performance
ⓘ
simplicity ⓘ wide historical deployment ⓘ |
| notSuitableFor | new systems ⓘ |
| operatesOn | bytes ⓘ |
| prohibitedIn |
RFC 8446
ⓘ
surface form:
TLS 1.3
|
| replacedBy |
AES-based stream modes
ⓘ
ChaCha20 ⓘ |
| specificationLeakedIn | 1994 ⓘ |
| standardizedAs | RFC 7465 (prohibition in TLS) ⓘ |
| stateSizeBytes | 256 ⓘ |
| stateStructure | permutation of 256-byte state array ⓘ |
| status | deprecated ⓘ |
| typicalKeySizeBits | 128 ⓘ |
| usedIn |
Microsoft Office encryption (legacy)
ⓘ
Remote Desktop Protocol ⓘ
surface form:
Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol
RC4-HMAC construction ⓘ SSL ⓘ TLS ⓘ Wired Equivalent Privacy ⓘ
surface form:
WEP
WPA-TKIP ⓘ |
| usesComponent |
key-scheduling algorithm
ⓘ
pseudo-random generation algorithm ⓘ |
| wasProprietaryUntil | 1994 ⓘ |
| yearDesigned | 1987 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Subject: RC4 stream cipher Description of subject: The RC4 stream cipher is a once-widely used symmetric key algorithm known for its simplicity and speed in software, but now considered insecure due to multiple discovered vulnerabilities.
Referenced by (15)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.