RC4 stream cipher

E20655
cryptographic algorithm stream cipher symmetric-key algorithm

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.

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Observed surface forms (4)

Surface form Occurrences
RC4 2
ARC4 1
RC4A 1

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 ⓘ

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

RC4 stream cipher → alsoKnownAs → RC4 stream cipher ⓘ
subject surface form: RC4
this entity surface form: Rivest Cipher 4
RC4 stream cipher → alsoKnownAs → RC4 stream cipher ⓘ
subject surface form: RC4
this entity surface form: ARC4
Ronald L. Rivest → coInventorOf → RC4 stream cipher ⓘ
this entity surface form: RC4
RC4 stream cipher → influenced → RC4 stream cipher self-linksurface differs ⓘ
subject surface form: RC4
this entity surface form: RC4A
Ronald L. Rivest → notableWork → RC4 stream cipher ⓘ
this entity surface form: RC4