Message Authenticator Algorithm

The Message Authenticator Algorithm (MAA) was one of the first cryptographic functions for computing a Message Authentication Code. It was designed in 1983 by Donald Davies and David Clayden at the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) in response to a request of the UK Bankers Automated Clearing Services. The MAA was one of the first Message Authentication Code algorithms to gain widespread acceptance.

Development and Standardization

The original specification^[1]^[2] of the MAA was given in a combination of natural language and tables, complemented by two implementations in C and BASIC programming languages.

The MAA was adopted by ISO in 1987 and became part of international standards ISO 8730 and ISO 8731-2 intended to secure the authenticity and integrity of banking transactions.

Attacks

Later, cryptanalysis of MAA revealed various weaknesses, including feasible brute-force attacks, existence of collision clusters, and key-recovery techniques. For this reason, MAA was withdrawn from ISO standards in 2002.

Formal specifications of the MAA

The MAA has been used as a case study for formal methods.

Bibliography

^ Davies, Donald W. (1985). "A Message Authenticator Algorithm Suitable for a Mainframe Computer". Advances in Cryptology – Proceedings of the Workshop on the Theory and Application of Cryptographic Techniques (CRYPTO’84), Santa Barbara, CA, USA. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 196. Springer. pp. 393–400. doi:10.1007/3-540-39568-7_30. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)
^ Davies, Donald W.; Clayden, David O. (1988). The Message Authenticator Algorithm (MAA) and its Implementation (PDF) (NPL Report DITC 109/88). Teddington, Middlesex, UK: National Physical Laboratory.

External links

Preneel, Bart (2011). "MAA". In van Tilborg, Henk C. A.; Jajodia, Sushil (eds.). Encyclopedia of Cryptography and Security (2nd Edition). Springer. pp. 741–742. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-5906-5_591.
http://www.cix.co.uk/~klockstone/maa.htm

[1] Davies, Donald W. (1985). "A Message Authenticator Algorithm Suitable for a Mainframe Computer". Advances in Cryptology – Proceedings of the Workshop on the Theory and Application of Cryptographic Techniques (CRYPTO’84), Santa Barbara, CA, USA. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 196. Springer. pp. 393–400. doi:10.1007/3-540-39568-7_30. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)

[2] Davies, Donald W.; Clayden, David O. (1988). The Message Authenticator Algorithm (MAA) and its Implementation (PDF) (NPL Report DITC 109/88). Teddington, Middlesex, UK: National Physical Laboratory.

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