Characters in cryptography
In cryptography and computer security, there are a number of widely-used names for participants in various protocols.
- Alice and Bob. Generally Alice wants to send a message to Bob
- Carol, Dave, and so on may be involved when more than two parties are communicating.
- Eve, an evesdropper, can spy on messages between Alice and Bob but generally cannot modify them. It is important that she not be able to determine the content of the message being sent.
- Trudy, "intruder", is more dangerous than Eve because she can modify messages in transit. It is desired that Alice and Bob be able to detect Trudy's influence, and either ignore the changed message or somehow retreive the correct message anyway.
- Mallory, a manipulator, sometimes appears instead of Trudy.
- Trent, a trusted arbitrator, is some kind of neutral third party, whose exact role varies with the protocol under discussion.
- Peggy, a prover, and Victor, a verifier, often must interact in some way to show that the intended transaction has actually taken place. They are often found in zero knowledge proofs.
- Walter, a warden, may be needed to guard Alice and Bob in some respect
External links
- [http://www.conceptlabs.co.uk/alicebob.html There is a mythology around Alice and Bob
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