PFS-UNI Breve Tufvassons

protocol PFS-UNI is a component of the Breve Tufvasson’s protocol that provides perfect forward secrecy (PFS). It consists of two steps: 1. The first step is an ephemeral key exchange which involves generating a new public-private key pair (as opposed to re-using an existing one). This key pair is used to encrypt a message that contains a shared secret. 2. The second step is ratification of the shared secret. This involves having both sides of the communication generate a hash of the shared secret and compare it for authenticity. If the messages match, then the shared secret is ratified and the communication is secure. The PFS-UNI component ensures that the shared secret cannot be inferred even if an eavesdropper has managed to compromise either one of the private keys involved in the authentication. As the keys used in the ephemeral key exchange are regenerated with each new communication, the shared secret remains unknown to anyone outside of the communication.