Project Ideas

JCrypTool (JCT) is the most wide-spread platform independent e-learning program for cryptography and cryptanalysis. It runs under Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. It is supported and used by universities all over the world.

The following two lists contain smaller and larger projects for the JCrypTool platform. The first list contains crypto related project ideas, the second list non-crypto related project ideas. Each project is either in status idea, active or finished.

Even a finished project may be extended with new features in a new project. In case you are interested in an active project, do not hesitate to contact us; it might be possible to complete this project together with another team member. Projects with status idea are waiting for any interested developer or developers. Please contact us right away!

Nothing of interest available for you but you do like the JCrypTool project and you want to be a part of it? Feel free to contact us: We might have some more ideas at an early stage that are not quite ready for our lists here; and of course we are open to any further ideas you might have!

If you have questions or need more information on a possible development task, don't hesitate to post a question in our developers group.

##Proceeding Please contact Dominik Schadow or Bernhard Esslinger in case you want to work on a project listed on this page. We will update its status and add your name to the selected task. At the same time, we will create a new entry in one of our issue trackers (core, crypto or incubator), in which you track your progress.

##Specifications The specifications given for each task are generally not very strict and not very extensive. This is on purpose. The main intention of these lists is to give you some project ideas. You can be creative and develop a solution with fancy cryptographic animations, easy to use wizards and lots of support for the user. Everything is up to you. The only important thing we strongly ask for is full Eclipse 4.x compatibility, which means the usage of Eclipse functionality like SWT and JFace and no deprecated methods.

##Knowledge Prerequisite Most projects listed below require at least some Eclipse plug-in and RCP development knowledge as well as cryptographic knowledge. This knowledge is of course not required from the beginning, you can learn this while developing your project! What is required from the beginning is Java knowledge and some practical experience developing in this language. What we expect is curiosity and a lot of interest in learning and experimenting with new technologies.

Normally, all JCrypTool plug-ins are available in English and German. In case you don't speak any German we will find somebody else to translate your plug-in. This is why German is an optional requirement most of the time in the following lists.

##Contact Options More information is available from the JCrypTool community which you may contact in the JCrypTool Developers Group or in our IRC channel #jcryptool on freenode.

##Crypto Related Projects

###[001] XML Security (active) Integrate the complete XML Security Tools plug-ins into JCrypTool to enable users to sign/verify/encrypt/decrypt XML documents in JCrypTool. The plug-in is already partially integrated in JCrypTool. Sources are included in our crypto repository, containing org.jcryptool.crypto.xml in the project name.

####Required Features

• Plug-in for the Algorithm category
• Integration of all XML Security wizards into the JCrypTool cryptographic extension points
• Usage of the JCrypTool keystore, replace all proprietary keystore functionality in the XML Security Tools
• Help update to match the new GUI/ functionality
• Context help update to match the new GUI/ functionality

####Optional Features

• German translation of GUI and help files
• Cheat Sheet updates

####Knowledge Prerequisite

• Basic cryptographic knowledge
• Good Java and Eclipse developer plug-in knowledge
• English

####Project Data

• Mentor: Dominik Schadow
• Developers: Dominik Schadow
• Start: 05/2011
• End:

#	Project	Mentor	Developed By	Start	End	Status
002	Console View Command line interface for crypto functionality	Dominik Schadow	Dominik Schadow	05/2009	01/2010	finished
003	Actions View Action history view with replay functionality (like a macro recorder) for all algorithm operations (classic and modern)	Dominik Schadow	Dominik Schadow	04/2009	01/2010	finished
004	Key Exchange An implementation of pairing based multi-partite key exchange protocols	Bernhard Esslinger	Cristina Onete, TU Eindhoven	09/2008	03/2009	finished
005	Visualization Visualization of classic algorithms and its analysis	Bernhard Esslinger	Simon Leischnig	09/2008	12/2009	finished
006	S/MIME & PGP A demonstration of the interchangeability of PGP and S/MIME formats. Pre-work for this project is available. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
007	S/MIME A demonstration of the S/MIME standard for secure e-mail. Pre-work for this project is available. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, basic Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
008	NumberShark Educational game for pupils	Bernhard Esslinger	Johannes Späth	08/2008	12/2008	finished
009	Zero-Knowledge A visualization of zero-knowledge proofs	Bernhard Esslinger	David Hetzl	04/2008	05/2008	finished
010	ACO Algorithm A visualization of the ACO algorithm for cryptanalysis of simple transposition algorithms. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				finished
011	Huffman Code A visualization of Huffman codes. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger	Miray Cetin	10/2013	01/2014	finished
012	Entropy Comprehensive entropy plug-in for entropy education and entropy application in cryptanalysis (for texts from different languages). Pre-work for this project is available. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
013	Dragon Cipher Implementation for this modern symmetric cipher	Bernhard Esslinger	QUT, Brisbane	09/2008	02/2009	finished
014	LFSR Cipher Implementation for this modern symmetric cipher	Bernhard Esslinger	QUT, Brisbane	09/2008	02/2009	finished
015	Stream Cipher Concept/Design study: Stream cipher for education	Bernhard Esslinger	Christian Wagner, Uni MA	11/2008	03/2009	finished
016	Stream Cipher Stream cipher visualization for education. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
017	Side-Channel Attacks Design and prevention of side-channel attacks. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
018	SHA3 Implement three of the SHA-3 proposals: ECHO, JH and Skein Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Bernhard Esslinger	FH Oberösterreich	10/2009	03/2010	finished
019	Cube Attack New attack idea against symmetric ciphers. Pre-work for this project is available. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
020	Steganography Visualization of different methods of steganography. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
021	Admin tool for an automatic metadata update of the integrated Bouncy Castle API Currently the crypto service providers FlexiProvider (FP) and Bouncy Castle (BC) are used in JCT. Only for FP versions JCT has the feature to automatically adopt its offered functions when updating the shipped FlexiProvider plug-in. The reason is, that only FP describes its functions in special metadata which is extracted into an XML file which is used at runtime by JCT. This keeps the JCrypTool program up-to-date dynamically when a new FP library is released and the corresponding JCrypTool updated with it (this means that JCT will adapt its menus and the dynamic wizards in the function-centric view to always match a new FP version). An important task for JCT and for BC will be to maintain such metadata in BC and implement an admin tool for BC, as BC will be the default crypto provider for JCT in the future. The admin tool may be an Eclipse IDE plug-in or a command line tool which is not intended to be shipped to the end-user, it is an internal tool for the JCT developers. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java (and Eclipse plug-in) developer skills, English	Dominik Schadow	TU Darmstadt			idea
022	Key Storage Alternate password storage for non-FlexiProvider algorithms. Knowledge prerequisite: basic cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Dominik Schadow				idea
023	Cryptanalysis Various tools for analysis of already implemented ciphers/protocols/formats. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
024	Grille Cipher Visualization of the grille cipher (Fleissner Schablone)	Bernhard Esslinger	Patricia Quellmalz	03/2009		finished
025	Hashes Visualization Visualize hash sensitivity (analogue to CrypTool 1). Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
026	Certificate Validity Visualize the certificate validity models (shell and chain). Pre-work for this project is available. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
027	Knapsack Cipher Implement and visualize the knapsack problem (Merkle-Hellman knapsack cipher and the according attacks). Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
028	Rabin Cipher Implement and visualize the Rabin public key cipher (1979). Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
029	Text Filter/Transform Implement a general dialog to filter and transform a text document (e.g. before encrypting it)	Dominik Schadow	Simon Leischnig	03/2009	12/2009	finished
030	Text Filter/Transform Improving the classic algorithms, e. g. by implementing the transformation page as a core part of the wizards	Dominik Schadow	Simon Leischnig	09/2009	12/2009	finished
031	Screencast English Create English screencasts or videos for certain cryptographic operations (should be identical with #032). Select one plug-in in each crypto category (algorithms, analysis, games, visuals) and show its possibilities in a screencast or a short video. Output will be integrated in our portal. Knowledge prerequisite: Basic cryptographic knowledge, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
032	Screencast German Create German screencasts or videos for certain cryptographic operations (should be identical with #031). Select one plug-in in each crypto category (algorithms, analysis, games, visuals) and show its possibilities in a screencast or a short video. Output will be integrated in our portal. Knowledge prerequisite: Basic cryptographic knowledge, German	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
033	Crypto Cheat Sheets English Develop English cheat sheets for certain cryptographic operations (must be identical with #034). Create interactive cheat sheets for one plug-in in each crypto category (algorithms, analysis, games, visuals) and describe the usage of the plug-in. Knowledge prerequisite: basic cryptographic knowledge, basic Eclipse plug-in developer knowledge, English	Dominik Schadow				idea
034	Crypto Cheat Sheets German Develop German cheat sheets for certain cryptographic operations (must be identical with #033). Create interactive cheat sheets for one plug-in in each crypto category (algorithms, analysis, games, visuals) and describe the usage of the plug-in. Knowledge prerequisite: basic cryptographic knowledge, basic Eclipse plug-in developer knowledge, German	Dominik Schadow				idea
035	Digital Signature Visualization Develop a digital signature visualization plug-in to fully visualize the generation process of a digital signature. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Eckehard Hermann	FH Oberösterreich	03/2013	08/2013	finished
036	Viterbi Visualization Implement a visualization of the Viterbi algorithm. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Eckehard Hermann	FH Oberösterreich	10/2010	05/2011	finished
037	SHA3 Candidates Implement and visualize all SHA3 candidates. #018 already implemented three of them; this task should extend the created plug-in and provide implementations for the other SHA3 candidates. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
038	Steganalysis Implement and visualize classic and modern methods of steganalysis. Knowledge prerequisite: strong statistical/cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
039	Homomorphic Signatures for Digital Photographs Homomorphic signatures for digital photographs. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
040	Comprehensive LFSR Builder Implement and visualize the analysis of LFSR algorithms. Knowledge prerequisite: strong knowledge of modern symmetric cryptography, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
041	User Help English Extend the English online help in a consistent manner for all build-in functionality. Always describe the theory behind a cryptographic operation, and the way, the user can use the dialogs and its options. Must be identical with #042. Knowledge prerequisite: broad cryptographic knowledge, basic Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
042	User Help German Extend the German online help in a consistent manner for all build-in functionality. Always describe the theory behind a cryptographic operation, and the way, the user can use the dialogs and its options. Must be identical with #041. Knowledge prerequisite: broad cryptographic knowledge, basic Eclipse plug-in developer skills, German	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
043	Jefferson Wheel	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
044	Verifiable Secret Sharing Verifiable Secret Sharing is a secret sharing algorithm for sharing a secret. The secret is distributed in a way that every person receives a unique part of the secret. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Eckehard Hermann	FH Oberösterreich	10/2011	02/2012	finished
045	Prime number functionality Implement the typical functions around primes and for supporting the RSA method, like a prime number test, the generation of primes, the factorization of compound numbers, ... Knowledge prerequisite: broad cryptographic knowledge, basic Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
046	SSL/TLS Visualization Visualization of the SSL/TLS protocols. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Eckehard Hermann	FH Oberösterreich	10/2013		active
047	Digital Signature Verification Visualization Visualization of the Digital Signature Verification. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Eckehard Hermann	FH Oberösterreich	10/2013		active
048	Divider Game Implementation of the divider game. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Bernhard Esslinger	Sebastian Roland	10/2013		active
049	Brute-Force Attack on Modern Symmetric Ciphers Brute-Force Attack on Modern Symmetric Ciphers. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Bernhard Esslinger	Matthias Walthart	10/2013		active
050	N-Gram Analysis N-Gram Analysis to Determine the Origin of a Text. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Bernhard Esslinger	Dmitrijs Abalenkovs	10/2013		active
051	Framework for analyzing modern symmetric ciphers The European ECRYPT program has done research on crypto algorithms. A broad collection of tools related to cryptanalysis was published. The aim is to bundle these and update them within JCT. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
052	Improve classroom fitness In the article "The Design and Use of Interactive Visualization Applets for Teaching Ciphers" by Dino Schweitzer and Leemon Baird, presented at the 7th IEEE Workshop on Information Assurance, 2006 the authors evaluate several crypto tools. Despite the relative leading position of CrypTool ("Of the cryptography tools reviewed, perhaps the most comprehensive interactive one is the freeware program CrypTool.") there are several requirements they suggest to make this tool fitting better for teachers and lecturers. The aim is that the visualizations had to be quickly understood in a classroom setting. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
053	Enlarge the spectrum of algorithms offered JCrypTool already contains most or all of the state-of-the-art crypto algorithms. In the area of historical ciphers many are missing. A head start to change this could be incorporating existing Java libraries (like http://awr.free.fr or http://members.aon.at/cipherclerk). Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Bernhard Esslinger				idea
054	Factorization framework There is a broad set of algorithms to factorize numbers into their primes. These tools like brute-force, Pollard, Lenstra, Quadratic Sieve, General Number Field Sieve are appropriate for different numbers and given ressources. The aim is to bring them together and reuse the best tools there (like msieve), however in addition improve the decesion which algorithm to choose, avoid wrong results by currently used script. Knowledge prerequisite: good cryptographic knowledge, good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English/ German	Bernhard Esslinger				idea

##Non-Crypto Related Projects

#	Project	Mentor	Developed By	Start	End	Status
001	Language Switch Changing of the national language within JCrypTool (with automatic restart)	Dominik Schadow	Thomas Wiese	08/2009	08/2009	finished
002	Basic Screencast English Create an English screencast or video demonstrating the general functionality/ usage of JCrypTool (should be identical with #003). Output will be integrated in our portal. Knowledge prerequisite: Basic Eclipse knowledge, English	Dominik Schadow				idea
003	Basic Screencast German Create a German screencast or video demonstrating the general functionality/ usage of JCrypTool (should be identical with #002). Output will be integrated in our portal. Knowledge prerequisite: Basic Eclipse knowledge, German	Dominik Schadow				idea
004	Hex Editor Integrate the Eclipse Hex Editor Plugin (EHEP) into the JCrypTool RCP and replace the existing Hex editor plug-in. Knowledge prerequisite: Good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Dominik Schadow	Anatoli Barski	11/2012	11/2012	finished
005	XML Editor Develop a basic XML editor as Eclipse plug-in working in a RCP. Knowledge prerequisite: strong Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Dominik Schadow				idea
006	User Feedback Develop a plug-in which enables users to send feedback for JCrypTool from inside the RCP. Users should enter a comment and can select a mark for JCrypTool. Besides that it should be possible to submit a bug report (including a stack trace) with the same functionality. Knowledge prerequisite: good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Dominik Schadow				idea
007	Eclipse e4 Migration Test Do a test migration of the complete JCrypTool platform to Eclipse e4 (latest 4.3 release). Document all changes required to make JCrypTool compile and run under the new Eclipse version. Knowledge prerequisite: strong Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Dominik Schadow	Anatoli Barski	07/2013	09/2013	finished
008	Hudson Build Process Set up and document the complete JCrypTool build process on Hudson using the existing Maven/ Tycho configuration. Knowledge prerequisite: good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, good Hudson knowledge, good Maven/ Tycho knowledge, English	Dominik Schadow				idea
009	Automatic Update Check Configure the JCrypTool update manager to check for updates once a month. Knowledge prerequisite: good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Dominik Schadow				idea
010	Automatic Tests Explore Eclipse Jubula and provide sample tests to test JCrypTool. These tests should be integrated in the not yet complete Hudson build process. Knowledge prerequisite: Good Java and Eclipse plug-in developer skills, English	Dominik Schadow				idea