Cryptography in OpenBSD: an overview

Abstract

Cryptographic mechanisms are an important security component of an operating system in securing the system itself and its communication paths. Indeed, in many situations, cryptography is the only tool that can solve a particular problem, e.g., network-level security. While cryptography by itself does not guarantee security, when applied correctly, it can signi#cantly improve overall security. Since one of the main foci of the OpenBSD system is security,various cryptographic mechanisms are employed in a number of di#erent roles.