Reviewing Cryptography

Almost no real system is broken by cryptanalysis. They are broken by misuse: a reused nonce, unauthenticated ciphertext, a comparison that returns early, a key checked into git. Review for misuse, and leave primitive design to cryptographers.

When to Use

• Auditing code that encrypts, decrypts, signs, verifies, or hashes
• Reviewing key management, rotation, and storage
• Assessing TLS/mTLS configuration and certificate validation
• Reviewing JWT, session token, and API signature schemes
• Checking password and secret storage
• Evaluating randomness quality for security-relevant values

When NOT to Use