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doi:10.1016/0012-365X(92)90568-Z 
Copyright © 1992 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Incidence structures applied to cryptography
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Received 28 November 1991.
Available online 28 March 2002.
Abstract
We consider some combinatorial problems arising from the need to provide security on a communications network. Key management is one of the major considerations in the design of a security system. We discuss key distribution patterns, a method of reducing key storage in a large network, and secret sharing schemes which may be used to protect a key from loss or unauthorised access. In some circumstances it is of vital importance that the receiver knows that a message has not been altered (accidentally or deliberately by a third party) during transmission. We describe combinatorial designs, known as authentication schemes, which may be used to provide encodings which can detect such alterations.
