Which of the following is NOT a known type of Message Authentication Code (MAC)?

The correct answer is C. Signature-based MAC (SMAC). Message Authentication Codes provide data integrity and authentication using a shared symmetric key. HMAC (Keyed-Hash MAC) uses a cryptographic hash function combined with a secret key, and is widely standardized. DES-CBC (CBC-MAC) uses a block cipher in CBC mode to produce an…

Submitted by krish.m· Apr 18, 2026Cryptography

Question

Exhibit

Options

AKeyed-hash message authentication code (HMAC)
BDES-CBC
CSignature-based MAC (SMAC)
DUniversal Hashing Based MAC (UMAC)

How the community answered

(45 responses)

A
7% (3)
B
2% (1)
C
87% (39)
D
4% (2)

Explanation

Message Authentication Codes provide data integrity and authentication using a shared symmetric key. HMAC (Keyed-Hash MAC) uses a cryptographic hash function combined with a secret key, and is widely standardized. DES-CBC (CBC-MAC) uses a block cipher in CBC mode to produce an authentication tag. UMAC (Universal Hashing Based MAC) is a fast, formally analyzed MAC standard. SMAC, or 'Signature-based MAC,' is not a recognized or standardized MAC type. Digital signatures are a separate concept from MACs - signatures use asymmetric keys, while MACs use symmetric keys. SMAC is a fabricated term and does not exist in standard cryptographic literature.

Topics

#Message Authentication Code (MAC)#Cryptographic primitives#Data integrity#Authentication

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