Rust Cryptography Libraries: A Comprehensive Guide

Rust Cryptography Libraries: A Comprehensive Guide

Cryptography refers to the process of converting information into a secure format, primarily achieved through encryption. It ensures that data transmitted over the network is secure and reliable.

Although Rust has a random number generator, the most commonly used suite today is OpenSSL. As this guide shows, the Rust ecosystem offers a rich set of cryptography libraries to help secure data transmission between applications.

Overview of Cryptography Suites

• openssl

• Provides a secure interface to the popular OpenSSL cryptography library. This library has released 123 versions, with the latest stable version being 0.10.30, and follows the Apache 2.0 license.
• To use openssl, add the following to your Cargo.toml file:

  openssl="0.10.30"
  

• orion

• Aims to minimize the use of unsafe code. Supports Rust 1.41 and above, with the latest stable version being 0.15.4, based on the MIT license.
• Usage:

  orion="0.15.4"
  

• When used in a no_std environment, default features need to be disabled and the alloc feature may need to be enabled to allow Argon2i.

• libsodium-sys

• An open-source Rust binding to the libsodium library. The latest stable version is 0.2.6, suitable for Apache-2.0/MIT licensing.
• Supports various public and private key encryption functionalities.

• gpgme

• Facilitates easier access to GnuPG (GNU Privacy Guard) directly from applications. The stable version is 0.9.2, following the LGPL-2.1 license.

• ring

• An open-source library built on BoringSSL for constructing secure, fast, and small cryptographic applications. The latest stable version is 0.16.15.
• Add dependency:

  ring="0.16.15"
  

Random Number Generators (RNG) for Rust

Random number generators take non-deterministic input (such as phase noise or clock signals) to produce unpredictable numerical output. Here are several production-ready Rust RNG libraries:

• rand

• A library for generating random numbers in Rust, supporting various types and distributions.
• Latest version:

  rand="0.7"
  

• uuid

• Creates and parses universally unique identifiers (UUIDs), suitable for assigning unique identifiers to entities without a central allocation authority.
• Usage:

  uuid="0.8"
  

Password Hashing for Rust

Password hashing is a method for creating strong encryption keys. Here are some Rust password hashing libraries:

• bcrypt

• An open-source library that facilitates password hashing and verification in Rust. Minimum support for Rust 1.36.0.
• Add to your project:

  bcrypt="0.8.2"
  

• djangohashers

• A Rust port of the password primitives from the Django project, suitable for using its password hashing algorithms in any Rust project.
• Installation command:

  djangohashers="^1.3"
  

TLS Libraries for Rust

The TLS protocol ensures that data transmitted over the internet is encrypted to protect privacy and sensitive information.

• rustls

• A modern library implementing Rust TLS, emphasizing high levels of cryptographic security without configuration. The latest stable version is 0.18.1.
• Introduce dependency:

  rustls="0.18.1"
  

• tokio-openssl

• An implementation for the Tokio asynchronous runtime that supports OpenSSL. The latest stable version is 0.4.0.
• Usage:

  tokio-openssl="0.4.0"
  

This concludes the introduction to Rust cryptography libraries, hoping to help developers better understand and choose suitable cryptographic solutions.「Click 👇 to follow」

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Reference link: https://blog.logrocket.com/rust-cryptography-libraries-a-comprehensive-list/