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Topic Cryptography
Asked 5 times across 2 UPSC exams over 5 years (2021–2026), peaking in 2026.
Key insights
- Most tested in ESE — 3 of 5 PYQs
- Most asked in 2026
- Recurs across 3 years (2021–2026)
How it travelled across exams
First appearance in each exam — the same idea, reframed.
CISF 2021 → ESE 2026
How the concept evolved
Rising — more than half its appearances (5 of 5) are since 2016.
Related concepts
Ideas UPSC tests alongside this one — keep exploring.
Sample questions
You've seen the pattern — here are a few of the actual PYQs.
ESE2026
In an RSA system, the public key of a given user is e = 65, n = 2881. What is the private key of this user ?
- A 638
- B 725
- C 2031
- D 3031
Answer key not yet available (pending official release)
Engineering › Electronics
ESE2026
What happens if a k value used in creating a Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) signature is compromised ?
- A A user's public key is compromised if k is discovered
- B A user's private key is not compromised if k is discovered
- C A user's private key is compromised if k is discovered
- D A user's public key is not compromised if k is discovered
Answer key not yet available (pending official release)
Engineering › Electronics
ESE2026
In cryptography, to construct an unbreakable cipher text, which one of the following logical operations is used in one-time pads ?
- A XOR
- B AND
- C NAND
- D XNOR
Answer key not yet available (pending official release)
Engineering › Electronics
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