From an upcoming app that needs to encrypt your data using a passphrase, using industry standard methods:

#import <CommonCrypto/CommonKeyDerivation.h>

...

// Makes a random 256-bit salt
- (NSData*)generateSalt256 {
    unsigned char salt[32];
    for (int i=0; i<32; i++) {
        salt[i] = (unsigned char)arc4random();
    }
    return [NSData dataWithBytes:salt length:32];
}

...

// Make keys!
NSString* myPass = @"MyPassword1234";
NSData* myPassData = [myPass dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
NSData* salt = [self generateSalt256];

// How many rounds to use so that it takes 0.1s ?
int rounds = CCCalibratePBKDF(kCCPBKDF2, myPassData.length,
    salt.length, kCCPRFHmacAlgSHA256, 32, 100);

// Open CommonKeyDerivation.h for help
unsigned char key[32];
CCKeyDerivationPBKDF(kCCPBKDF2, myPassData.bytes, myPassData.length,
    salt.bytes, salt.length, kCCPRFHmacAlgSHA256, rounds, key, 32);
NSData* keyData = [NSData dataWithBytes:key length:32];

Thanks for reading! And if you want to get in touch, I'd love to hear from you: chris.hulbert at gmail.

Chris Hulbert

(Comp Sci, Hons - UTS)

iOS Developer (Freelancer / Contractor) in Australia.

I have worked at places such as Google, Cochlear, Assembly Payments, News Corp, Fox Sports, NineMSN, FetchTV, Coles, Woolworths, Trust Bank, and Westpac, among others. If you're looking for help developing an iOS app, drop me a line!

Get in touch:
[email protected]
github.com/chrishulbert
linkedin
my resume



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