A secure key authentication scheme for cryptosystems based on GDLP and IFP

Abstract

The advancement of public-key cryptography in recent years has offered strong background support for the invention of numerous new system applications vastly employed in electronic business as well as other fields. However, that does not change the fact that the one-and-only Internet still remains open and unprotected. Therefore, for the sake of information security, confirming the legality of an entity’s public key is always critical. Typically, a key authentication scheme needs one or more authorities to authenticate keys. To make a difference, in this study, we have developed a new key authentication scheme using generalized discrete logarithm problem and integer factorization problem for cryptosystems. Although the new scheme works pretty much the same way as regular certificate-based techniques, it differs in that it needs no authority. Taking the password/secret key pair as the certificate of public key for an entity, the new key authentication technique is very simple but profoundly secure.