Traditional Public-Key Cryptosystems and Elliptic Curve Cryptography

Abstract

The need to establish safer communication channels in a world where technological development is progressing in leaps and bounds is indispensable. Thus, implementing cryptographic algorithms, which are more complex to compromise, improves the possibilities of securing our sensitive data. In this paper, the authors analyze the algorithmic foundations and perform a comparative analysis of the traditional public-key cryptographic algorithms (e.g., RSA, ElGamal, Schnorr, DSA) and elliptic curve cryptography with NIST recommended curves. In the study, they focus on six different security strengths: 80-, 96-, 112-, 128-, 192-, and 256-bit key sizes. Moreover, this study provides a benchmark among different curves (NIST, SEC2, and IEFT Brainpool) that can be used with various security levels. The authors study and compare the characteristics and performance of the traditional asymmetric algorithms and the elliptic curve algorithms for information security. The results obtained in this study will be graphically visualized through statistical graphs and tables with quantification response times.