Question

Elliptic Curve Cryptography has gained momentum in an application recently because of the relatively smaller key size to achieve the same level of security using another asymmetrical algorithm like RSA. For example, a key size of 3072 in RSA has the same strength as an ECC key size of 256. In this paper, you are going to explain the Elliptic Curve Algorithm and why the key size does not have to be large to provide an acceptable level of security for today's computing needs.

Answer 1

Elliptic curve cryptography:

This is a very powerful method for public key encryption. It makes use of the mathematical functions of elliptic curves. This helps in generating key pair security. It also offers security with small key size.

Working:

An elliptical curve is a set of points that are used to determine the curve shape. This curve is used over different fields for the formation of secret unlockable by private key holders. Based on the point set used, a curve is created. A line is then made to pass through the points and when it reaches the third intersection point, another point is created. All the intersection points are called dots. Only the person with a private key can know about intersection points.

Size of key:

If the size of the key is large, the curve will also be large. This makes the given problem hard to solve. And with a small key of size 256, it offers the same level of security that can be reached with a key size of 3072 bit on RSA.