Author:
Luigi Maria Bottasso
Affiliation:
AgustaWestland, Italy
Keyword(s):
Elliptic Curve Cryptography, Direct Embedding Schemes, Public Key Infrastructure, Social Networking.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Applied Cryptography
;
Cryptographic Techniques and Key Management
;
Data and Application Security and Privacy
;
Data Engineering
;
Databases and Data Security
;
Information and Systems Security
;
Security and Privacy in Social Networks
;
Security Deployment
;
Security in Information Systems
Abstract:
A new library of modular arithmetic and cryptographic functions was coded, and then used for the development
of a crypto tool. We present the architecture and functionality of a hybrid ECC-AES cryptosystem which can
be quickly deployed even in absence of Public Key Infrastructures and associated Certification Authorities.
The tool was conceived for use in combination with readily available resources, e.g. email and possibly social
networks. It allows secure exchange of files with associated ECDSA digital signature, providing the user
with substantial flexibility and control of the security settings. Established protocols were used in an original
way, notably exploiting direct embedding of the AES session key into an elliptic curve. The code has been
developed in C++ entirely from scratch, with no use of pre-existing libraries. The implementation is associated
with a web site http://www.elcrypto.com, www.elcrypto.com aimed at promoting the benefits of Elliptic Curve
Cryptography.