50620130101002

Journal of Computer Engineering & Technology (JCET) ISSN 2347-3908 (Print), ISSN
2347-3916 (Online), Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013)
10
A SURVEY OF ELLIPTIC CURVE CRYPTOGRAPHY USING
CHARACTER CONVERSION METHOD
Arun Kumar Gandhi, Dr. S.S.Tyagi
ABSTRACT
In the recent years, elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) has gained widespread
exposure and acceptance and has already been include in many security standards. It is
widely recognized that data security will play a central role in the design of future IT system.
Elliptic key cryptography recently gained lot of attention in industries when we talk about
security. This paper discusses the basic operation how ECC is more secure than other public
key cryptosystems and also how security can be enhanced in ECC by using Character-
Conversion-Method.
Keywords: Elliptic Curve Cryptography, Security
I. INTRODUCTION
Encryption is the process of transforming plaintext data into cipher text in order to
conceal its meaning and so preventing any unauthorized recipient from retrieving the original
data. Hence, the main task of encryption is to ensure secrecy. Companies usually encrypt
their data before transmission to ensure that the data is secure during transit.[9] The
encrypted data is sent over the public network and is decrypted by the intended recipient.
There are many encryption algorithms are developed and widely used for information
security. They can be categorized into symmetric (private) and asymmetric (public) keys
encryption.
Symmetric keys encryption only uses one key to encrypt and decrypt data. The key
should be distributed before transmission between entities. Keys play a very important role
because if weak key is used in algorithm then everyone may decrypt the data. Strength of
Symmetric key encryption depends on the size of used key.[13]
For the same algorithm, encryption using longer key is harder to break than the one
done using smaller key. There are many examples of strong and weak keys of cryptography
algorithms like RC2, DES, 3DES, RC6, Blowfish, and AES. RC2 and DES use one 64-bit
key. Triple DES (3DES) uses three 64-bits keys while AES uses various (128,192,256) bits
keys. Blowfish uses various (32-448) key. RC6 uses various (128,192,256) bit keys where
default is 128 bits. [1-3].
JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
(JCET)
ISSN 2347-3908 (Print)
ISSN 2347-3916 (Online)
Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013), pp.10-17
© IAEME: http://www.iaeme.com/JCET.asp
JCET
© I A E M E

11
Asymmetric key encryption is used to solve the problem of key distribution. In Asymmetric
keys, two keys are used: private and public keys. Public key is used for encryption and
private key is used for decryption (E.g. RSA and Digital Signatures). Public key is known to
the public while private key is known only to the user. There is no need for distributing them
prior to transmission. However, public key encryption is based on mathematical functions,
computationally intensive and is not very efficient for small mobile devices such as cell
phone, PDA, and so on. In Asymmetric key encryption, private key and public key are used.
Public key is used for encryption and private key is used for decryption (E.g. RSA, Digital
Signatures and ECC). [11]
In public key cryptography each user or the device taking part in the communication
have a pair of keys, a public key and a private key, and a set of operations associated with the
keys to do the cryptographic operations [9]. Only the particular user/device knows the private
key whereas the public key is distributed to all users/devices taking part in the
communication. Since the knowledge of public key does not compromise the security of the
algorithms, it can be easily exchanged online.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. We review the the asymmetric
algorithms in section II describe their operations in section III & proposal for enhance the
security level of Elliptic Key Cryptography from various attacks in section IV.
II. PUBLIC KEY CRYPTOSYSTEMS
In this section, we have an overview and cryptanalysis public key cryptosystems
RSA, DH and ECC.
A. THE RSA CRYPTOSYSTEM
We begin with a brief review of the RSA scheme. It is based on the hard
mathematical problem of integer factorisation, i.e. given a number that is the product of two
large prime numbers, factorise the number to find the primes.
RSA Key generation
Given the ―public exponent‖ e, generate two large prime numbers p and q, such that
(p-1) and e have no common divisor greater than 1 and (q-1) and e have no prime divisor
greater than 1. Let n = pq, the product of p and q. Solve (for d) the equation ed = 1 mod (p-1)
(q-1). The public key is the pair of numbers {n,e} and the private key is the pair {n,d}.
RSA Encryption and Decryption
Encryption uses a public key, so that the ciphertext corresponding to plaintext m is c
= me
(mod n). Decryption uses the corresponding private key, so m = cd
(mod n).
RSA – and the Integer factorization problem
As we know RSA is the first asymmetric cryptosystem to have seen widespread use is
also one of the most accessible illustrations of this principle in action. RSA gets its security
from the difficulty of factoring very large numbers. The difficulty of getting the plaintext
message back from the ciphertext and the public key is related to the difficulty of factoring a
very large product of two prime numbers [4].
As an illustration of this: imagine you were to take two very large prime numbers —
say, 200 digits long, and were then to multiply them together. Now the result you get has two
particular properties:
(i) It is very large (about 400 digits in length),
(ii) It has two, and exactly two factors, both prime numbers the two primes you just
multiplied together

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You can easily give the two prime numbers from which you start find the product.
But finding the primes given only the product is more difficult. So much more, in fact, that
once the numbers get adequately large, it is almost impossible to find them you simply
cannot assemble enough computing power to do so. So the multiplying of two large prime
numbers together is the (relatively) easy forward function in this asymmetric algorithm. Its
inverse the factor finding operation is considerably more difficult, and in practical terms, it‘s
intractable [3, 4].
The RSA system employs this fact to generate public and private key pairs. The keys
are functions of the product and of the primes. Operations performed using the cryptosystem
is arranged so that the operations we wish to be tractable require performing the relatively
easy forward function — multiplication. Conversely, the operations we wish to make
difficult — finding the plaintext from the ciphertext using only the public key — require
performing the inverse operation — solving the factoring problem.
The Diffie-Hellman/DSA Cryptosystems and the
Discrete Logarithm Problem
Diffie-Hellman (DH) along with the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) based on it is
another of the asymmetric cryptosystems in general use. ECC, in a sense, is an evolved form
of DH. So to understand how ECC works, it helps to understand how DH works first. DH
uses a problem known as the discrete logarithm problem as its central, asymmetric operation.
The discrete log problem concerns finding logarithm of a number within a finite field
arithmetic system. Prime fields are fields whose sets are prime - that is, they have a prime
number of members. These are of particular interest in asymmetric cryptography because,
over a prime field, exponentiation turns out to be a relatively easy operation, while the
inverse computing the logarithm is very difficult. To generate a key pair in the discrete
logarithm (DL) system, therefore, you calculate:
y= (gx
) mod p ……………………………….. (1)
Where p is a large prime — the field size x and g are smaller than p. y is the public
key. x is used as the private key. In DH, again, the operations we wish to make ‗easy‘, or
tractable, we harness to the operation in the field which is (relatively) easy exponentiation. So
encryption using the public key is an exponentiation operation. Decryption using the private
key is as well. Decryption using the public key, however, would require performing the
difficult inverse operation solving the discrete logarithm problem. The discrete logarithm
problem, using the values in the equation above, is simply finding x given only y, g and p.
Expanding that thought slightly: someone has multiplied g by itself x times, and
reduced the result into the field (performed the modulo operation) as often as necessary to
keep the result smaller than p. Now, knowing y, g and p, you‘re trying to find out what value
of x they used. It turns out that for large enough values of p, where p is prime, this is
extraordinarily difficult to do much more difficult than just finding y from g, x and p. If you
grasp what‘s going on in the operations above, you‘re now in a position to grasp the basic
math behind the DSA and discrete logarithm systems.
And, by extension, you also understand some of the principles behind ECC. ECC —
as we‘ll discuss in greater detail a little later — also uses a discrete log problem in a finite
group. The difference is that ECC defines its group differently. And it is, in fact, the
difference in how the group is defined and particularly how the mathematical operations
within the group are defined that give ECC its greater security for a given key size.

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B. ELLIPTIC KEY CRYPTOGRAPHY
Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) is a public key cryptography. In public key
cryptography each user or the device taking part in the communication generally have a pair
of keys, a public key and a private key, and a set of operations associated with the keys to do
the cryptographic operations [6]. Only the particular user knows the private key whereas the
public key is distributed to all users taking part in the communication.
Some public key algorithm may require a set of predefined constants to be known by
all the devices taking part in the communication. ‗Domain parameters‘in ECC is an example
of such constants. Public key cryptography, unlike private key cryptography, does not require
any shared secret between the communicating parties but it is much slower than the private
key cryptography.
The mathematical operations of ECC is defined over the elliptic curve y2
= x3
+ ax +
b where 4a3
+ 27b2
≠ 0. Each value of the ‗a‘and ‗b‘gives a different elliptic curve. All
points (x, y) which satisfies the above equation plus a point at infinity lies on the elliptic
curve. The public key is a point in the curve and the private key is a random number. The
public key is obtained by multiplying the private key with the generator point G in the curve
[7,8]. The generator point G, the curve parameters ‗a‘and ‗b‘, together with few more
constants constitutes the domain parameter of ECC. One main advantage of ECC is its small
key size. A 160-bit key in ECC is considered to be as secured as 1024-bit key in RSA.
Discrete Logarithm Problem
The security of ECC depends on the difficulty of Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithm
Problem. Let P and Q be two points on an elliptic curve such that kP = Q, where k is a scalar.
Given P and Q, it is computationally infeasible to obtain k, if k is sufficiently large. k is the
discrete logarithm of Q to the base P. Hence the main operation involved in ECC is point
multiplication. I.e. multiplication of a scalar k with any point P on the curve to obtain another
point Q on the curve.
III. ECC FOUNDATIONS
Scalar Point Multiplication
The dominant operation in ECC cryptographic schemes is scalar point multiplication.
This is the operation which is the key to the use of elliptic curves for asymmetric
cryptography the critical operation which is itself fairly simple, but whose inverse (the elliptic
curve discrete logarithm problem defined below) is very difficult. ECC arranges itself so that
when you wish to performance operation the cryptosystem should make easy encrypting a
message with the public key, decrypting it with the private key, the operation you are
performing is point multiplication [3].
Point multiplication is simply calculating kP, where k is an integer and P is a point on
the elliptic curve defined in the prime field. In point multiplication a point P on the elliptic
curve is multiplied with a scalar k using elliptic curve equation to obtain another point Q on
the same elliptic curve. I.e. KP=Q. Point multiplication is achieved by two basic elliptic
curve operations.
• Point addition, adding two points J and K to obtain another point L i.e., L = J + K.
• Point doubling, adding a point J to itself to obtain another point L i.e. L = 2J.
Point addition
Point addition is the addition of two points J and K on an elliptic curve to obtain
another point L on the same elliptic curve. Consider two points J and K on an elliptic curve

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as shown in figure (a). If K ≠ -J then a line drawn through the points J and K will intersect
the elliptic curve at exactly one
More point –L. The reflection of the point –L with respect to x-axis gives the point L,
which is the result of addition of points J and K. Thus on an elliptic curve L = J + K. If K = -J
the line through this point intersect at a point at infinity O. Hence J + (-J) = O. This is shown
in figure (b). O is the additive identity of the elliptic curve group. A negative of a point is the
reflection of that point with respect to x-axis.
Figure 1: Addition of two points
O is the additive identity of the elliptic curve group. A negative of a point is the
reflection of that point with respect to x-axis.
Point doubling
Point doubling is the addition of a point J on the elliptic curve to itself to obtain
another point L on the same elliptic curve.
Fig 2: Doubling of points
To double a point J to get L, i.e. to find L = 2J, consider a point J on an elliptic curve
as shown in figure (a). If y coordinate of the point J is not zero then the tangent line at J will
intersect the elliptic curve at exactly one more point –L. The reflection of the point –L with
respect to x-axis gives the point L, which is the result of doubling the point J.
Thus L = 2J. If y coordinate of the point J is zero then the tangent at this point
intersects at a point at infinity O. Hence 2J = O when yJ = 0. This is shown in figure (b)

15
Elliptic Curve Example:
Let the equation of the curve is y2
mod p = x3
+ ax + b mod p Inputs: a, b, p (is key of
the ECC algorithm). Choose two non-negative integers a, b and a large prime number such
that 4a3
+ 27b 2
mod p! =0. For Example, the following figure (fig 1) shows the elliptic
curve, y2
mod 41 = x3
+ x + 1 mod 41. Here points P, Q lie on the curve and P+Q gives
another point that lie on the line that connects P and Q as shown in the fig 1 below.
Figure: 3
The set of points on the above curve are
{
[0 1],[0 40] ,[3, 20], [3, 21], [5, 7], [5, 34], [6, 10],[6, 31] ,[7, 8], [7, 33] ,[9,
1],[9, 40],
[11,20],[11,21],[19,14],[19,27],[24,14],[24,27],
[27,20],[27,21],[28,13],[28,28],[31,4],[31,37], [19 5],[19 18]
}
Multiplication of a point with a positive integer k is
Defined as the sum of copies of P, k times. This operation is called Point Multiplication in
ECC. So 3P=P+P+P. [9]
The above points from the Group i.e.Ep (a,b) . Each X and Y coordinates ranges
between 0 and 41. The addition of the two points on the curve and the inverse of a point on
the curve are defined in the field using modular arithmetic. The point at the infinity is identity
point on the curve.
IV. SECURITY IN ECC
As we discussed earlier that the security of ECC depends on the difficulty of Elliptic
Curve Discrete Logarithm Problem Now for our assumption USER A and USER B
communicate each other and sending message M securily.
1.Assume that Xp = 11 and Yp = 20 Where Xp and Yp are the base - points
2.Also Xm = 24 and Ym = 27
Where Xm & Ym are the message points
3. User A sends kap and l to User B.
Where kap is (35, 5) of User A and l = any random integer from 0 to 15.
4. Now User B computes the following points.
(i) l * P is (28,28)
(ii) l*kap is (5,7)

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(iii) l*kap+M is (3,21) where M is the message point.
5. Now User B sends 2 points
C1 = l*P is (5, 7)
C2 = (l*ka*P+M) to User A.
C2 – C1 = M which is the message point.
M is (24, 27)
1.Character - Conversion – Method : The Proposed Method
Now for our assumption USER A and USER B communicate each other and sending
message M securely.
1. Assume that Xp and Yp are the base points.
2. And also Xm & Ym are the message points.
3. User A sends kap and l to User B. Where kap is public key of User A and l = any random
integer from 0 to 15.
Suppose we take a character L. DEFINE: Char L;
l = random (15) + 3;
l = l + 64;
L = l;
Printf (―L = % c, where L is an character ‖, L); l = L – 64;
4. Now User B computes the following points.
i ) l * P
ii) l*kap
iii) l*kap+M , where M is the message point.
5. Now User B sends 2 points
i) C1 = l*P
ii ) C2 = (l*ka*P+M) to User A.
iii ) C2 – C1 = M which is the message point.
2. Encoding and Decoding through Message - Point
Let us suppose a text file or any image has to be encrypted with the message M. All
the points on the elliptic curve can be directly mapped to an ASCII value, select a curve on
which we will get a minimum of 128 points, so that we fix each point on the curve to an
ASCII value. For example, ‗EGYPT‘ can be written as sequence of ASCII characters that is
‗69‘ ‗71‘ ‗89‘ ‗80‘ ‗84‘. We can map these values to fixed points on the curve. It will
improve the security of our message. The above two methods are useful to prevent our secret
information from various attackers.
V. CONCLUSION
The above two methods are very efficient in terms of security when we talk about ―
brute-force ‖ attack and ― man-in the-middle-attack ‖. In first method integer value is
replaced by a character and every time a character takes less space as compared to an integer.
This will results in the memory savings, fast computation and low processing overhead. And
in second method the original message M encrypted with any text. It also results in the
enhancement of security level of ECC. And this, in the end, is the reason ECC is a stronger
option than the RSA and discrete logarithm systems for the future. And this, in the end, is

17
why ECC is such an excellent choice for doing asymmetric cryptography in portable,
necessarily constrained devices right now. As an example: as of this writing, a popular,
recommended RSA key size for most applications is 2,048 bits. For equivalent security using
ECC, you need a key of only 224 bits.
REFERENCES
[1] Darrel Hankerson, Julio Lopez Hernandez, Alfred Menezes, Software Implementation of
Elliptic Curve Cryptography over Binary Fields, 2000.
[2] M. Brown, D. Hankerson, J. Lopez, A. Menezes, Software Implementation of the NIST
Elliptic Curves Over Prime Fields, 2001.
[3] Certicom, Standards for Efficient Cryptography, SEC 1: Elliptic Curve Cryptography,
Version 1.0, September 2000.
[4] Certicom, Standards for Efficient Cryptography, SEC 2: Recommended Elliptic Curve
Domain Parameters, Version 1.0, September 2000
[5] Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot and Scott A. Vanstone, Handbook of Applied
Cryptography, CRC Press, 1996
[6] I. F. Blake, G. Seroussi, and N. P. Smart. Elliptic curves in cryptography, volume 265 of
London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series.Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
2000. Reprint of the 1999 original.
[7] D. Shanks. Class number, a theory of factorization, and genera. In 1969 Number Theory
Institute (Proc. Sympos. Pure Math., Vol. XX, State Univ. New York, Stony Brook, NY,
1969), pages 415 440. Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 1971.
[8] J. H. Silverman. The arithmetic of elliptic curves, volume 106 of Graduate Texts in
Mathematics. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1986.
[9] W. Trappe and L.Washington. Introduction to cryptography with coding theory, (2nd Ed.).
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2006.
[10] L. C. Washington. Elliptic curves. Number theory and cryptography, (2nd ed.). Chapman &
Hall/CRC, New York, NY, 2008. [11] A. S. Tanenbaum, "Modemn Operating Systems",
Prentice Hall, 2003.[3] M. J. B. Robshaw, "Block Ciphers", Technical Report,
RSALaboratories, Number TR - 601, July 1994.
[12] H.M. Heys and S.E. Tavares, "On the Security of the CAST Encryption Algorithm,"
Proceedings of the Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering, Halifax,
Nova Scotia, Sep 1994, pp. 332-335.
[13] R. Rivest, ―The encryption algorithm,‖ in Fast Software Encryption, ser. LNCS, vol. 1008.
Springer-Verlag, 1995, pp. 86–96.
[14] M.A. Viredaz and D.A. Wallach, ―Power Evaluation of a Handheld Computer: A Case
Study,‖ WRL Research Report, 2001/1.
[15] P. Ruangchaijatupon, P. Krishnamurthy, ''Encryption and Power Consumption in Wireless
LANs-N,‘‘ The Third IEEE Workshop on Wireless LANs - September 27-28, 2001-
Newton, Massachusetts.
Arun Kumar Gandhi received B.Tech degree in Computer Science & Engineering from
Kurukshetra University in 2007 and M.Tech. in CSE from Manav Rachna International
University,Faridabad in 2011 .Presently, he is working as Assistant professor in Computer
Engineering department in Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad. His area of
interest is Cryptography & Network Security.
Prof Dr. S.S Tyagi is currently working as Professor and Head, Department of CSE in
Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad, India. He did his P.hD from Kurkshetra
University, M.E from BITS Pilani , and B.Tech, from Nagpur University in Computer Sc.
and Engineering. He has published many papers in national andinternational Journals and
guiding Ph.D Scholars.

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