Computer Security and Cryptography

15.12 NSA AND ELLIPTIC CURVE CRYPTOGRAPHY

In their review “The Case for Elliptic Curve Cryptography” (www.nsa.gov/ia/industry/crypto_elliptic_curve.cfm) several points are made by the NSA:

• Elliptic curve cryptosystems seem to offer a considerable efficiency with respect to key size.

In Table 15.5

• The first three columns contain a comparison of NIST-recommended key sizes for symmetric, RSA, and elliptic curve cryptosystems;
• The last column gives the ratio of computational efficiency of RSA to elliptic curve cryptography.

The article also points out that intellectual property rights are a major roadblock to the further adoption of elliptic curve cryptography, citing Certicom, which holds over 130 patents in this area. See my quotations at the start of Chapter 19.