1
$\begingroup$

I have been asked to implement cryptographic operations using elliptic curves. I would like to get precise algorithms for various processes like key generation, digital signature and verification. I found this link, but I just want confirmation on the algorithms provided there are correct or not. I would also like to know if there is any standard site for this topic whose information are authentic and can be trusted.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
1
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Wikipedia! It's a very reliable source. :-P $\endgroup$
    – Reid Rankin
    Nov 13, 2015 at 13:26

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5
$\begingroup$

Standards for Efficient Cryptography Group has published SEC1: Elliptic Curve Cryptography (pdf) about elliptic curve algorithms. If it does not explain the mathematics well enough for your purposes, there is also Fundamental Elliptic Curve Cryptography Algorithms (RFC 6090, from IETF) you could look at.

There are a lot of issues you can run into, so hopefully this is an exercise of some kind, rather than someone expecting you to write production code from scratch. For production code I would recommend using existing libraries.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
3
  • $\begingroup$ U mean open SSL libraries? and moreover I already have libraries for RSA based cryptographic operations. I just need to implement it using elliptic cures. Given this situation...would u still advice me to use existing libraries for ECC? $\endgroup$
    – abejoe
    Nov 13, 2015 at 8:53
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @abejoe, OpenSSL or one of the other alternatives, depends e.g. on what is feasible to integrate due to licensing. I would pretty much always advice against writing your own crypto code. Whenever possible, reuse something even moderately well vetted instead. $\endgroup$
    – otus
    Nov 13, 2015 at 10:23
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ @abejoe Implementing symmetric crypto is usually not that dangerous, because most mistakes lead to it not working at all (you still need to be careful about side channel attacks). ECC is subtle, you need to correctly handle various special cases, failure to do so can lead to a rarely occurring yet exploitable bugs. So I strongly recommend not implementing ECC for production use yourself. $\endgroup$
    – CodesInChaos
    Nov 14, 2015 at 16:05

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.