About Elliptic Curve Cryptography
Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) is an approach to public-key cryptography based on the
algebraic structure of elliptic curves over finite fields. ECC requires smaller keys compared to
non-EC cryptography to provide equivalent security.
- ECC uses elliptic curves over finite fields to create cryptographic keys.
- It offers the same level of security as RSA but with much smaller key sizes.
- A 256-bit ECC key provides comparable security to a 3072-bit RSA key.
- ECC is widely used in mobile devices and IoT applications due to its efficiency.
Key Advantages of ECC:
- Smaller Key Size: ECC keys are much smaller than RSA keys for the same
security level.
- Faster Computation: ECC operations are generally faster than equivalent RSA
operations.
- Lower Resource Usage: ECC requires less memory and CPU power, making it
ideal for constrained devices.
- Future-Proof: As key sizes need to increase for security, ECC scales better
than RSA.
Common ECC Curves:
- NIST P-256 (secp256r1): A 256-bit prime field curve standardized by NIST.
- NIST P-384 (secp384r1): A 384-bit prime field curve offering higher
security.
- NIST P-521 (secp521r1): A 521-bit prime field curve for maximum security.
- secp256k1: The curve used by Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies.