A Study on Enhancing Public Key

Cryptography by the Use of RSA and Some

Symmetric and Asymmetric Key
Cryptography Algorithms.
___________________________________________________________________

Abstract:
In current scenario everything is being transferred on the web and other communication medium. So
that we need to make our data secure from all other attacker and unauthorized person. So that we
have to give lot of protection to the transmitting data. For that we have lots of cryptography
algorithm .But all of them do not provide level best protection in today’s world as there are lots of ways
to make that algorithm cracked and the cryptanalyst can retrieve the plain text so easily. Data security
is very important in wireless network and for this cryptography plays a crucial role which means “secret
writing”. In Cryptography encryption decryption of data is done by using secret key to provide data
confidentiality, data integrity and data authentication. This paper provide a comparative study between
various encryption algorithm like AES,DES, RSA and DIFFIE-HELLMAN .Here we compare the different
factors of both symmetric key and asymmetric key encryption algorithm.

Keywords:
Public Key, RSA, Cryptography, encryption, symmetric key encryption, asymmetric key encryption.
___________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction:
Cryptography, a word with Greek origins, means “secret writing” is the science of devising methods
that allow for information to be sent in a secure form in such a way that the only person able to
retrieve this information is the intended recipient. It makes the message unreadable and that can make
the message too secure. The message to be sent through an unreliable medium is known as plaintext,
which is encrypted before sending over the medium. The encrypted message is known as cipher text,
which is received at the other end of the medium and decrypted to get back the original plaintext
message. Hence a cryptosystem is a collection of algorithms and associated procedures for hiding and
revealing information. So that the cryptography is mainly used for making the data safe when it is
transmitting over the communication medium of at the storage space. The main concern of
cryptographic algorithm is that the security provided by that algorithm that should be at its best. There
are two kind of approaches like symmetric and asymmetric way of communication or algorithm. Here
we are concerning on public key cryptosystem in which there are two kind of keys are used as public
key and private key. There are many famous algorithm as RSA, Diffie Hellman etc. In recent days these
RSA, Diffie Hellman algorithms are not that much secure as there are many cryptanalyst who can crack
it.

Definition and Theoretical Background:

Cryptography:
Cryptography is a method of storing and transmitting data in a particular form so that only
those for whom it is intended can read and process it. Cryptography is closely related to the
disciplines of cryptology and cryptanalysis. Cryptography includes techniques such as microdots,
merging words with images, and other ways to hide information in storage or transit. However,
in today's computer-centric world, cryptography is most often associated with scrambling
plaintext (ordinary text, sometimes referred to as clear text) into cipher text (a process called
encryption), then back again (known as decryption). Individuals who practice this field are known
as cryptographers. Modern cryptography concerns itself with the following four objectives:

1) Confidentiality (the information cannot be understood by anyone for whom it was

unintended)
2) Integrity (the information cannot be altered in storage or transit between sender and
Intended receiver without the alteration being detected)
3) Non-repudiation (the creator/sender of the information cannot deny at a later stage his
or her intentions in the creation or transmission of the information)
4) Authentication (the sender and receiver can confirm each other’s identity and the
Origin/destination of the information)
Public Key Cryptography:

Asymmetric cryptography or public-key cryptography is cryptography in which a pair of keys is

used to encrypt and decrypt a message so that it arrives securely. Initially, a network user
receives a public and private key pair from a certificate authority. Any other user who wants to
send an encrypted message can get the intended recipient's public key from a public directory.
They use this key to encrypt the message, and they send it to the recipient. When the recipient
gets the message, they decrypt it with their private key, which no one else should have access to.

RSA Algorithm (RIVEST-SHAMIR-ADLEMAN):

RSA is a cryptosystem for public-key encryption, and is widely used for securing sensitive data,
particularly when being sent over an insecure network such as the Internet. RSA was first
described in 1977 by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Public-key cryptography, also known as asymmetric cryptography, uses two
different but mathematically linked keys, one public and one private. The public key can be
shared with everyone, whereas the private key must be kept secret. In RSA cryptography, both
the public and the private keys can encrypt a message; the opposite key from the one used to
encrypt a message is used to decrypt it. This attribute is one reason why RSA has become the
most widely used asymmetric algorithm: It provides a method of assuring the confidentiality,
integrity, authenticity and non-reputability of electronic communications and data storage.

SYMMETRIC KEY CRYPTOGRAPHY:

In symmetric key cryptography, same key is shared, i.e. the one key is used in both encryption
and decryption, hence also known as single key or secret key encryption. Symmetric key
cryptography algorithms are simple requiring lesser execution time. As a consequence, these are
commonly used for long messages. There are two types of symmetric key encryption modes one
as block ciphers and other as stream ciphers. Block ciphers operate on groups of bits called
blocks and each block is processed multiple number of times. The key applied in each round is in
a unique manner. A stream cipher operates on one bit at a time i.e. The data is divided as small
as single bits and then the encryption is done. In symmetric key encryption the AES algorithm
and the DES algorithm different factors are analyzed.

ADVANCED ENCRYPTION STANDARD (AES) ALGORITHM:

AES is a symmetric key algorithm which operates on two dimensional arrays of bytes known as
state and the state consists of four rows of each bytes. AES has key size of 128,192 OR 256 Bits
which protect against certain current and future attacks. Hardware and software both
implementations are faster and can be implemented on various platforms.
DATA ENCRYPTION STANDARD (DES) ALGORITHM:
DES is a symmetric block cipher having 64-bits long input key but uses only 56-bits in length. The
decryption is performed by same password as encryption only the stages are carried out in
reversed manner.DES has 16 rounds so to produce cipher text the main algorithm is repeated 16
times. Des is more vulnerable to brute force attack because as the number of round increases
the algorithm of security exponentially increases.

ASYMMETRIC KEY CRYPTOGRAPHY:

In asymmetric key cryptography different keys are used for encryption and decryption, hence
also known as public key encryption. The two keys are a private key and a public key. The public
key is announced to the public; whereas the private key is kept by the receiver. The sender uses
the public key of the receiver for encryption and the receiver uses his private key for decryption.
Here the number of keys required is small but it is not efficient for long messages. In asymmetric
key encryption the RSA algorithm and Diffie-Hellman algorithm different factors are analyzed.

DETAIL DISCUSSION OF VARIOUS ENCRYPTION TECHNIQUES

FACTORS AES DES RSA DH

Key used same key same key different different
for for key for key for
encryptio encryption encryption encryption
n and and and and
decryptio decryption decryption decryption
n
Algorithm symmetri symmetric asymmetric asymmetric
c
Key length 128,192 56 bits key 1024 bits key
or 256 exchange
bits manageme
nt
Speed fast fast fast slow
Tunability no no yes yes
Power low low high high
consumption
Security excellent not secure least secure less secure
security enough than RSA
n
Cost cheaper costly costly depends on
key
Implementation simple complex complex complex
than RSA
CONCLUSION:

A comparative study of encryption techniques in terms of public kry, symmetric key and
asymmetric key algorithms analyzed that symmetric key algorithms is viewed to be good in terms
of speed and power consumption while asymmetric key algorithms in terms of tunability. In the
symmetric key encryption AES algorithm is found to be better in terms of cost, security and
implementation. In asymmetric key encryption RSA algorithm is better in terms of speed and
security.

References:
1)A.J.Menezes ,P.C.Van Oorschot, and S.Vanstone , “Handbook of Applied
cryptography”, CRC Press, Boca Ration,Florida, USA,1997.
2) Amare Anagaw Ayele1 , Dr. Vuda Sreenivasarao.,” A Modified RSA Encryption
Technique Based on Multiple public keys, International Journal of Innovative Research
in Computer and Communication Engineering ISSN (Online): 2320 – 9801Vol.1, Issue 4,
June 2013
3) Sonia Goyat.,” Genetic key generation for public key cryptography “,International
Journal of Soft Computing and Engineering (IJSCE) ISSN: 2231-2307, Volume-2, Issue-3,
July 2012
4) B.Schenier. “Applied Cryptography”, John Wiley & Sons Inc, New York, Second
Edition, 1996.
5) William Stallings, ”Cryptography and Network Security”, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle
River, New Jersy, USA, Second Edition ,1997.
6) Ashish Agarwala R Saravanan,” A Public Key Cryptosystem Based on Number
Theory” 978-1-4673-0255-5/12,IEEE2012.
7) Pell‟s RSA key generation and its security analysis
Monika Agrawal “A Comparative Survey on Symmetric Key Encryption Techniques” In
International Journal on Computer Science and Engineering (IJCSE) Vol.4 No. 05 May
2012
8) B.Schenier. “Applied Cryptography”, John Wiley & Sons Inc, New York, Second
Edition, 1996.
9)William Stallings, ”Cryptography and Network Security”, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle
River, New Jersy, USA, SecondEdition ,1997.
10)Ashish Agarwala R Saravanan,” A Public Key Cryptosystem Based on Number
Theory” 978-1-4673-0255-5/12,IEEE2012
11)Pell‟s RSA key generation and its security analysis
12)http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/Diffie-Hellman-key-exchange