Due to the information revolution and communication technology advances,a massive amount of data and information is being transmitted over open communication networks every minute of the day. Some information and data must be kept private and unknown else to authorized parts taking part on the network. The privacy of information might be threatened by several attacks such: unauthorized access, modification, destruction, etc. This arises the need for security trusted and reliable security applications. Information security and its applications are involved in several approaches in our life, for example: E-commerce, E-Banking, E-government, Email, etc.
Information is one of the most important issues of our era. Timely and reliable information is necessary to process transactions and human communications. Information security is the process by which an organization protects and secures its systems, media, and facilities that process and maintains information vital to its operations.
The 21th century witnessed vast advances in information and communication technology, which makes it necessary to find efficient ways to protect and ensure the privacy of information transmitted via remote communication channels.
The privacy of information might be threatened by different attacks. These attacks have possible goals such as: reading private information, corrupting or altering the transmitted information, and masquerading as the sender of information and thus taking his part in the future communications with the receiver [1], [2], and [3].
The field of cryptography provides methods and techniques to assure the privacy and authenticity of information against unauthorized access. Encryption and decryption methods are the core of cryptography. They can be classified into two categories: symmetric key and asymmetric key (public key) [2], [3].The encryption and decryption keys are known for both parts in communication; sender and receiver in symmetric key algorithms. Furthermore, decryption key is either the same as encryption key or can be easily computed from it. On the other side, public key algorithms, use two different keys: encryption (public) key known for all parts in communication channel and decryption key known for intended receiver only. Moreover it is computationally infeasible to calculate the decryption key from the encryption key or without information known to receiver only. This Characteristic grants the preference for public key algorithms in the field of cryptography [6]. The concept of public key algorithm were introduced in 1976 by Diffie and Hellman, with the purpose of providing effective method to exchange confidential information without need for a secret agreement prior to exchanging information [2].
Since that time, many public key algorithms have been introduced. The security level of each algorithm is based on the difficulty of a specific mathematical problem. Among the most popular examples: RSA which is based on the factorization problem for large integers, and Elliptic Curve Cryptosystems (ECC), which were based on the well-known discrete logarithm problem [1]. ECC were proposed by Miller and Koblitz in 1980. A notable fact that ECC provides security levels equivalent to that offered by RSA using smaller key sizes. Since that time, many public key algorithms have been introduced which can allowconsiderable savings in hardware implementations [1], [3].
The security level of each algorithm is based on the difficulty of a specific mathematical problem. Among the most popular examples: RSA which is based on the factorization problem for large integers, and Elliptic Curve Cryptosystems (ECC), which were based on the well-known discrete logarithm problem. Other advantages for ECC are: High speed operations, low throughput consuming compared to other algorithms and compatibility with implementation on small hardware devices (smart cards, cellular phones)[1]. Because of these aspects of ECC and since there is no efficient general attack on the discrete logarithm problem for elliptic curve, ECC is regarded in top of the list of secured public key algorithms [2],[3]. In ECC, the plaintext is represented as a point on elliptic curve and then ECC performs elliptic curve operations on that point in order to yield a new point which represents the ciphertext.
Qasem Saleh Abu Al-Haija , ”Efficient Algorithms For Elliptic Curve Cryptography Using New Coordinates System”, Master Thesis, Computer Engineering Department, Jordan University of Science and Technology, discussed in 28/Dec/2009.
Qasem Abu Al-Haija and Lo’ai Tawalbeh, ” Efficient Algorithms & Architectures for Elliptic Curve Crypto-Processor Over GF (P) Using New Projective Coordinates Systems”, Accepted for publication at Journal of Information Assurance and Security (JIAS), By Dynamic Publishers Inc., USA, July 2010.
Qasem Abu Al-Haija and Mohammad Al-Khatib , “Parallel Hardware Algorithms & Designs for Elliptic Curves Cryptography to Improve Point Operations Computations" Accepted for publication at Journal of Information Assurance and Security (JIAS), By Dynamic Publishers Inc., USA, April 2010, Vol.4, No.1, Paper 6: (588-594).
- Qasem Abu Al-Haija “Toward Secure Non-Deterministic Distributed Wireless Sensor Network Using Probabilistic Key Management Approaches,” Accepted for publication at Journal of Information Assurance and Security (JIAS), By Dynamic Publishers Inc., USA, July 2010.
- Omar Banimelhem, Qasem Abu Al-Haija and Ahmad Al-Badawi " Performance Evaluation of Probabilistic Key Management Approaches for Wireless Sensor Networks" ,Proceedings of the first International Conference in Information and Communication Systems - ICICS2009, Paper495, Dec 2009.
