Abstract. We introduce a short signature scheme based on the Computational Diffie-Hellman assumption on certain elliptic and hyper-elliptic curves. The signature length is half the size of a DSA signature for a similar level of security. Our short signature scheme is designed for systems where signatures are typed in by a human or signatures are sent over a low-bandwidth channel. 1

Elliptic curves have been intensively studied in number theory and algebraic geometry for over 100 years and there is an enormous amount of literature on the subject. To quote the mathematician Serge Lang: It is possible to write endlessly on elliptic curves. (This is not a threat.) Elliptic curves also figured prominently in the recent proof of Fermat's Last Theorem by Andrew Wiles. Originally pursued for purely aesthetic reasons, elliptic curves have recently been utilized in devising algorithms for factoring integers, primality proving, and in public-key cryptography. In this article, we aim to give the reader an introduction to elliptic curve cryptosystems, and to demonstrate why these systems provide relatively small block sizes, high-speed software and hardware implementations, and offer the highest strength-per-key-bit of any known public-key scheme.

Frey and Rück gave a method to map the discrete logarithm problem in the divisor class group of a curve over  ¢¡ into a finite field discrete logarithm problem in some extension. The discrete logarithm problem in the divisor class group can therefore be solved as long ¥ as is small. In the elliptic curve case it is known that for supersingular curves one ¥§¦© ¨ has. In this paper curves of higher genus are studied. Bounds on the possible values ¥ for in the case of supersingular curves are given. Ways to ensure that a curve is not supersingular are also given. 1.

The Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) is the elliptic curve analogue of the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA). It was accepted in 1999 as an ANSI standard, and was accepted in 2000 as IEEE and NIST standards. It was also accepted in 1998 as an ISO standard, and is under consideration for inclusion in some other ISO standards. Unlike the ordinary discrete logarithm problem and the integer factorization problem, no subexponential-time algorithm is known for the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem. For this reason, the strength-per-key-bit is substantially greater in an algorithm that uses elliptic curves. This paper describes the ANSI X9.62 ECDSA, and discusses related security, implementation, and interoperability issues. Keywords: Signature schemes, elliptic curve cryptography, DSA, ECDSA.

Abstract. We show that finding an efficiently computable injective homomorphism from the XTR subgroup into the group of points over GF(p 2) of a particular type of supersingular elliptic curve is at least as hard as solving the Diffie-Hellman problem in the XTR subgroup. This provides strong evidence for a negative answer to the question posed by S. Vanstone and A. Menezes at the Crypto 2000 Rump Session on the possibility of efficiently inverting the MOV embedding into the XTR subgroup. As a side result we show that the Decision Diffie-Hellman problem in the group of points on this type of supersingular elliptic curves is efficiently computable, which provides an example of a group where the Decision Diffie-Hellman problem is simple, while the Diffie-Hellman and discrete logarithm problem are presumably not. The cryptanalytical tools we use also lead to cryptographic applications of independent interest. These applications are an improvement of Joux’s one round protocol for tripartite Diffie-Hellman key exchange and a non refutable digital signature scheme that supports escrowable encryption. We also discuss the applicability of our methods to general elliptic curves defined over finite fields. 1

Abstract. In recent years cryptographic protocols based on the Weil and Tate pairings on elliptic curves have attracted much attention. A notable success in this area was the elegant solution by Boneh and Franklin [7] of the problem of efficient identity-based encryption. At the same time, the security standards for public key cryptosystems are expected to increase, so that in the future they will be capable of providing security equivalent to 128-, 192-, or 256-bit AES keys. In this paper we examine the implications of heightened security needs for pairing-based cryptosystems. We first describe three different reasons why high-security users might have concerns about the long-term viability of these systems. However, in our view none of the risks inherent in pairing-based systems are sufficiently serious to warrant pulling them from the shelves. We next discuss two families of elliptic curves E for use in pairingbased cryptosystems. The first has the property that the pairing takes values in the prime field Fp over which the curve is defined; the second family consists of supersingular curves with embedding degree k = 2. Finally, we examine the efficiency of the Weil pairing as opposed to the Tate pairing and compare a range of choices of embedding degree k, including k = 1 and k = 24. Let E be the elliptic curve 1.

Elliptic curves with small embedding degree and large prime-order subgroup are key ingredients for implementing pairingbased cryptographic systems. Such “pairing-friendly” curves are rare and thus require specific constructions. In this paper we give a single coherent framework that encompasses all of the constructions of pairing-friendly elliptic curves currently existing in the literature. We also include new constructions of pairing-friendly curves that improve on the previously known constructions for certain embedding degrees. Finally, for all embedding degrees up to 50, we provide recommendations as to which pairing-friendly curves to choose to best satisfy a variety of performance and security requirements.

We propose a simple algorithm to select group generators suitable for pairing-based cryptosystems. The selected parameters are shown to favor implementations of the Tate pairing that are at once conceptually simple and very efficient, with an observed performance about 2 to 10 times better than previously reported implementations.

Pairing-based cryptosystems depend on the existence of groups where the Decision Diffie-Hellman problem is easy to solve, but the Computational Diffie-Hellman problem is hard. Such is the case of elliptic curve groups whose embedding degree is large enough to maintain a good security level, but small enough for arithmetic operations to be feasible. However, the embedding degree is usually enormous, and the scarce previously known suitable elliptic groups had embedding degree k <= 6. In this note, we examine criteria for curves with larger k that generalize prior work by Miyaji et al. based on the properties of cyclotomic polynomials, and propose efficient representations for the underlying algebraic structures.

We give a method for constructing ordinary elliptic curves over finite prime field Fp with small security parameter k with respect to a prime l dividing the group order #E(Fp) such that p << l&sup2;