Limited Entropy Dot Com Not so random thoughts on security featured by Eloi Sanfèlix

12Feb/100

Crypto Series – ElGamal Cryptosystem

Posted by Eloi Sanfèlix

In our last post we learnt about the Discrete Lograithm problem, why it is a difficult problem and how we can attempt to solve it if the numbers are manageable. Of course, in a real setting we wouldn't use 16 bit numbers as in my example, but at least 1024 bit numbers nowadays (and most likely even bigger numbers).

Now, we are going to see how to make  use of that problem to create a public key cryptosystem. We will look at how ElGamal uses the DL problem to provide public key encryption and digital signatures. Keep on reading if you are interested!