For almost a decade, mathematicians have been researching faster ways to verify the elliptic-curve digital signatures algorithm (ECDSA). Now Certicom Corp. has found a solution. A team of researchers has developed a new implementation for ECDSA that reduces the time needed to verify a digital signature by 40 percent, making it more efficient than open-source alternatives and legacy systems.

Referred to as Fast ECDSA Verify, this new implementation is especially relevant for applications such as Check 21 and e-passports that need to process large quantities of pieces quickly or have limited computing power. This new implementation will also have positive implications for those organizations that are using the ECC-based technology recommended by the National Security Agency to protect national security information.

Fast ECDSA Verify Comparison

• Signature generation time: 100 ms (millisecond)
  
• Traditional ECDSA verification time: 221 ms (original cost)
  
• Fast ECDSA verification time: 158 ms (40 percent speed-up)

(Platform is ARM7TDMI 50 MHz curve: secp384r1)

This October, at Certicom's annual ECC conference in Toronto, Certicom's Dr. Robert Lambert will discuss the mathematics behind this latest development. The focus of the three-day conference is the application of elliptic-curve cryptography to solve security issues and meeting government standards. Other headline speakers include executives from Bell Canada, Intertrust, and XM Satellite Radio.

[This is an interesting and welcome development considering the, not only technological but also mathematic, inroads recently made on a number of classic crypto algorithms. --Ed.]

Related links: (Open in a new window.)
www.certicom.com
www.certicom.com/conference2005

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