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Swiss Consortium Chooses RPK Fast Public Key Cryptosystem for Next Generation Wireless Electronic Transactions (fwd)
----- Forwarded message from Jack Oswald -----
>From [email protected] Wed May 21 01:48:18 1997
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
From: Jack Oswald <[email protected]>
To: "'[email protected]'" <[email protected]>,
"'[email protected]'"
<[email protected]>
Subject: Swiss Consortium Chooses RPK Fast Public Key Cryptosystem for Next Generation Wireless Electronic Transactions
Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 18:41:20 -0700
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Also see recent press coverage in Infoworld:
RPK announces deal for fast crypto with Swiss consortium
http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?97059.wrpk.htm=20
SET 2.0 on the way
http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayArchive.pl?/97/16/t04-16.1.htm=20
PRESS RELEASE
For Release May 19, 1997
RPK, Inc.: Jack Oswald, +1 408.479.7874, [email protected], =
http://www.rpk.co.nz=20
ADESA, Inc.: Maurice Jaccard,+41 22.910.29.14, [email protected]
Swiss Consortium Chooses RPK Fast Public Key Cryptosystem for Next =
Generation Wireless Electronic Transactions
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and ADESA, Inc. introduce =
HAWK VLSI cryptography-enhanced processor
San Francisco, CA - RPK, Inc. announced today that a consortium of the =
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and ADESA, Inc., a Swiss =
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design firm have chosen =
the RPK Fast Public Key Cryptosystem to provide strong cryptographic =
security in a next generation wireless electronic transactions =
application. At the same time, EPFL and ADESA unveiled HAWK a new =
generation cryptography-enhanced microprocessor specifically designed =
for use in high speed/low power embedded applications.
"The RPK encryption technology won the design review after an extensive =
evaluation of all existing cryptosystems based on well known and =
understood cryptographic techniques," said Maurice Jaccard, Managing =
Director of ADESA, Inc. "With RPK there are no compromises. We get =
uncompromised security, high speed and low cost of implementation."
"RPK is a strong encryption technology based on well know and trusted =
cryptographic techniques," said Jack Oswald, President and CEO of RPK =
Inc. "Having RPK chosen by the Swiss for this breakthrough =
electronic-commerce application is the strongest endorsement we could =
possibly achieve for the RPK technology."
Wireless Electronic Transactions Application
The collaboration of RPK, EPFL and ADESA has resulted in a prototype =
application that promises to become the "wallet of the future". This =
new wireless electronic transaction application may take the form of a =
credit card, a watch or a key chain and will sport features analogous to =
the leather wallets used today by billions of people worldwide. Early =
designs of the system allow the user to withdraw and hold cash in =
multiple currencies, as well as, purchase and hold vouchers for hotels, =
planes and car rentals all through the use of wireless communications =
technology. Officials in charge of the project envision that such =
devices could also become a personal key chain for gaining access to =
motor vehicles, offices and dwellings, in addition to traditional credit =
card uses.
ADESA concluded that performance of the RPK implementation in the =
prototype far exceeded existing smart card implementations based on the =
RSA and other algorithms. The RPK technology performs the necessary =
encryption functions in less than 10 milliseconds using an 823-bit key =
compared to the best performing RSA-based equivalents that require =
greater than 100 milliseconds to perform the same type of function using =
a much weaker 512-bit key. The application is not limited to 823-bit =
keys. The design of the system, based on the new HAWK processor is =
flexible and can accommodate and process various sized keys, smaller or =
larger than 823 bits based on downloadable parameters. ADESA officials =
explained that the simplicity of the RPK algorithm makes it much simpler =
to implement than the popular RSA approach. It was RPK's simplicity, =
offering a much faster and cheaper solution while providing even higher =
security, that drove the choice over RSA for this application. =20
About the RPK Fast Public Key Cryptosystem
RPK is a relatively new public key cryptosystem that is based on =
mathematics widely used in cryptography today. It was designed to be =
immediately commercially viable without the years of study that a new =
area of mathematics normally requires, such as the Elliptic Curve =
Cryptosystem (ECC). The source of the security for RPK is the same as =
that of Diffie-Hellman key exchange, a widely used and well studied =
cryptographic technique. RPK offers real advantages for high speed =
networking, SmartCard, wireless communication applications as well as =
high volume software processes such as credit card transactions.=20
RPK has at its core an invention called a Mixture Generator. In the =
preferred implementation, three fairly long linear feedback shift =
registers are used. This state machine has two modes of operation. One =
that uses the shift registers for exponentiation and the other as a =
generator of a random stream of bits used in a combining phase for the =
actual encryption. Effectively, RPK allows for the amortization of two =
"costly" exponentiations over the entire length of a message because the =
core engine is used to initially establish a secure state of the machine =
and then switches modes to perform very high speed encryption. This has =
been referred to as a paradigm shift where the operation of encryption =
does not require the costly calculations that an RSA or even an ECC =
implementation would require for each block of data that is about the =
size of the key. This mechanism can also be implemented in silicon =
quite efficiently such that at high strength it is much cheaper to =
produce than alternative technologies. Finally, it is also possible to =
create a Mixture Generator that is made up of Elliptic Curve groups =
which would provide a similarly speedy and efficient initialization mode =
that could still produce high speed encryption as noted above.
About the HAWK VLSI Crypto Processor
The HAWK VLSI cryptography-enhanced processor is the result of more than =
three years of research and development conducted at the EPFL in =
Lausanne, Switzerland in the area of high speed compression and =
encryption. The HAWK processor will benefit most cryptography =
implementations but is particularly well suited for use with RPK.
"The HAWK processor is the most innovative approach that we have seen =
yet for implementing cryptographic processes in silicon," said Bill =
Raike, Chief Technology Officer for RPK Inc. and inventor of the RPK =
fast public key cryptosystem. "HAWK breaks the barrier for high speed, =
low cost, low power and high strength encryption for embedded systems."
Background
RPK, Inc. is a supplier of next generation fast public key encryption =
technology. RPK was invented and originally patented in New Zealand. =
The company is therefore unaffected by restrictive U.S. export rules. =
RPK has been successfully exported to virtually all countries of the =
world at high strength. The company's headquarters are based in San =
Francisco, California, USA, with an offshore research and development =
center located outside of Auckland, New Zealand. http://www.rpk.co.nz=20
ADESA, Inc. is a leading ASIC design firm based in Geneva, Switzerland =
with expertise in embedded and cryptographic applications.
EPFL is a leading teaching and research technical institute in Lausanne, =
Switzerland. The school is known for its work in advanced processor =
design.
***
----- End of forwarded message from Jack Oswald -----