Date of Award
Spring 1983
Document Type
Thesis - Restricted
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Electrical and Computer Engineering
First Advisor
Wu, S. H.
Second Advisor
Moeller, Arthur
Abstract
A method of encrypting messages is presented in this paper which has several advantages over conventional cryptographic methods. The specific system which will be presented in this paper is referred to as "public key cryptography". The encoding method presented has the interesting property that revealing the "encryption key" does not reveal the corresponding "decryption key". Thus, a secure method of transporting the key to an intended party is not necessary. The transformed message can also be transmitted over an insecure medium since knowing the encryption method does not enable one to decrypt the message. A third interesting property, which is very useful, is that a message can be "signed" and this signature cannot be forged by any other party due to the nature of the method. The method of encoding and decoding the messages uses a key mechanism which is based on a "trap-door" or "hash" function. This is a function which is easy to compute and easy to utilize; however, knowing the results of the mechanism does not readily reveal the function or the method by which the function works.
Recommended Citation
Schutten, Michael J., "A Survey of Cryptographic Techniques" (1983). Master's Theses (1922-2009) Access restricted to Marquette Campus. 4181.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/theses/4181