Speeding up SSL: ECC 279% faster than RSA

citeseerx.ist.psu.edu

2 pointscodexon3 comments

If your SSL handshaking is a performance-limiting step, you're doing something wrong. Yes, ECC can be faster than RSA... but it really doesn't matter for SSL.

This is from 2004.

The problem with ECC is (has been, rather) that it's covered by patents, and OpenSSL didn't have ECC APIs until very recently. I believe the implementation in the latest versions of OpenSSL are based on the work of the same authors. Unfortunately, with so much deployed code using RSA-based handshakes, it seems tough for ECC to gain traction all that soon.

http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2325

Also, the lawsuit that certicom made against Sony for ECC infringement was thrown out.

Here is a GPL implementation that claims to be patent free:

http://point-at-infinity.org/seccure/

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