A Digital Signature Based on a Conventional Encryption Function (original) (raw)

Abstract

A new digital signature based only on a conventional encryption function (such as DES) is described which is as secure as the underlying encryption function -- the security does not depend on the difficulty of factoring and the high computational costs of modular arithmetic are avoided. The signature system can sign an unlimited number of messages, and the signature size increases logarithmically as a function of the number of messages signed. Signature size in a ‘typical’ system might range from a few hundred bytes to a few kilobytes, and generation of a signature might require a few hundred to a few thousand computations of the underlying conventional encryption function.

Chapter PDF

Similar content being viewed by others

Keywords

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

References

  1. ‘New Directions in Cryptography’, IEEE Trans. on Information Theory, IT-22,6(Nov. 1976),644–654
    Google Scholar
  2. ‘A method for obtaining digital signatures and public-key cryptosystems.’ CACM 21,2, Feb. 1978 120–126
    Google Scholar
  3. ‘Secrecy, Authentication, and Public Key Systems’, Ralph C. Merkle, UMI Research Press 1982.
    Google Scholar
  4. ‘How to Prove Yourself: Practical Solutions to Identification and Signature Problems’, Amos Fiat and Adi Shamir, 1986.
    Google Scholar
  5. ‘Making the Digital Signature Legal — and Safeguarded’, S.M. Lipton, S.M. Matyas, Data Communications, Feb. 1978 41–52.
    Google Scholar
  6. Private Communication, Robert Winternitz, 1980.
    Google Scholar
  7. ‘Cryptography and Data Security’, by Dorothy E.R. Denning, Addison Wesley 1982.
    Google Scholar
  8. ‘A “Paradoxical” solution to the Signature Problem’, by Shafi Goldwasser, Silvio Micali and Ronald L. Rivest, from the Symposium on the Foundations of Computer Science, 1984, page 441–448.
    Google Scholar
  9. ‘A Digital Signature Scheme Secure Against Adaptive Chosen Message Attack’, by Shafi Goldwasser, Silvio Micali and Ronald L. Rivest, extended abstract, 1986.
    Google Scholar
  10. ‘Cryptography: a New Dimension in Computer Data Security’, by Carl H. Meyer and Stephen M. Matyas, Wiley 1982.
    Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Elxsi, 2334 Lundy Place, San Jose, CA, 95131
    Ralph C. Merkle

Authors

  1. Ralph C. Merkle
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 30602, USA
    Carl Pomerance

Rights and permissions

© 1988 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Merkle, R.C. (1988). A Digital Signature Based on a Conventional Encryption Function. In: Pomerance, C. (eds) Advances in Cryptology — CRYPTO ’87. CRYPTO 1987. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 293. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48184-2\_32

Download citation

Publish with us