Cryptography
Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)
Also known as: ECC
Definition
A family of public-key algorithms based on the algebraic structure of elliptic curves over finite fields, offering equivalent security to RSA with much smaller keys.
Examples
- Curve25519 powers WireGuard, Signal, and modern SSH key exchanges.
- Bitcoin and Ethereum use the secp256k1 curve for ECDSA signatures.
Related terms
ECDSA
The elliptic-curve variant of the Digital Signature Algorithm, standardized in FIPS 186, producing compact signatures whose security relies on the elliptic-curve discrete logarithm problem.
ECDH
The elliptic-curve variant of the Diffie–Hellman key-exchange protocol, providing the same shared-secret functionality with smaller keys and faster operations.
Public-Key Cryptography
A branch of cryptography that uses paired public and private keys to enable encryption, key exchange, digital signatures, and authentication without a pre-shared secret.
RSA Algorithm
A public-key algorithm by Rivest, Shamir and Adleman (1977) whose security rests on the difficulty of factoring the product of two large prime numbers.
Digital Signature
A public-key cryptographic mechanism that proves the authenticity, integrity and non-repudiation of a message or document.
Post-Quantum Cryptography
Classical cryptographic algorithms designed to remain secure against attacks by both classical and large-scale quantum computers.