Performance Based Comparison Study of RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography

Network is a collection of interconnected nodes which are spread over a large region. A node can be any device such as personal computer, mobile phone, tablet, WAP devices, pager, etc. Data is transmitted over channel of this network, which is prone to security threats such as loss of confidentiality, loss of integrity, fabrication attacks, etc. So, there is a need to secure this data transmission. It is achieved through Cryptography This paper introduces RSA algorithm and its concept in brief, and then proceeds to discuss Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC). The future scope of ECC has been pondered upon. In the process, a brief overview of Cryptosystems and different Cryptographic algorithms has been given. We have touched upon Symmetric Algorithms, which were based on the concept of using a common key. Brief details about Public Key Cryptography, a brainchild of Diffie and Hellman, have also been given. .RSA is one of the effective public key cryptographic algorithms, which needs time and memory; on the other hand ECC provides a strong alternative with its subtle features. Many research papers have been submitted on this cryptographic algorithm. Each paper has different perspective.