Kristian, Most public key systems, such as SSL, still use symmetric key for the actual data transmission. The public key system is used for transfering an initial, session-specific symmetric key, but after that point, symmetric key is used due to its higher performance (or at least, this is my understanding).
The higher performance is merely a mathematical issue; the security of public key systems using RSA depends on the assumed difficulty of factoring very large numbers which are the products of two very large primes; the size of the keys and the mathematical transformation simply means the algorithm takes a little while. Public key sytems are widely used for authentication, e.g. ssh with key rather than passphrase authentication, as well as for the initial data encryption such as in ssh and SSL. I'm not sure I see what benefit you'd have, if any, from using it exclusively. Have you considered something like VPN or IPSec? It's my un-researched assumption that both of those use public key much as ssh and SSL (though I may be incorrect; kerberos, for example, uses a shared-secret challenge-response based on the password). Good luck. -----Original Message----- From: Kristian Kristensen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 20 Jul 2003 20:28:25 +0200 Subject: IEEE 802.11 security (public key encryption?) Hi I am currently doing some research on the security aspects of IEEE 802.11 networks. In that I wondered why Public Key encryption schemes are never seemed to be considered (not for WEP or IEEE 802.11i/WPA). Can anyone give me reason for that. Is it due to the fact of lower performance of pub key schemes. If so can anyone provide me with some references on why performance is that much lower for pub key ciphers than symmetric ciphers? Or are they too difficult to implement in hardware? Or are there some other reasons I just do not see? Thanx in advance.... -- Med venlig Hilsen / Best Regards Kristian IT-Coordinator Kristian Kristensen Denmarks Technical University Center for Tele-Information Building 371 2800 Lyngby, DENMARK Phone: +45 45255209 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evaluating SSL VPNs' Consider NEOTERIS, chosen as leader by top analysts! The Gartner Group just put Neoteris in the top of its Magic Quadrant, while InStat has confirmed Neoteris as the leader in marketshare. Find out why, and see how you can get plug-n-play secure remote access in about an hour, with no client, server changes, or ongoing maintenance. Visit us at: http://www.neoteris.com/promos/sf-6-9.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
