Benchmarking of Cryptographic Algorithms
Alex Volkovitsky February 2, 2005

Abstract
The  author  intends  to  validate  theoretical  numbers  by  constructing  
empirical  sets  of  data  on  cryptographic  algorithms.    This  data  will  
then  be  used  to  give  factual  predictions  on  the  security  and  
efficiency  of  cryptography  as  it  applies to modern day applications.

Symmetric  key  algorithms,  such  as  DES,  use  the  same  key  to  encrypt  
and  decrypt.    
Pro:  speed,  Con:  key  needs  to  be  shared  over  a  previously 
established secure connection

A  graph  showing  the  relationship  between  the  amount  of  plaintext  
and  the  time  taken  to  encrypt  it,  using  a  3DES  algorithm  in  ECB  
mode.    Due  to  the  nature  of  ECB,  the  progression  is  clearly  linear.
The  slope  of  the  line  can  be  interpreted  as  the  time  taken  to  
encrypt  one  64Kb  block,  and  the  yintercept  is  assumed  to  be  the  
overhead  of  the  p ro g ra m.

Due  to  the  insecure  nature  of  the  Internet,  public  key  algorithms,  
such  as  RSA,  have  become  widely  popular.    These  algorithms  rely  on  
NP hard  mathematical  problems  (those  without  an  easily  derivable  
solution,  such  as  factoring)  to  exchange  data  without  having  to  
divulge the private key.  
Pro: easily established  over  any  connection.    
Con:  not  suitable  for  large  chunks  of  data  due  to  high  amounts  of  
computation.