On Implementing and Testing the RSA Algorithm

Name: Kien Le
Majors: Mathematics and Computer Science
Advisors: Sofia Visa and Subhadip Chowdhury

In this work, we give a comprehensive introduction to the RSA cryptosystem, implement it in Java, and compare it empirically to three other RSA implementations. We start by giving an overview of the field of cryptography, from its primitives to the composite constructs used in the field. Throughout this section, we focus our attention on encryption algorithms, which transform messages into a secure form. Then, the paper presents a basic version of the RSA algorithm. With this information in mind, we discuss several problems with this basic conception of RSA, including its speed and some potential attacks that have been attempted. Then, we discuss possible improvements that can make RSA runs faster and more secure. On the software side, we implement the RSA algorithms in Java and compare its performance and security against the other three implementations.

Posted in Comments Enabled, Independent Study, Symposium 2022 on April 26, 2022.