Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Thu 08 Aug 2007Throwing curves to protect the internetIconic US actress Mae West once commented that the curve was mightier than the sword, a view that holds particular relevance in the world of internet security. Mathematical calculations based on elliptic curves are delivering the next generation of cryptography systems to protect information.Irish mathematicians are deeply involved in research in this area, known as Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC). ECC is providing second-generation public key cryptographic algorithms, which are designed to ensure that information transfer is fast and secure, explains Prof Gary McGuire from the school of mathematics, University College Dublin.