Enhancing Data Encryption using Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) Algorithm in 4G Networks

Abstract

Security advances and challenges associated with 4G wireless technologies have been presented in this paper. The contribution of the paper in the area of 4G security represented in the study of data encryption issues and the potential threats and risks across the 4G networks. Another contribution was the study of the major cryptography methods in 4G networks. To enhance the data encryption process in the 4G networks, Elliptic curve cryptosystem (ECC) for data encryption algorithm is proposed. The Strength of the proposed ECC algorithm depends on the complexity of computing discrete logarithm in a large prime modulus. ECC needs a less storage space due to the shorter key length and faster arithmetic operations. These ECC advantages are important for mobile devices, because they are constrained devices. The evaluation focuses on: Key generation time and Encryption-Decryption time. Results show that the performance of ECC, in three area of evaluation, was better than the RSA algorithm which is used for comparison purpose.Keywords: 4G Networks, Data Encryption, Elliptic curve cryptography. I. INTRODUCTION'3G' and '4G' are the terminologies used in abundance in the market of mobiles and tablets, while they are one of the most ambiguous terms in the mobile technology dictionaries. The third generation or 3G is considered as a modern technology in the field of telecommunications, with minimum reliable Internet speeds of 384 Kbps, and 2 MB in HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology [1]. This technology provides some services were not available on the earlier generations, such as video calling and watch TV channels and other services via the mobile phone. The fourth generation or 4G is wireless mobile telecommunications technology, succeeding 3G. The first improvement that offered by 4G networks is the speed, this new technology is will providing data transfer speed faster by 4 to 10 times [2] than that of the 3G. Speed is what matters most to the average user, but the new technology is providing a number of other improvements, such as more security and protection, better switch between the towers and networks, better international roaming, higher data rate, and other improvements.