----- Forwarded message from Jack Oswald -----

From cpunks@manifold.algebra.com Wed May 21 01:48:18 1997 Message-ID: <01BC6572.43D8F3A0@1Cust125.Max9.San-Francisco2.CA.MS.UU.NET> From: Jack Oswald <joswald@rpkusa.com> To: "'joswald@rpkusa.com'" <joswald@rpkusa.com>, "'maujacca@iprolink.ch'" <maujacca@iprolink.ch> Subject: Swiss Consortium Chooses RPK Fast Public Key Cryptosystem for Next Generation Wireless Electronic Transactions Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 18:41:20 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Sender: owner-cypherpunks@toad.com Precedence: bulk

Also see recent press coverage in Infoworld: RPK announces deal for fast crypto with Swiss consortium http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?97059.wrpk.htm=20 SET 2.0 on the way http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayArchive.pl?/97/16/t04-16.1.htm=20 PRESS RELEASE For Release May 19, 1997 RPK, Inc.: Jack Oswald, +1 408.479.7874, joswald@rpkusa.com, = http://www.rpk.co.nz=20 ADESA, Inc.: Maurice Jaccard,+41 22.910.29.14, maujacca@iprolink.ch Swiss Consortium Chooses RPK Fast Public Key Cryptosystem for Next = Generation Wireless Electronic Transactions Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and ADESA, Inc. introduce = HAWK VLSI cryptography-enhanced processor San Francisco, CA - RPK, Inc. announced today that a consortium of the = Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and ADESA, Inc., a Swiss = application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design firm have chosen = the RPK Fast Public Key Cryptosystem to provide strong cryptographic = security in a next generation wireless electronic transactions = application. At the same time, EPFL and ADESA unveiled HAWK a new = generation cryptography-enhanced microprocessor specifically designed = for use in high speed/low power embedded applications. "The RPK encryption technology won the design review after an extensive = evaluation of all existing cryptosystems based on well known and = understood cryptographic techniques," said Maurice Jaccard, Managing = Director of ADESA, Inc. "With RPK there are no compromises. We get = uncompromised security, high speed and low cost of implementation." "RPK is a strong encryption technology based on well know and trusted = cryptographic techniques," said Jack Oswald, President and CEO of RPK = Inc. "Having RPK chosen by the Swiss for this breakthrough = electronic-commerce application is the strongest endorsement we could = possibly achieve for the RPK technology." Wireless Electronic Transactions Application The collaboration of RPK, EPFL and ADESA has resulted in a prototype = application that promises to become the "wallet of the future". This = new wireless electronic transaction application may take the form of a = credit card, a watch or a key chain and will sport features analogous to = the leather wallets used today by billions of people worldwide. Early = designs of the system allow the user to withdraw and hold cash in = multiple currencies, as well as, purchase and hold vouchers for hotels, = planes and car rentals all through the use of wireless communications = technology. Officials in charge of the project envision that such = devices could also become a personal key chain for gaining access to = motor vehicles, offices and dwellings, in addition to traditional credit = card uses. ADESA concluded that performance of the RPK implementation in the = prototype far exceeded existing smart card implementations based on the = RSA and other algorithms. The RPK technology performs the necessary = encryption functions in less than 10 milliseconds using an 823-bit key = compared to the best performing RSA-based equivalents that require = greater than 100 milliseconds to perform the same type of function using = a much weaker 512-bit key. The application is not limited to 823-bit = keys. The design of the system, based on the new HAWK processor is = flexible and can accommodate and process various sized keys, smaller or = larger than 823 bits based on downloadable parameters. ADESA officials = explained that the simplicity of the RPK algorithm makes it much simpler = to implement than the popular RSA approach. It was RPK's simplicity, = offering a much faster and cheaper solution while providing even higher = security, that drove the choice over RSA for this application. =20 About the RPK Fast Public Key Cryptosystem RPK is a relatively new public key cryptosystem that is based on = mathematics widely used in cryptography today. It was designed to be = immediately commercially viable without the years of study that a new = area of mathematics normally requires, such as the Elliptic Curve = Cryptosystem (ECC). The source of the security for RPK is the same as = that of Diffie-Hellman key exchange, a widely used and well studied = cryptographic technique. RPK offers real advantages for high speed = networking, SmartCard, wireless communication applications as well as = high volume software processes such as credit card transactions.=20 RPK has at its core an invention called a Mixture Generator. In the = preferred implementation, three fairly long linear feedback shift = registers are used. This state machine has two modes of operation. One = that uses the shift registers for exponentiation and the other as a = generator of a random stream of bits used in a combining phase for the = actual encryption. Effectively, RPK allows for the amortization of two = "costly" exponentiations over the entire length of a message because the = core engine is used to initially establish a secure state of the machine = and then switches modes to perform very high speed encryption. This has = been referred to as a paradigm shift where the operation of encryption = does not require the costly calculations that an RSA or even an ECC = implementation would require for each block of data that is about the = size of the key. This mechanism can also be implemented in silicon = quite efficiently such that at high strength it is much cheaper to = produce than alternative technologies. Finally, it is also possible to = create a Mixture Generator that is made up of Elliptic Curve groups = which would provide a similarly speedy and efficient initialization mode = that could still produce high speed encryption as noted above. About the HAWK VLSI Crypto Processor The HAWK VLSI cryptography-enhanced processor is the result of more than = three years of research and development conducted at the EPFL in = Lausanne, Switzerland in the area of high speed compression and = encryption. The HAWK processor will benefit most cryptography = implementations but is particularly well suited for use with RPK. "The HAWK processor is the most innovative approach that we have seen = yet for implementing cryptographic processes in silicon," said Bill = Raike, Chief Technology Officer for RPK Inc. and inventor of the RPK = fast public key cryptosystem. "HAWK breaks the barrier for high speed, = low cost, low power and high strength encryption for embedded systems." Background RPK, Inc. is a supplier of next generation fast public key encryption = technology. RPK was invented and originally patented in New Zealand. = The company is therefore unaffected by restrictive U.S. export rules. = RPK has been successfully exported to virtually all countries of the = world at high strength. The company's headquarters are based in San = Francisco, California, USA, with an offshore research and development = center located outside of Auckland, New Zealand. http://www.rpk.co.nz=20 ADESA, Inc. is a leading ASIC design firm based in Geneva, Switzerland = with expertise in embedded and cryptographic applications. EPFL is a leading teaching and research technical institute in Lausanne, = Switzerland. The school is known for its work in advanced processor = design. *** ----- End of forwarded message from Jack Oswald -----