IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, Essay

IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, VOL. 13 No.7, July 2013

Manuscript received July 5, 2013 Manuscript revi sed July 20, 2013

Data Encryption and Decryption Using RSA Algorithm in a

Network Environment

Nentawe Y. Goshwe.

Department of Electrical/Electronics Engineering

University of Agriculture, Makurdi

Abstract

One of the principal challenges of resource sharing on data

commun ication network is its security. This is premised on the

fact that once there is connectivity between computers sharing

some resources, the issue of data security becomes critical.

This

paper presents a design of data encryption and decrypt ion in a

network environment using RSA algorithm with a specific

message block size. The algorithm allows a message sender to

generate a public keys to encrypt the message and the receiver is

sent a generated private key using a secured database. An

incorrect private key will still decrypt the encrypted message but

to a form different from the original message.

Key words:

encryption, decryption, key, Java

1. Introduction

Cryptography is playing a major role in data protection in

applications running in a network environment.

It allows

people to do business electronically without worries of

deceit and deception in addition to ensuring the integrity

of the message and authenticity of the sender. It has

become more critical to our day -to -day life because

t housands of people in teract electronically every day;

through e -mail, e -commerce, ATM machines, cellular

phones , etc. This geometric increase of information

transmitted electronically has made increased reliance on

cryptography and authentication by users [1 -4] .

Despite the f act that secure d communication has existed

for centuries, the key management problem has prevented

it from commonplace application . Th e develop ment of

public -key cryptography has enabled large -scale network

of users that can communicate securely with one another

even if they had never communicated before [6 -8] .

This paper considers a Public Key encryption method

using RSA algorithm that will convert the information to

a form not understandable by the intruder therefore

protecting unauthorized users from h aving access to the

information even if they are able to break into the system.

2. Methodology

There are many ways of classifying data cryptographic

algorithms but for the purpose of this paper, they will be classified

based on the number of keys that are employe d

for encryption and decryption. The three common types of

algorithms are:

Secret Key Cryptography (SKC) :

The SKC method uses only a single key for both

encryption and decryption. The schemes are

generally categorized as being either stream ciphers

or block ciphers. Stream ciphers operate on a single

bit (byte or computer word) at a time and implement

some form of feedback mechanism so that the key is

constantly changing while block cipher scheme

encrypts one block of data at a time using the same

ke y on each block.

The main drawback of this method is propagation

error because a distorted bit in transmission will

result in n distorted bits at the receiving side. Though

stream ciphers do not propagate transmission errors,

they are periodic therefore th e key-stream will

eventually repeat. This normally results in the use of

digital signature mechanisms with either large keys

for the public verification function or the use of a

TTP .

Public Key Cryptography (PKC) :

PKC scheme uses one key for encryption and a

different key for decryption. Modern PKC was first

described using a two -key crypto system in which

two parties could engage in a secure communication

over a non- secure communications channel without

having to share a secret key [5] . In PKC, one of the

keys is designated the public key and may be

advertised as widely as the owner wants. The other

key is designated the private key and is never

revealed to another party. RSA is one of the first and

still most common PKC implementation that is in

use today for key exchange or digital signatures.

The cardinal advantage of this method is that

administration of keys on a network requires the

presence of only a functionally trusted TTP, as

opposed to an unconditionally trusted TTP.

Depending on the mode of usag e, the TTP might

only be required in an off -line manner, as opposed

to in real time . Many public-key schemes yield

relatively efficient signature mechanisms. The key

used to describe the public verification function is

IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, VOL.13 No.7, July 2013

typically much smaller than for the symmetric-key

counterpart [6 -9]

Hash Functions (HF) :

The HF uses a mathematical transformation to

irreversibly “”encrypt”” information . This algorithm

does not use keys for encryption and decryption of

data. It rather uses a fixed -length hash value which

co mputed based on a plaintext that makes it

impossible for either the contents or length of the

plaintext to be recovered. These algorithms are

typically used to provide a digital fingerprint of a

file’s content, often used to ensure that the file has not

be en altered by an intruder or virus. Hash functions

are also commonly employed by many operating

systems to encrypt passwords to provide some

measure of the integrity of a file.

2.1 The RSA Algorithm for Creating RSA Public

and Private Key Pair

The RSA algo rithm can be used for both key exchange

and digital signatures. Although employed with numbers

using hundreds of digits, the mathematics behind RSA is

relatively straight- forward. To create an RSA public and

private key pair, the following steps can be used :

i. Choose two prime numbers, p and q. From

these numbers you can calculate the

modulus,

pq n=

ii. Select a third number, e, that is relatively

prime to (i.e . it does not divide evenly into)

the product

( )( )1 1 ? ? q p , the number e is the

public exponent.

iii. Calculate an integer d from the

quotient

( )

( )( ) 1

1 1

? ?

p ed

. The number d is the

private exponent.

iv. The public key is the number pair

() e

n, .

Although these values are publicly known, it

is computationally infeasible to determine d

from n and e if p and q are large enough.

v. To encrypt a message, M, with the public

key, creates the cipher -text, C, using the

equation:

n Mod M C e =

vi. The receiver then decrypts the cipher -text

with the private key using the equa tion:

n Mod C M d =

Figure 1.0: A flow chart illustrating the RSA decryption Algorithm

START

Read plainText, p, q

e and d.

Are p and q

prime numbers?

n = p*q

phi = (p-1)*(q -1)

Are e and phi relatively

prime?

Is ()

( )( )

1 1

? ?

p ed

an integer?

Encode plainText = encodedText

YES

C = cipherText

M = encodedText

n Mod M C e =

Print cipherText, n,

e and d.

STOP

IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, VOL.13 No.7, July 2013

2.1 How to Use the Keys for Encryption

Assuming a sender A that wants to send a message

to a receiver B, the sender wi ll take the following

steps: –

i. Obtains the recipient B’s public key

( ) n

e ,

ii. Represents the plaintext message as a positive

integer

M .

iii. Computes the cipher -text

n Mod M C e = .

iv. Send the cipher -text

C to B.

The flow chart of the encryption algorithm is as given in

Figure 1.0.

Figure 2.0: A Flow Chart to Illustrate the Decryption Algorithm

2.2 How to Use the Keys for Decryption

For the recipient B to receive the message sent by the

sender A, the recipient will take the following steps: –

i. Uses the private key (n, d) to

compute

n Mod C M e = .

ii. Extracts the plaintext from the integer

representative

M . This is actually the smallest possible value for the

modulus n for which the RSA algorithm works. Figure

2.0 illustrates the decryption procedures.

2.3 The Design of the Unified Modeling Language

( UML )

An object programming paradigm (of which java is one of

them) uses a unified form of describing each

pr ogramming steps called Unified Modeling Language

(UML). It is a standard nota tion that originated in the

mid -1990s from the work of James Rumbaugh, Ivar

Jacobson and Grady Boch. UML is a graphical way of

representing and designing an object oriented langua ge

for proper description of each step involved and the flow

layout of the program itself.

This work chooses to use UML because it has the

advantage of clearly show ing the relationship that exists

between the classes that form this work . There are three

p ackages that exi st in t his work, t hey are:

i. The applicationGUI Package

ii. The dbinterface Package

iii. The encodinganddecoding package.

The applicationGUI package contains four classes;

MainApp.java, ReceiverInterface.java,

SenderInterface.java and TableDisplay.j ava. The

dbInterface package only contains the

RetrieveMessage.java and the SendMessage.java class.

The encodinganddecoding package contains the

EncodingAndDecoding.java class. All these packages are

embedded in the project named

DataEncryptionAndDecryptio n.

In this paper the Top -down approach is used for the

design of the program therefore all the small objects are

put together to form the main object. The individual

classes of these smaller objects are specified with names

and are then linked together to form the major object.

The class names for the individual objects are;

i. TableDisplay.java

ii. SendMessage.java

iii. RetrieveMessage.java

iv. EncodingAndDecoding

The necessary java packages were imported while the

database was created in mySQL with three fields namely:

Cipher ID, Cipher Text and n with security

administered on it. Frames were created with menus and

call the Action Listener, SendMessage Interface is created

with labels, Buttons and TextAreas . This is followed by

creation of another RetrieveMessage interface with Label,

Buttons and TextAreas . And in addition, the Encoding and

Decoding class (which is a public class that encodes,

decodes, encrypt and decrypt by making use of the

BigInteger ) were also created.

START

Read cipherText,

n and d .

cipherText = C

n Mod C M d =

Decode M = plainText

Print plainText.

STOP

IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, VOL.13 No.7, July 2013

Figure 3. 0: A U ML to Illustrate the P rogram Design for the Private and

Public Keys

3. Results and Discussion

The program was run and compiled on Windows XP and

tested on University of Agriculture, Makurdi local area

network which is structured on V -LAN topology. The

Grap hic User Interface (GUI) is designed to be user

friendly and can be used without knowledge of

programming in Java .

3.1 The Sent Message GUI Output.

Running the program give s a frame with menus that can

send or retrieve a message from the database. The sender

sent a test message my credit card number is

234M99934 . The Plaintext ( my credit card number is

234M99934 ) is entered in the p lain text area before

clicking on encode to convert the text to ASCII code and

the result is placed in the Encoded Text as shown in

Figure 4.0 .

Figure 4.0: The GUI of the Plain Text, Encoded Text and Cipher Text

Result .

The Encrypt Button is clicked, a Dialog box appear asking

for the value of q, which must be a prime number and

another dialog box prompting for the value of p which

must also be prime number (the product of q and p

must not have more than 4 digits; which is the specified

block -size for this program).

To send the Cipher text to the database, the Send Button

is clicked and the dialog box returns the value of n, e and

d as 9557, 17 and 7973 respectively .

Figure 5 .0: A Dialog B ox Returning the V alues of n, e and d.

At the receiver end, the receiver uses the Retrieve

Message GUI to request for th e value of cipher ID

from the database. A correct entry of the Cipher ID will

return the Cipher text dialog box and requesting for value

of d for decryption to take place as shown in Figure 5 .0.

The database identifies the message and the

corresponding Cipher ID. This converts the Cipher text to

ASCI I codes and returns it in the Encoded Text box.

Figure 6 .0: A Correct Entry of the Cipher ID with the Requested Value

of d .

For a correct Cipher ID, the dialog box will return the

correct Cipher text as shown in Figure 6.0. Correct entry

of the va lue of d at the Receiver Interface will return the

Correct Retrieved Plain Text Message as shown in

Figure 7.0.

– JLabel

– JTextARea

– JButton

+ Init components

+ ActionPerformed

+ BigInteger

JFrame ActionListener

(-) implies private.

(+) implies public.

IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, VOL.13 No.7, July 2013

Figure 7 .0: Receiver Interface w ith the Correct Retrieved Plain Text

Message.

To ensure that the data is secured, for any entry of wrong

value of d , the Receiver Interface will return a

meaningless Plain Text Message as shown in Figure 8 .0.

This ensures the data is secured against hackers within the

network environment.

Fig ure 8 .0 Interface Show s a Meaningless Me ssage with Wrong Value

of d .

4. C onclusion

The paper has presented data encryption and decryption in

a network environment that was successfully implemented.

With this software, data can be transferred from one

computer terminal to another via an unsecured network

enviro nment. An eavesdropper that breaks into the

message will return a meaningless message . Obviously

encryption and decryption is one of the best way s of

hiding the meanings of a message from intruders in a

network environment.

Re ferences

[1] Afolabi, A.O and E.R . Adagunodo, 2012. Implementation

of an Improved data encryption algorithm in a web based

learning system. International Journal of research and

reviews in Computer Science. Vol. 3, No. 1.

[2] Bhoopendra, S.R., Prashanna, G. and S. Yadav, 2010. An

Integrated encryption scheme used in Bluetooth

communication mechanism. International Journal of

Computer Tech. and Electronics Engineering (IJCTEE), vol.

1, issue 2.

[3] DI management (2005) RSA algorithm, available at:

[4] Gaurav, S., 2012. Secure file transmission scheme based

On hybrid encryption technique. International Journal of

management, IT and Engineering. Vol. 2, issue 1.

[5] Hellman, M. and J. Diffie, 1976. New Directions in

Cryptography. IEEE transactions on Information theory,

vol. IT -22, pp:644- 654.

[6] Shinde, G.N. and H .S. Fade War, 2008. Faster RSA

algorithm for decryption using Chinese remainder theorem.

ICCES, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 255 -261.

[7] Yang L. and S.H. Yang. 2007. A frame work of security

and safety checking for internet -based control systems.

International Journal of Information and Computer security.

Vol.1, No. 2.

[8] Washington, L.C. 2006. Introduction to Cryptography: with

coding theory by Wade Trappe. Upper Saddle River , New

Jersey, Pearson Prentice Hall.

[9] Wuling Ren College of Computer and Information

Engineering Zhejiang Gongshang University. 2010. A

hybrid encryption algorithm based on DES and RSA in

Bluetooth communication. Second International Conference

on Modeling, Simulation and Visualization methods .

Nentawe Y. Goshwe received B.

Engineering in Electrical/ Electronic

from University of Agriculture, Makurdi

and M. Engineering degrees in

Electronics from ATBU Bauchi in 1992

and 2000, respectively and a PhD from

U niversity of Nigeria, Nsukka. He

Joined the University in 1996 and

doubles as both a Lecturer in the

Department of Electrical/Electronic Engineering, and Director of

Information and Communication Technology, University of

IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, Essay

Network Environment

Nentawe Y. Goshwe.

University of Agriculture, Makurdi

Abstract

Key words:

encryption, decryption, key, Java

algorithms are:

Secret Key Cryptography (SKC) :

ke y on each block.

TTP .

Public Key Cryptography (PKC) :

counterpart [6 -9]

Hash Functions (HF) :

measure of the integrity of a file.

and Private Key Pair

these numbers you can calculate the

modulus,

pq n=

the product

public exponent.

iii. Calculate an integer d from the

quotient

private exponent.

iv. The public key is the number pair

equation:

n Mod M C e =

n Mod C M d =

START

Read plainText, p, q

Are p and q

prime numbers?

n = p*q

phi = (p-1)*(q -1)

Are e and phi relatively

prime?

Is ()

an integer?

Encode plainText = encodedText

C = cipherText

M = encodedText

n Mod M C e =

Print cipherText, n,

steps: –

integer

iii. Computes the cipher -text

n Mod M C e = .

iv. Send the cipher -text

C to B.

Figure 1.0.

i. Uses the private key (n, d) to

compute

n Mod C M e = .

representative

layout of the program itself.

i. The applicationGUI Package

ii. The dbinterface Package

iii. The encodinganddecoding package.

MainApp.java, ReceiverInterface.java,

dbInterface package only contains the

embedded in the project named

DataEncryptionAndDecryptio n.

i. TableDisplay.java

ii. SendMessage.java

iii. RetrieveMessage.java

iv. EncodingAndDecoding

BigInteger ) were also created.

START

Read cipherText,

cipherText = C

n Mod C M d =

Decode M = plainText

Print plainText.

Public Keys

programming in Java .

Figure 4.0 .

Result .

block -size for this program).

d as 9557, 17 and 7973 respectively .

of d .

Read plainText, p, q

Are p and q

Are e and phi relatively

Print cipherText, n,

Read cipherText,

Print plainText.

of d .

of d .