CISSP-ISSAP · Question #104
You are responsible for security at a defense contracting firm. You are evaluating various possible encryption algorithms to use. One of the algorithms you are examining is not integer based, uses sho
The correct answer is C. Elliptic Curve. Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) matches all three clues: it operates on algebraic curves over finite fields (not integers like RSA or Diffie-Hellman), it's a public key (asymmetric) system, and it achieves equivalent security to RSA with significantly shorter keys - making it i
Question
You are responsible for security at a defense contracting firm. You are evaluating various possible encryption algorithms to use. One of the algorithms you are examining is not integer based, uses shorter keys, and is public key based. What type of algorithm is this?
Options
- ASymmetric
- BNone - all encryptions are integer based.
- CElliptic Curve
- DRSA
How the community answered
(20 responses)- B5% (1)
- C95% (19)
Explanation
Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) matches all three clues: it operates on algebraic curves over finite fields (not integers like RSA or Diffie-Hellman), it's a public key (asymmetric) system, and it achieves equivalent security to RSA with significantly shorter keys - making it ideal for resource-constrained environments like defense hardware. RSA (D) is wrong because it is integer-based (relies on factoring large integers) and uses much longer keys for equivalent security. Symmetric (A) is wrong because symmetric algorithms use the same key for encryption and decryption, not a public/private key pair. Option B is simply false - ECC proves that non-integer-based public key cryptography exists.
Memory tip: Think "ECC = Efficient Curve Crypto" - the word shorter always points to ECC on exams, since its main selling point over RSA is achieving strong security with smaller key sizes.
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