Abstract:
The present invention is a method and apparatus for providing cryptographically secure algebraic key establishment protocols that use monoids and groups possessing certain algorithmic properties. Special fast algorithms associated with certain monoids and groups are used to optimize both key agreement and key transport protocols. The cryptographic security of the algorithms is based on the difficulty of solving the conjugacy problem in groups and other known hard algebraic problems. Braid groups and their associated algorithms are the basis for highly rapid key agreement and key transport protocols which employ modest computational resources.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The invention relates to algebraic key establishment protocols for cryptographic applications.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Key Establishment Protocols  
           [0005]    The concepts, terminology and framework for understanding cryptographic key establishment protocols is given in Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot, and Scott A. Vanstone, “Handbook of Applied Cryptography,” CRC Press (1997), pages 490-491.  
           [0006]    A ‘protocol’ is a multi-party algorithm, defined by a sequence of steps specifying the actions required of two or more parties in order to achieve a specified objective.  
           [0007]    A ‘key establishment’ protocol is a protocol whereby a shared secret becomes available to two or more parties, for subsequent cryptographic applications.  
           [0008]    A ‘key transport’ protocol is a key establishment protocol where one party creates or obtains a secret value, and securely transfers it to the other participating parties.  
           [0009]    A ‘key agreement’ protocol is a key establishment protocol in which a shared secret is derived by two (or more) parties as a function of information contributed by, or associated with, each of the participating parties such that no party can predetermine the resulting value.  
           [0010]    A ‘key-distribution’ protocol is a key establishment protocol whereby the established keys are completely determined a priori by initial keying material.  
           [0011]    A ‘dynamic’ key establishment protocol is one whereby the key established by a fixed pair (or subset) of the participating parties varies on subsequent executions. Dynamic key establishment protocols are also referred to as ‘session’ key establishment protocols, and it is usually intended that these protocols are immune from known-key attacks.  
           [0012]    The Diffie-Hellman key agreement protocol (also called ‘exponential key exchange’) is a fundamental algebraic protocol. It is presented in W. Diffie and M. E. Hellman, “New Directions in Cryptography,” IEEE Transaction on Information Theory vol. IT 22 (November 1976), pp. 644-654. The Diffie-Hellman key agreement protocol provided the first practical solution to the key distribution problem, allowing two parties, never having met in advance or sharing keying material, to establish a shared secret by exchanging messages over an open channel. The security rests on the intractability of the Diffie-Hellman problem and the related problem of computing discrete logarithms in the multiplicative group of the finite field GF(p) where p is a large prime, cf. Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot, and Scott A. Vanstone, “Handbook of Applied Cryptography,” CRC Press (1997), page 113.  
           [0013]    A key establishment protocol is said to have ‘perfect forward secrecy’ if compromise of long-term keys does not compromise past session keys. The idea of perfect forward security is that previous traffic is locked safely in the past. It may be provided by generating session keys by Diffie-Hellman key agreement, wherein the Diffie-Hellman exponentials are based on short term keys. If long-term secret keys are compromised, future sessions are nonetheless subject to impersonation by an active adversary (cf. Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot, and Scott A. Vanstone, “Handbook of Applied Cryptography,” CRC Press (1997), page 496).  
           [0014]    ‘Point-to-point key update’ techniques based on symmetric encryption would make use of a long-term symmetric key K shared a priori by two parties A and B. The Diffie-Hellman key agreement protocol allows for the establishment of such a K. Thus, the Diffie-Hellman key agreement protocol together with the symmetric encryption system provide the primitives in specifying a key transport protocol (cf. Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot, and Scott A. Vanstone, “Handbook of Applied Cryptography,” CRC Press (1997), page 497).  
           [0015]    Combinatorial Group Theory  
           [0016]    The definition of a monoid is given in Serge Lang, “Algebra,” Third Edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Inc. (1993), page 3.  
           [0017]    QUOTE  
           [0018]    Let S be a set. A mapping S×S→S is sometimes called a law of composition (of S into itself). If x, y are elements of S, the image of the pair (x, Y) under the mapping is also called their product under the law of composition, and will be denoted xy . . .  
           [0019]    Let S be a set with a law of composition. If x, y, z are elements of S, then we may form their product in two ways: (xy)z and x(yz). If (xy)z=x(yz) for all x, y, z in S then we say that the law of composition is associative.  
           [0020]    An element e of S such that ex=x=xe for all xεS is called a unit element.  
           [0021]    A unit element is unique, for if e′ is another unit element, we have e=ee′=e′ by assumption. In most cases, the unit element is written simply 1 (instead of e) . . .  
           [0022]    A monoid is a set G, with a law of composition which is associative, and having a unit element (so that in particular, G is not empty).  
           [0023]    UNQUOTE  
           [0024]    The definition of a group is given in Serge Lang, “Algebra,” Third Edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Inc. (1993), page 7.  
           [0025]    QUOTE  
           [0026]    A group G is a monoid, such that for every element xεG there exists an element yεG such that xy=yx=e. Such an element y is called an inverse for x. Such an inverse is unique . . . We denote this inverse by x −1 .  
           [0027]    UNQUOTE  
           [0028]    The basic reference for concepts, terminology, and historical framework in combinatorial group theory is the monograph by Bruce Chandler and Wilhelm Magnus, “The history of combinatorial group theory: a case study in the history of ideas,” Springer-Verlag (1982). We quote from page 3:  
           [0029]    QUOTE  
           [0030]    Combinatorial group theory may be characterized as the theory of groups which are given by generators and defining relations, or, as we would say today, by a presentation.  
           [0031]    UNQUOTE  
           [0032]    The following problems were posed by M. Dehn in 1911. We quote from the monograph by Bruce Chandler and Wilhelm Magnus, “The history of combinatorial group theory: a case study in the history of ideas,” Springer-Verlag (1982), page 19.  
           [0033]    QUOTE  
           [0034]    The Word Problem (called Identitaetsproblem by Dehn) Let an arbitrary element of the group be given through its buildup in terms of the generators. Find a method to decide in a finite number of steps whether this element equals the identity element or not.  
           [0035]    The Conjugacy Problem (called Transformationsproblem by Dehn) Any two elements S and T of the group are given. Find a method to decide whether S and T are conjugate, i.e. whether there exists an element U of the group which satisfies the relation S UTU −1 .  
           [0036]    UNQUOTE  
           [0037]    The comparison form of the word problem can be stated as follows:  
           [0038]    Comparison Form of the Word Problem Let u, v be any two elements of the group given. Find a method to decide in a finite number of steps whether u=v.  
           [0039]    Assume that G is a group given by a presentation P(G). Let W(G) denote the set of all words in the generators and their inverses given in the presentation of G. The functional form of the word problem is to produce a mapping F from W(G) to W(G) such that for all u, vεW(G) it follows that F(u)=F(v) if and only if u, v define the same element of G with respect to the presentation P(G). For each element uεW(G) the element F(u) is termed the canonical form of u.  
           [0040]    The functional form of the word problem requires an algorithm to produce canonical forms.  
           [0041]    The Canonical Form Problem Let u be an arbitrary element of the given group. Specify a method to find, in a finite number of steps, a canonical form for u.  
           [0042]    The functional form of the conjugacy problem requires, in addition, an algorithm to actually produce the conjugating element U.  
           [0043]    Generalized Conjugacy Problem (functional form) Let s 1 , s 2 , . . . , s n  be elements of a group G. Assume that aεG is secret and the set of n pairs of elements of the group G 
           {s 1 , a −1 s 1 a}, {s 2 , a −1 s 2 a}, . . . {s n , a −1 s n a} 
           [0044]    are publicly announced. Find an algorithm to actually produce such an element a.  
           [0045]    It is self evident that this problem is harder than the original conjugacy problem. It has been known for some time that there exist groups with solvable word problem and unsolvable conjugacy problem. For example, in D. J. Collins and C. F. Miller III, “The conjugacy problem and subgroups of finite index,” Proc. LMS Series 3, 34, (1977), p. 535-556) it is shown that there exist finitely presented groups G with solvable word problem which contain a subgroup H of index 2 with an unsolvable conjugacy problem. (Of course, the word problem for H is solvable.)  
           [0046]    The discrete logarithm problem for a finite cyclic group of order p (a large prime) provides a bridge from combinatorial group theory to cryptographic protocols. A finite cyclic group of order p can be realized as the set of integers coprime to p modulo p, i.e., the finite set of integers {1, 2, . . . , p−1} which forms a group under multiplication modulo p. Given fixed integers a, bε{1, 2, . . . , p−1}, where a is a primitive root modulo p, the discrete logarithm problem is to find an integer x (with 1≦x≦p−1) such that 
             b=a   x  (mod  p ). 
           [0047]    Another realization of a finite cyclic group of order p can be specified by a presentation with one generator a and one defining relation a p =1 where 1 denotes the identity element. Note that every element g of the group has a unique canonical form g=a x  where x is an integer between one and p. It is clear that the discrete logarithm problem for a finite cyclic group of order p is thus identical to the canonical word problem for this group with respect to an arbitrary primitive element a.  
           [0048]    The present invention employs the problems and algorithms of combinatorial group to create novel cryptographically secure algebraic key establishment protocols. More specifically, the cryptographic security of these protocols depend on the existence of groups with feasible word problem and hard conjugacy problem. Such an approach does not exist in the prior art.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0049]    It is the primary object of the present invention to provide novel cryptographically secure algebraic key establishment protocols based on a key establishment algebraic system KEAS.  
           [0050]    Let (U, θ U ) denote a monoid whose generating set {u 1 , u 2 , . . . } is enumerable and whose law of composition 
           θ U : U×U→U 
           [0051]    is feasibly computable. Let (V, θ v ) denote another such monoid. A KEAS is a five-tuple (U, V, β, γ 1 , γ 2 ) where 
           β: U×U→V, γ i : U×V→V (i=1, 2) 
           [0052]    are feasibly computable functions satisfying the following properties.  
           [0053]    (i) For all elements x, y 1 , y 2 εU 
           β( x, θ   U ( y   1   , y   2 ))=θ v (β( x, y   1 ), β( x, y   2 )) 
           [0054]    (ii) For all elements x, yεU 
           γ 1 ( x , β( y, x ))=γ 2 ( y , β( x, y )). 
           [0055]    It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which can perform monoid multiplication for KEAS.  
           [0056]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel algebraic key agreement protocol based on KEAS=(U, V, β, γ 1 , γ 2 ) where U=V=G is a group.  
           [0057]    It is an object and feature of the present invention to provide a cryptographically secure algebraic key agreement protocol whose security is based on the existence of groups whose word problem can be solved in polynomial time while no polynomial time algorithm to solve the generalized conjugacy problem is known.  
           [0058]    It is an object and feature of the present invention to provide a cryptographically secure algebraic key agreement protocol which is based on the computation of a list of randomly rewritten conjugates in a group, thus reducing the steps and calculations in executing the protocol. This allows for easy implementation of the algorithms on low level computing devices with table driven modules.  
           [0059]    It is an object of the present invention to provide an algebraic key agreement protocol based on KEAS=(U, V, β, γ 1 , γ 2 ) where U=V=G is the braid group.  
           [0060]    It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which randomly rewrites a word in the braid group in linear time in the word length.  
           [0061]    A key transport protocol is an algorithm, initiated by an input, defined by a sequence of steps, which enables one party to securely transfer a key to another party. The key transport protocol is said to run in polynomial time if the number of steps required to transfer the key is a polynomial in the bit length of the input. If the polynomial is of the first degree, the key transport protocol is said to run in linear time.  
           [0062]    It is an object and feature of the present invention to provide a cryptographically secure algebraic key transport protocol based on KEAS which allows for a linear time secure transfer of an encrypted key and requires polynomial time decryption of said encrypted key.  
           [0063]    It is an object and feature of the present invention to provide a cryptographically secure algebraic key transport protocol based on KEAS=(U, V, β, γ 1 , γ 2 ) where U and V are monoids and U acts on a message space. The key transport protocol is a combination of the algebraic key agreement protocol based on KEAS, together with an apparatus which efficiently compares members of the message space. This allows for linear time secure transfer of an element of the message space and requires a polynomial time algorithm for comparison and retrieval of the message.  
           [0064]    It is an object and feature of the present invention to provide a cryptographically secure algebraic key transport protocol based on KEAS=(U, V, β, γ 1 , γ 2 ) where the message space=U=V is the braid group which acts on itself by multiplication. This allows for the linear time secure transfer of an element of the message space (randomly rewritten word in the braid group) and requires a polynomial time algorithm to obtain a canonical form and decrypt the message.  
           [0065]    It is an object and feature of the present invention to provide a cryptographically secure algebraic key transport protocol based on KEAS=(U, V, β, γ 1 , γ 2 ) where the message space=U=V is the braid group which acts on itself by conjugation. This allows for the linear time secure transfer of an element of the message space (randomly rewritten word in the braid group) and requires a polynomial time algorithm to obtain a canonical form and decrypt the message.  
           [0066]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a cryptographically secure algebraic key transport protocol based on KEAS=(U, V, β, γ 1 , γ 2 ) where U=V is the braid group and the message space is a free group.  
           [0067]    The system according to the invention is particularly suited towards implementation using currently available digital technology, commercially popular microprocessor based systems, and other affordable digital components. Significant portions of the system may be implemented and significant portions of the method according to the invention may be performed by software in a microcomputer based system. Moreover the system is quite suitable for implementation on emerging computer technologies, e.g., quantum computers. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0068]    [0068]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary preferred embodiment of an apparatus which performs monoid multiplication.  
         [0069]    [0069]FIG. 2 shows a β-function module.  
         [0070]    [0070]FIG. 3 shows a γ 1 , γ 2 -function module.  
         [0071]    [0071]FIG. 4 shows a submonoid generator  
         [0072]    [0072]FIG. 5 shows a submonoid random element generator.  
         [0073]    [0073]FIG. 6 shows an exchange of public information of an algebraic key agreement protocol based on monoids.  
         [0074]    [0074]FIG. 7 shows a preferred embodiment of an apparatus which performs the algebraic key agreement protocol based on monoids.  
         [0075]    [0075]FIG. 8 shows an exchange of public information of an algebraic key agreement protocol based on the braid group.  
         [0076]    [0076]FIG. 9 shows a preferred embodiment of a random rewriter for the braid group  
         [0077]    [0077]FIG. 10 shows a preferred embodiment of an apparatus which performs the algebraic key agreement protocol based on the braid group.  
         [0078]    [0078]FIG. 11 shows a preferred embodiment of an apparatus which performs the algebraic key transport protocol for monoids.  
         [0079]    [0079]FIG. 12 shows a preferred embodiment of an apparatus which performs the algebraic key transport protocol for groups. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0080]    A General Algebraic Key Agreement Protocol  
         [0081]    A preferred embodiment of an apparatus which performs an algebraic key agreement protocol based on KEAS will now be described in detail. The algebraic key-agreement protocol requires an apparatus which can perform monoid multiplication. A preferred exemplary embodiment of such an apparatus is depicted with block diagrams in FIG. 1, and is described as follows.  
         [0082]    Let (U, θ U ) denote a monoid whose generating set {u 1 , u 2 , . . . } is enumerable and whose law of composition 
         θ U : U×U→U 
         [0083]    is feasibly computable. The U-Library  11  consists of the set of generators {u 1 , u 2 , . . . }. A sequence of indices  10  along with the U-Library  11  is presented to the Sequence Encoder  12 . The Sequence Encoder chooses 12 u i     1   , u i     2   , . . . , u i     e    from the U-library  11  and presents this to the Free Monoid Multiplier  13  which then concatenates the elements to yield the output u i     1   ·u i     2    . . . u i     e   . The monoid U can be viewed as a quotient of the free monoid (generated by the U-Library) modulo a set of rewriting rules. The U-Presentation Code  14  consists of this set of rewriting rules. The Monoid Rewriter  15  computes the equivalence class of u i     1   ·u i     2    . . . u i     e    modulo the rewriting rules in the U-Presentation Code  14 . The result is a word in the monoid U. An apparatus which performs the internal binary operation of U can now be specified. Given x=u j     1   ·u j     2    . . . u j     a   , and y=u k     1   ·u k     2    . . . u k     b   , to obtain the product x·y, simply input the long sequence j 1 , j 2 , . . . j a , k 1 , k 2 , . . . k b  into  10 . The output of the Monoid Rewriter  15  will be x·y.  
         [0084]    A preferred embodiment of an apparatus which performs the algebraic key-agreement protocol based on KEAS is depicted in block diagrams in FIGS. 1 through 7. Recall that a KEAS is a five-tuple (U, V, β, γ 1 , γ 2 ) where U and V are monoids with feasibly computable laws of composition and β, γ 1 , γ 2  are functions satisfying the following properties:  
         [0085]    (i) For all x, y 1 , y 2 εU 
         β( x, θ   U ( y   1   , y   2 ))=θ v (β( x, y   1 ), β( x, y   2 )) 
         [0086]    (ii) There exists easily computable functions γ i : U×V→V (i=1, 2) such that 
         γ 1 ( x , β( y, x ))=γ 2 ( y , β( x, y )). 
         [0087]    Let x, yεU denote the Input  20 . The β-Function Module  21  computes the value of β(x, y). Let uεU, be the Input  30 , and let vεV be the Input  31 . The γ 1 -Function Module  32  computes γ 1 (u, v) while the γ 2 -Function Module  32  computes γ 2 (u, v).  
         [0088]    With the functions ↑, γ 1 , γ 2  in place the algebraic key agreement protocol can now be described. Given a subset S         U, recall that the submonoid generated by S, denoted &lt;S&gt;, is defined to be the smallest submonoid of U which contains S, i.e., 
         &lt;S&gt;∩submonoids of U containing S. 
         [0089]    Remark that &lt;S&gt; coincides with the set of all possible products in products of elements in the set S, including the empty product (which is the identity element).  
         [0090]    The algebraic key agreement protocol involves two users, A(lice) and B(ob). User A is assigned a set of distinct elements in U, 
         {s 1 , . . . , s n } 
         [0091]    which generate a submonoid of U denoted 
         S A=&lt;s   1 , s 2 , . . . , s n &gt;. 
         [0092]    In the discussion below we utilize functional notation for elements in the monoid U: if x is an element in U, x is expressible as a word in the generators of U and we write 
           x=x ( u   i     1     , u   i     2     , . . . , u   i     n   ). 
         [0093]    Remark that each s i  is expressible as a word in the generators of U: for i=1, 2, . . . , n, 
           s   i   =s   i ( u   i     1     , u   i     2   , . . . ). 
         [0094]    Likewise user B is assigned elements {t 1 , . . . , t m } which generate a submonoid of U denoted 
           T   B   =&lt;t   1   , t   2   , . . . , t   m &gt;. 
         [0095]    Here again each t j  is expressible as a word in the generators of U: for j=1, 2, . . . , m, 
           t   j   =t   j ( u′   j1   , u′   j2 , . . . ). 
         [0096]    An apparatus for assigning an arbitrary set w 1 , w 2 , . . . w m  of m words to a user is depicted in FIG. 4. The key component of this apparatus is a cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator PRNG. The definition of a PRNG is given in Bruce Schneier, “Applied cryptography protocols, algorithms, and source code in C,” Second Edition 1996, John Wiley, page 45, and is well known in the art. In all subsequent discussions in the preferred embodiment, a PRNG will always refer to such a cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator.  
         [0097]    Let m, k≧1 denote integers. Let L={L 1 , L 2 , . . . L m } denote a vector of positive integers. The Input: m, L  40  together with the Input: k  42  is presented to a pseudorandom number generator PRNG  41  which creates m lists of integers of lengths L 1 , L 2 , . . . L m , respectively; each list {e(i, 1), e(i, 2), . . . , e(i, L i )} (for i=1, 2, . . . m) consisting of integers randomly chosen from the set {1, 2, . . . , k}. These lists, together with the U-Library  11  are then presented to the Sequence Encoder  12  whose output goes to the Free Monoid Multiplier  13 . The output of the Free Monoid Multiplier  13  is then sent to the Monoid Rewriter  15  into which the U-presentation code has already been presented. The final output is w 1 , w 2 , . . . , w m  which creates a User Submonoid Generator Library  43  and then sent to the User Submonoid Store and Forward Module  44 .  
         [0098]    The process of key exchange begins with both users choosing secret elements in their respective submonoids, 
           aεS   A   , a=a ( s   1   , s   2   , . . . , s   n ) 
           bεT   B   , b=b ( t   1   , t   2   , . . . , t   m ). 
         [0099]    This is depicted in FIG. 5. Let L, m denote positive integers. The Input: L  50  together with the Input: m  52  is sent to a pseudorandom number generator PRNG  51  which randomly chooses L′≦L positive integers e 1 , e 2 , . . . , e L′  such that each e i ≦m (for i=1, 2, . . . L′). This sequence of randomly chosen integers is presented to the Sequence Encoder  12  which also receives the Input of the User Submonoid Generator Library  43  which consists of w 1 , w 2 , w 3  . . . The Sequence Encoder  12  then chooses w e     1   , w e     2   , . . . w e     L′    and presents this to the Submonoid Multiplier  54  which computes the product a=w e     1   ·w e     2    . . . w e     L′    and sends it to the User Private Element Store and Forward Module  55 .  
         [0100]    User A now transmits the Input  60   
         s 1 , s 2 , . . . , s n   
         [0101]    (where each s i  is a word in the generators of U) via the Communication module: Transmit and Receive  62 , and user B transmits the Input  61   
         t 1 , t 2 , . . . , t m   
         [0102]    via the Communication module: Transmit and Receive  62 . The received list {t 1 , t 2 , . . . , t m } together with Alice&#39;s secret key, the Input: a  63  is then forwarded to the ⊖-Function Module  23  yielding the list 
         β(a, t 1 ), . . . , β(a, t m ) 
         [0103]    which is stored in the Store and Forward Module  65 . Similarly, the received list {s 1 , s 2 , . . . , s n } together with Bob&#39;s secret key, the Input: b  64  is then forwarded to the β-Function Module  23  yielding the list 
         β(b, s 1 ), . . . , β(b, s n ) 
         [0104]    which is stored in the Store and Forward Module  66 .  
         [0105]    User A now transmits the Input  70   
         β(a, t 1 ), . . . , β(a, t m ) 
         [0106]    (which was stored is the Store and Forward Module  65 ) via the Communication module: Transmit and Receive  62 , and similarly user B transmits the Input  71   
         β(b, s 1 ), . . . , β(b, s n ) 
         [0107]    (which was stored is the Store and Forward Module  66 ) via the Communication module: Transmit and Receive  62 .  
         [0108]    The received list β(b, s 1 ), . . . , β(b, s n ), together with the secret list of integers e 1 , e 2  . . . . , e L′  generated by the PRNG  51  to produce Alice&#39;s secret key 
         
       a=s 
       e 
       
         1 
       
       ·s 
       e 
       
         2  
       
       . . . s 
       e 
       
         L′ 
       
     
         [0109]    is presented to the V-Monoid Multiplier  72  which then (using property (i) that β satisfies) computes the product 
         β( b, a )=β( b, s   e     1   )·β( b, s   e     2   ) . . . β( b, s   e     L′   ). 
         [0110]    The element β(b, a) together with the secret key a are sent to the γ 1 -Function  32  to produce the final output 
         γ 1 (a, β(b, a)). 
         [0111]    In a completely analogous manner, the received list β(a, t 1 ), . . . , β(a, t m ) together with the secret list of integers f 1 , f 2 , . . . , f L″  generated by the PRNG  51  to produce Bob&#39;s secret key 
         
       b=t 
       f 
       
         1 
       
       ·t 
       f 
       
         2  
       
       . . . t 
       f 
       
         L″ 
       
     
         [0112]    is presented to the V-Monoid Multiplier  72  which then (using property (i) that β satisfies) computes the product 
         β( a, b )=β( a, t   f     1   )·β( a, t   f     2   ) . . . β( a, t   f     L″   ). 
         [0113]    The element β(a, b) together with the secret key b are sent to the γ 2 -Function  33  to produce the final output 
         γ 2 (b, β(a, b)). 
         [0114]    By property (ii) it immediately follows that 
         γ 1 ( a , β( b, a ))=γ 2 ( b , β( a, b )) 
         [0115]    which is the common key exchanged between Alice and Bob.  
       EXAMPLE 1  
       [0116]    A first example of an algebraic key agreement protocol of the type detailed above can be obtained by considering the case where U=V=G is a group (a monoid where very element has an inverse). In this case the function β, 
         β:G×G→G 
         [0117]    is chosen to be conjugation: 
         β( x, y )= x   −1   , y x.   
         [0118]    The functions γ 1  and γ 2  are chosen to be 
         γ 1 ( u, v )= u   −1   v γ   2 ( u, v )= v   −1   u.   
         [0119]    It is easy to see that properties (i), (ii) hold.  
         [0120]    The asymmetric key agreement protocol in this situation can be described as follows. Users A and B publicly choose subgroups 
         S A =&lt;s 1 , s 2 , . . . , s m &gt; S B &lt;t 1 , . . . , t n &gt;, 
         [0121]    and secret elements aεS A  and bεS B . User A transmits the collection of conjugates 
         a −1 t 1  a, a −1 t 2  a, . . . a −1 t m  a 
         [0122]    and similarly user B transmits 
         b −1 s 1  b, b −1 t 2  b, . . . , b &#39;1 s n  b 
         [0123]    Recalling that the conjugate of the product of two elements is the product of the conjugates of those elements, users A and B are now in a position to compute, respectively, the elements 
         b −1 a b, a −1 b a. 
         [0124]    In order to attain a common key, user A now multiplies b −1 ab on the left by a −1  to obtain 
         [ a, b]=a   −1   b   −1   a b,   
         [0125]    and user B multiplies a −1 b a on the left by b −1  to obtain [b, a] and then computes the inverse of [b, a] which is [a, b]. Note that this is consistent with the general system notation in that 
         [ a, b]=γ   1 ( a,  β( b, a ))=γ 2 ( b,  β( a, b )). 
         [0126]    The fact that there exist groups with solvable word problem and unsolvable conjugacy problem, shows that at least in principle, the key agreement protocol for groups may be algorithmically unbreakable. In practice, however, one really works with a computer with only a finite amount of memory and this is equivalent to working only with words of bounded length in the group G. Thus everything is reduced to a finite amount of computation, so from this point of view all these problems are decidable.  
         [0127]    The above protocol is secure and feasible provided the group G has a feasibly solvable word problem and hard conjugacy problem. There are many groups, however, where the word problem can be solved in polynomial time (in the word length), while at the same time, there is no known polynomial time algorithm for solving the generalized conjugacy problem (functional form). An illustrative example of such a group is the braid group of N symbols.  
         [0128]    The braid group was first systematically studied by Emil Artin, “Theorie der Zöpfe,” Hamb. Abh. 4 (1925), pages 47-72. In that paper, the so called Artin generators x 1 , x 2 , . . . x N  for the Braid group of N symbols are introduced. They satisfy the relations 
           x   i   x   j   =x   j   x   i , if | j−i|≧ 2 and 1≦ i, j≦N   
           x   i   x   i+1   x   i   =x   i+1   x   i   x   i+1 , if 1≦ i≦N− 1. 
         [0129]    A preferred embodiment of an apparatus which performs the key agreement protocol for the braid group is depicted in block diagrams in FIGS.  8  to  10 . This apparatus will now be described in detail.  
         [0130]    Users A and B wish to exchange keys via public discussion over an insecure channel. Fix G to be the braid group on N generators. User A randomly chooses elements s 1 , s 2 , . . . , s n εG (Input  80 ) and transmits them to user B via the Communication Module  62 . Similarly, user B randomly chooses elements t 1 , t 2 , . . . , t m  (Input  81 ) and transmits them to user A via the Communication Module  62 . It can be assumed that s 1 , s 2 , . . . , s n , t 1 , t 2 , . . . t n  are publicly known.  
         [0131]    The Input: s 1 , s 2 , . . . , s n    80  is sent to the Random Word Generator  82  which produces a word a which is a secret word in the generators s 1 , s 2 , . . . , s n . The process for doing this is depicted in a more general setting in FIG. 5. The Input: t 1 , t 2 , . . . , t m    81  is sent to the Random Word Generator  83  which produces a word b which is a secret word in the generators t 1 , t 2 , . . . , t m . The secret word a together with the generators t 1 , t 2 , . . . , t m  are then presented to the Braid Group Conjugation Module  84  which computes the list of conjugate elements 
         a −1 t 1 a, a −1 t 2 a, . . . a −1 t m a. 
         [0132]    Similarly, the secret word b together with the generators s 1 , s 2 , . . . , s n  are then presented to the Braid Group Conjugation Module  84  which computes the list of conjugate elements 
         b −1 s 1 b, b −1 s 2 b, . . . b −1 s n b. 
         [0133]    In both cases, these lists are then sent to the Random Rewriter  85  which randomly rewrites each word in the list. The randomly rewritten lists are then sent to the Store and Forward Modules  86 ,  87 .  
         [0134]    A preferred embodiment of the Random Rewriter  85  is depicted in block diagrams in FIG. 9. The Input: w  90  is sent to the Free Reducer  91 . The Free Reducer  91  searches for subwords of the form x x −1  and x −1 x in the word w (where x is an arbitrary word in the Artin generators of G) and replaces xx −1  and x −1 x by the identity element. The Free Reducer  91  freely reduces the word w to produce the (possibly shorter) word W. The word W is then presented to the Length Function which computes its length L. The length L is then sent to a pseudorandom number generator PRNG  94  which randomly produces an integer j (where 1≦j≦L) and a bit e which is either 0 or 1. The freely reduced word W together with the integer j and the bit e are then sent to the Move and Replace Module  92  which produces a new word W′ in the following manner.  
         [0135]    Recall that W is a word in the Artin generators x 1 , x 2 , . . . , x N  of length L, say W=x r     1     e     1   ·x r     2     e     2    . . . x r     L     e     L    where for i=1, 2, . . . , L each e i =±1 and r i ε{1, 2, . . . , N}. If e=0 and j=1, halt the process. If e=0 and j&gt;1 consider the subword (of length 2 at the j th  position) x r     j−1     e     j−1    x r     j     e     j   . If |r j−1 −r j |≧2 replace this subword by x r     j     e     j−1    x r     j−1     e     j−1    and set j=j−1. Keep repeating until either j=1 or |r j−1 −r j |=1. If |r j−1 −r j |=1, replace the string x r     j−1     e     j−1    x r     j     e     j    by a four symbol subword arising from the Artin relations. The complete list of substitutions is given as: 
         x j x j+1 →x j+1  x j  x j+1  x j   −1   
         x j  x j+1   −1 →x j+1   −1  x j   −1  x j+1  x j   
         x j   −1  x j+1 →x j+1  x j  x j+1   −1  x j   −1   
         x j   −1  x j+1   −1 →x j+1  x j   −1  x j+1   −1  x j   −1   
         x j+1  x j →x j   −1  x j+1  x j  x j+1   
         x j+1  x j   −1 →x j   −1  x j+1   −1  x j  x j+1   
         x j+1   −1  x j →x j  x j+1  x j   −1  x j+1   −1   
         x j+1   −1  x j   −1 →x j  x j+1   −1  x j   −1  x j+1   −1   
         [0136]    In an analogous manner if e=1 the algorithm is the same except that one now considers the subword x r     j     e     j    x r     j+1     e     j+1    and set j=j+1. So if e=0, move to the left; while if e=1, move to the right searching for two adjacent generators whose indices differ by one. As soon as they are found, they are replaced according to the substitutions listed above.  
         [0137]    The output W′ of the Move and Replace Module  92  together with the Input  95  of a positive integer k is then sent to the Iterate and Exit Module  96  which iterates the above procedure k times (by sending W′ back to the Free Reducer  91 ) and then exits the procedure sending its output W′ to the Free Reducer  91 . The final freely reduced word is then sent to the Store and Forward Module  97 .  
         [0138]    The list a −1 t 1 a, a −1 t 2 a, . . . a −1 t m a, which was stored in the Store and Forward Module  86  becomes Input  100  and is presented to the Communication Module: Transmit and Receive  62 . Likewise the list b −1 s 1 b, b −1 s 2 b, . . . b −1 s n b, which was stored in the Store and Forward Module  87  becomes Input  101  and is presented to the Communication Module: Transmit and Receive  62 . These lists are broadcast over an insecure channel and can be assumed to be publicly known. The received list b −1 s 1 b, b −1 s 2 b, . . . b −1 s n b together with user A&#39;s secret word a are then presented to the Braid Group Multiplier  102  which computes b −1 a b. The conjugate b −1 a b together with user A&#39;s secret word a is sent to the γ 1 -Function  103  which computes the final output a −1 b −1 a b. Correspondingly, the received list a −1 t 1 a, a −1 t 2 a, . . . a −1 t m a together with user B&#39;s secret word b are then presented to the Braid Group Multiplier  102  which computes a −1 b a. The conjugate a −1 b a together with user B&#39;s secret word b is sent to the γ 2 -Function  104  which computes the final output a −1 b −1 a b which is the exchanged key.  
         [0139]    The total running time of this protocol will be polynomial time in the total bit length of the exchanged lists: 
         {b −1 s 1 b, b −1 s 2 b, . . . , b −1 s n b}, {a −1 t 1 a, a −1 t 2 a, . . . , a −1 t m a}, 
         [0140]    provided the integer k (Input  95 , which counts the number of iterations used by the random rewriter) is not too large.  
         [0141]    A General Algebraic Key Transport Protocol  
         [0142]    A preferred embodiment of an apparatus which performs the general algebraic key transport protocol will now be described in detail. It is assumed that two parties A(lice) and B(ob) have already participated in an algebraic key agreement protocol of the type described previously (for monoids), so that both A and B are in possession of a common key k which is a word in the monoid U. Note that the common key k may be expressed as a word in the generators of U in many different ways. Each such expression is contained in the same equivalence class of the free monoid modulo the presentation code of U. In order to obtain a unique expression for k it is necessary to have a unique canonical form for all elements in U. In the key transport protocol which will now be presented, it is not assumed that k is in canonical form.  
         [0143]    The key transport protocol for monoids is based on the action of the monoid on a set M which we term the message space. The action of the monoid U on M is a function 
         U×M→M 
         [0144]    which we denote 
         (u, m)         u(m)εM 
         [0145]    for each uεU, mεM, which satisfies the following conditions: 
           u ( v ( m ))= uv ( m ), for all  u,vεU  and  mεM   
         1( m )= m,  for all  mεM.   
         [0146]    A preferred embodiment of an apparatus which performs the key transport protocol for monoids is depicted in block diagrams in FIG. 11. First, a common key 
           k=γ   1 ( a, β ( b, a ))=γ 2 ( b,  β( a, b ))ε U   
         [0147]    is exchanged via the Key Agreement Protocol for Monoids  110  which was previously depicted in FIGS. 6 and 7. Fix distinct elements 
         M 1 , M 2 , . . . , M D εM 
         [0148]    which is Input  112 . The key transport protocol is a mechanism which allows A (the sender) to transfer a message 
         Mε{M 1 , M 2 , . . . , M D } 
         [0149]    to B (the receiver). The message M is the Input  111  which is sent to the Monoid Action  113  which computes the action of k on M which is k(M). The element k(M) is then sent to the Communication Module: Transmit and Receive  62  which transmits k(M) to B. Concurrently, the Input: M 1 , M 2 , . . . , M D εM  112  together with the key k (output of the Key Agreement Protocol for Monoids  110 ) is presented to the Monoid Action  113  which computes the elements k(M 1 ), k(M 2 ), . . . , k(M D ). These elements together with k(M) is presented to the Compare and Choose Module  114  which compares them and determines which of the M i  for i=1, 2, . . . , D is actually M. Thus, the message M has been transferred from A(lice) to B(ob).  
         [0150]    Note that in this protocol, it is not necessary to compute canonical forms. All that is required is an algorithm to decide (Compare and Choose Module  114 ) if two elements of the set M are the same or not.  
         [0151]    In a key transport protocol, the bandwidth is defined to be the number of bits publicly exchanged between the two parties (via the Communication Module: Transmit and Receive  62 ) in order to transmit one bit (shared secret). In this protocol, the bandwidth decreases as D increases, but at the expense of an increase in off line computations (Compare and Choose Module  114 ).  
         [0152]    In a binary system such as for digital message transmissions, the input  112  may be arbitrarily selected to be one of two elements M 1  or M 2 . The monoid action may be conducted on the single arbitrary selected element. If the output of the monoid action  113  matches the input k(M), then k(M) may be presumed to represent the selected element. If k(M) does not match the output of the monoid action  113 , then M is presumes to be the non-selected element.  
         [0153]    If our module U is a group G then the basic property of a group (that every element has a unique inverse) allows us to present a different key transport protocol. It is again assumed that two parties A(lice) and B(ob) have already participated in an algebraic key agreement protocol of the type described previously (for groups), so that both A and B are in possession of a common key k which is a word in the group G. It is not assumed that k is in canonical form.  
         [0154]    A preferred embodiment of an apparatus which performs the key transport protocol for groups is depicted in block diagrams in FIG. 12. Let kεG, be the common key exchanged via the Key Agreement Protocol for Groups  120  which was previously depicted in FIGS. 8 and 9. Let MεM be the Input  121 . This is sent to the Group Action  123  which computes k(M) which is transmitted to B(ob) via the Communication Module: Transmit and Receive  62 . Concurrently, the common key k which is the output of the Key Agreement Protocol for Groups  120  is sent to the Inverter  122  which inverts the element in the group to produce k −1 . The element k −1  together with the received element k(M) is presented to the Group Action  123  which computes k −1 (k(M))=M. This is sent to the Canonical Form Module  124  which computes the canonical form in the message space M. Thus the message M has been transferred from A to B.  
         [0155]    Note that the above key transport protocol for groups will generally have low bandwidth (provided the bit-length of M is sufficiently large), but the algorithm for canonical forms (Canonical Form Module  123 ) will very often be much more computationally intensive than the comparison algorithms (Comparison Module  113 ).  
       EXAMPLE 2  
       [0156]    An example of a key transport protocol for monoids is given when the monoid U is the braid group with N generators (see Example 1), U=M, is the same as the message space, and the action is defined by 
           u ( m )= u·m  (braid multiplication) for all  uεU, mεM.   
         [0157]    Note that in this example inverses of elements are not required so that G is viewed as having only the structure of a monoid. A polynomial time algorithm for comparing words in the braid group is given in Patrick Dehornoy, “A fast method for comparing braids,” Advances in Mathematics 125 (1997), pages 200-235 and also in Joan S. Birman, Ki Hyoung Ko, and Sang Jin Lee, “A new approach to the word and conjugacy problems in the braid groups,” to appear in Advances in Mathematics.  
         [0158]    With these choices, the key transport protocol is depicted in FIG. 11 and Dehorney&#39;s or the Birman-Ko-Lee algorithm can be used as a basis for the Compare and Choose Module  114 .  
       EXAMPLE 3  
       [0159]    An example of a key transport protocol for groups is given when the group G is the braid group with N generators (see Example 1), G=M is the same as the message space, and the action is defined by braid group conjugation: 
           g ( m )= gmg   −1 , for all  gεG, mεM.   
         [0160]    A polynomial time algorithm for computing canonical forms in the braid group is given in Joan S. Birman, Ki Hyoung Ko, and Sang Jin Lee, “A new approach to the word and conjugacy problems in the braid groups,” to appear in Advances in Mathematics. With these choices, the key transport protocol is depicted in FIG. 12 and the Birman-Ko-Lee algorithm can be used as a basis for the Canonical Form Module  124 .  
       EXAMPLE 4  
       [0161]    Another example of a key transport protocol for groups is given when G is the braid group with N generators (see Example 1), M is the free group generated by the set {a 1 , . . . , a N }, and the action of G on M is given as follows (see Emil Artin, “Theorie der Zöpfe,” Hamb. Abh. 4 (1925), pages 47-72): for i=1, . . . , N, 
           x   i ( a   i )= a   i+1   , x   i ( a   i+1 )= a   i+1   −1   a   i    a   i+1   
           x   i ( a   j )= a   j  for  j= 1, . . . ,  i− 1,  i+ 2, . . . ,  N.   
         [0162]    In this instance the algorithm for the Canonical Form Module  124  is simply free reduction in the free group M, and the algorithm for Group Action  123  is generally exponential in the word length of the acting braid group element.