The Phaos MF runs on both CLDC and CDC. The CDC version also runs under J2SE. The toolkit footprint is 187 KB for the CLDC version and 169 KB for the CDC version. The Phaos API is intuitive and comes with excellent documentation and code examples.
Phaos MF supports a set of frequently used cryptographic algorithms to strike a balance between performance and features. Those algorithms include symmetric ciphers, such as AES, DES (Data Encryption Standard), RC2, and RC4; PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) ciphers and signature schemes, such as DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm) and RSA; password-based encryption schemes (PBES), such as PKCS (Public Key Cryptography Standard) #5 and PKCS #12. Phaos MF also supports X.509 certificate parsing, ASN.1 encoding, and efficient memory pooling.
Phaos PBES implementations used in my examples perform worse than their Bouncy Castle counterparts. For RSA and DSA algorithms, Phaos implementations are better optimized than Bouncy Castle 1.16. But public key tasks still take seconds on even high-end mobile phones. In fact, no matter how much optimization you do, those classic PKI algorithms might just prove too heavy for the smallest devices. Novel algorithms and approaches are needed. NTRU and a start-up company called B3 Security provide such solutions.
NTRU Neo for Java toolkit
NTRU PKI algorithms include an encryption algorithm NTRUEncrypt and a signature algorithm NTRUSign, invented and developed by four math professors at Brown University. In my sample programs, NTRU algorithms perform 5 to 30 times faster compared with other public key algorithms with similar cryptographic strength. NTRU algorithms are published and on their way to becoming IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) standards. NTRU patented the algorithms to protect their business interests. NTRU algorithm patents have been licensed by a variety of mobile software, smart card, and DSP (Digital Signal Processor) chip vendors, including Sony and Texas Instruments.
Cryptographic algorithms are scrutinized and improved repeatedly before considered mature and ready for general public adoption. Although NTRU algorithms have been inspected many times by both academic and business worlds, they are still relatively new. Security weaknesses were identified in NTRUEncrypt as late as May 2001. Those weaknesses do not undermine NTRU algorithm fundamentals and have since been fixed. As you should with any critical project, research NTRU security before licensing it.
NTRU provides an implementation of its algorithms in a Java package called NTRU Neo for Java. You must work out an agreement with NTRU before you can evaluate the package. In addition to NTRU public key algorithms, Neo for Java also includes an implementation of the AES Rijndael symmetric key algorithm. The Neo for Java package runs on CLDC, CDC, and J2SE platforms. It has a memory footprint of 37 KB without signature key generation classes, which have a footprint of 35 KB.
