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Mathematics

Elliptic Curve Cryptography and the Mathematics of Secure Keys

Quick fact

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) provides the same level of security as RSA with keys that are about 10 times shorter—a 256-bit ECC key is roughly equivalent to a 3072-bit RSA key.

Why this is interesting

You use elliptic curve cryptography every time you browse securely, yet it relies on a simple geometric operation: drawing a line through two points on a specific kind of curve. How can something so visual protect your data?