Non-interactive public-key cryptography

Abstract

An identity-based non-interactive public key distribution system is presented that is based on a novel trapdoor one-way function allowing a trusted authority to compute the discrete logarithm of a given number modulo a publicly known composite number m while this is infeasible for an adversary not knowing the factorization of m. Without interaction with a key distribution center or with the recipient of a given message a user can generate a mutual secure cipher key based solely on the recipient’s identity and his own secret key and send the message, encrypted with the generated cipher key using a conventional cipher, over an insecure channel to the recipient. Unlike in previously proposed identity-based systems, no public keys, certificates for public keys or other information need to be exchanged and thus the system is suitable for many applications such as electronic mail that do not allow for interaction.