ECC
Definition
Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) is a public key cryptography approach based on the algebraic structure of elliptic curves over finite fields. ECC is used to create smaller, faster, and more efficient cryptographic keys compared to non-ECC cryptography, such as RSA, while providing equivalent security. It is widely used in secure communications protocols like TLS, SSH, and PGP due to its efficiency and strong security properties.
Secure Settings Example
# Example of a secure TLS configuration using ECC in an NGINX server
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384';
ssl_ecdh_curve secp384r1; # Use a strong elliptic curve
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
Insecure Settings Example
# Example of an insecure TLS configuration using ECC in an NGINX server
ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1; # Outdated protocols
ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-RC4-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA'; # Weak ciphers
ssl_ecdh_curve secp192r1; # Weak elliptic curve
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers off;