Component-based interchangeable cryptographic architecture for securing wireless connectivity in JavaTM applications

• Authors: Johnny Li-Chang Lo;Judith Bishop
• Venue: SAICSIT '03 Proceedings of the 2003 annual research conference of the South African institute of computer scientists and information technologists on Enablement through technology
• Year: 2003

The development of Java based wireless applications presents challenges such as securing communication and authentication between mobile devices and a server. It is acknowledged that cryptography is commonly used to secure network communications and provide authentication functionality. However, due to the nature of mobile devices such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants, the application of cryptography on a software level in Java wireless applications can slow down the execution time if not implemented properly since these devices are limited in terms of memory size, processing power, storage capacity and input/output facilities. Aside from performance aspects, inappropriate application of cryptography could weaken the security of a system, even worse the developer is not aware of it until the system is attacked. This paper presents a prototype framework that can be used to effectively and efficiently utilize cryptographic algorithms and protocols on Java enabled mobile devices.