Patent attributes
Systems and methods for supporting symmetric-bilinear-map and asymmetric-bilinear-map identity-based-encryption (IBE) key exchange and encryption schemes are provided. IBE key exchange schemes use an IBE encapsulation engine to produce a secret key and an encapsulated version of the secret key. An IBE unencapsulation engine is used to unencapsulate the encapsulated key. IBE encryption schemes use an IBE encryption engine to produce ciphertext from plaintext. An IBE decryption engine is used to decrypt the ciphertext to reveal the plaintext. The IBE unencapsulation engine and decryption engines use bilinear maps. The IBE encapsulation and encryption engines perform group multiplication operations without using bilinear maps, improving efficiency. IBE private keys for use in decryption and unencapsulation operations may be generated using a distributed key arrangement in which each IBE private key is assembled from private key shares.