Thesis (MSc) - Cyprus International University. Institute of Graduate Studies and Research Information Technologies Department

Includes bibliography (sheets 59-66)

ABSTRACT
The Internet is used by many people and businesses to store and communicate
personal and professional information. Parts of this information is very sensitive, and
concerns with data privacy and confidentiality arise when it is stored and transmitted
online. Significant advancements in Internet technology have made it easier for
hackers to get unauthorized access to sensitive data. It is necessary to secure the
private information sent over the Internet, and cryptographic encryption and
decryption techniques can help with this. Confidential data is concealed through
encryption, which turns it into an unintelligible format. Decryption is the process of
recovering data from an unreadable or encrypted state. There are several
cryptographic algorithms available today, and the choice of which one to choose
depends on a number of variables and metrics. According to this study, Rivest
Cipher2 (RC2) appears to be the best encryption/decryption algorithm in JAVA
programming, outperforming the two most popular encryption algorithms, Blowfish,
and Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES), in benchmarking comparisons at
various settings for each algorithm and different size of data blocks. The key factor
that distinguishes RC2 as the best algorithm among the two is that it maintains lowest
time efficiency followed by blowfish second 3DES with a slight difference and a
difference of fewer milliseconds. 3DES is not a significantly worse algorithm, but it
takes longer to complete than the other algorithms. Likewise all the three contender’s
algorithms RC2, Blowfish and 3DES are very good in terms of size efficiency
evaluation having maintaining average size.
Keywords: Blowfish, Decrypt, Encrypt, Graphical User Interface, Rivest Cipher,
Triple Data Encryption