In this paper we propose a two-pass hybrid key distribution and authentication protocol. The proposed protocol minimizes the number of message exchanges and the key management problem as it eliminates KDC, by using both symmetric-key and asymmetric-key schemes. In addition, it guarantees explicit entity and key authentication via a signature scheme based on elliptic curve cryptosystems (ECC) whose efficiency is superior to existing signature schemes with only two-message exchanges. As each entity has the same number of exponential operations, it also guarantees load balance among each entity¡¦s processing. We present proofs of security of our protocol using the formal methods Casper and FDR. The proposed protocol can be efficiently applied to various communication systems in distributed computing environments.

Keywords: key distribution, authentication, formal methods, ECC, security analysis

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Received December 27, 1999; revised April 23 & August 1, 2000; accepted October 5, 2000.
Communicated by Chi Sung Laih.