Measuring the Efficiency of Cryptographic Systems

Abstract

In an attempt to make coding more environmentally friendly, we studied the efficiency of different Encryption Methods and pieces of hardware to gather data on energy consumption, power usage, and time of encryption. The experiment was completed by running the encryption methods AES, RSA, and the Hill Cipher in both Python, and C++ on a Raspberry Pi and macro software on a windows computer. We compared our data tables using the method and data type, whilst comparing their Energy Consumption in Watts as the independent variable. Using an ANOVA (analysis of variance) Test and All Pairs Tukey-Kramer (analysis of means) Test, we gathered that using symmetric encryption methods, paired with an interpreted programming language, is the most efficient combination when running cryptosystems. Additionally, testing also concluded that the lesser hardware-dependent device, Raspberry Pi 5, is more efficient at running encryption than using macro software.