Abstract
In modern systems, data security is needed more than ever before as it helps in keeping private data private. In today's world where data communications, distributed data processing, financial transactions, and multilevel sharing of data resources has become an important aspect of computer system and an integral part of day-to-day function, cryptography is the only way of ensuring data security. Many algorithms exist which can be categorized as Symmetric or Asymmetric algorithms. This paper presents International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA) – its advantages, disadvantages, hardware implementation considerations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), resource utilization and achievable performance. The algorithm analysis and the optimization techniques used are described. Implementation results are compared to the commercial implementation solutions.