A method and apparatus for accelerating scalar multiplication in an elliptic curve cryptosystem (ECC) over prime fields is provided. Multiplication operations within an ECC point operation are identified and modified utilizing an equivalent point representation that inserts multiples of two. Algebraic substitutions of the multiplication operations with squaring operations and other cheaper field operations are performed. Scalar multiplication can also be protected against simple side-channel attacks balancing the number of multiplication operations and squaring operations and providing novel atomic structures to implement the ECC operation. In addition, a new coordinate system is defined to enable more effective operation of ECC to multiprocessor environments.