diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 228ad9e..5315da8 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "axios": "^0.19.2",
     "basic-provider": "^1.1.0",
-    "eccrypto-js": "^5.2.0",
+    "eccrypto-js": "^5.3.0",
     "localStorage": "^1.0.4"
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/controllers/keyring.ts b/src/controllers/keyring.ts
index ad8f861..df38361 100644
--- a/src/controllers/keyring.ts
+++ b/src/controllers/keyring.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 import {
   generateKeyPair,
   bufferToHex,
-  getPublic,
   hexToBuffer,
-  generatePrivate,
+  randomBytes,
+  pbkdf2,
+  utf8ToBuffer,
+  removeHexPrefix,
+  getPublicCompressed,
 } from "eccrypto-js";
 
 import {
@@ -16,8 +19,7 @@ import {
   JsonRpcRequest,
 } from "../typings";
 import { STORE_KEYS_ID, WAKU_PREFIX } from "../constants";
-import { uuid, getFirstMatch } from "../helpers";
-import { isKeyPair, isSymKey } from "../helpers/validators";
+import { getFirstMatch, isKeyPair, isSymKey } from "../helpers";
 
 export class WakuKeyring implements IWakuKeyring {
   private keyMap: KeyMap = {};
@@ -77,7 +79,7 @@ export class WakuKeyring implements IWakuKeyring {
   }
 
   public async newSymKey(): Promise<string> {
-    const key = this.genSymKey();
+    const key = await this.genSymKey();
     await this.addKey(key);
     return key.id;
   }
@@ -86,7 +88,7 @@ export class WakuKeyring implements IWakuKeyring {
     let key = this.getMatchingKey("symKey", symKey);
     if (!key) {
       key = {
-        id: uuid(),
+        id: this.getKeyId(symKey),
         symKey,
       };
     }
@@ -94,9 +96,8 @@ export class WakuKeyring implements IWakuKeyring {
     return key.id;
   }
 
-  public async generateSymKeyFromPassword(): Promise<string> {
-    // TODO: needs to accept optional "password" argument
-    const key = this.genSymKey();
+  public async generateSymKeyFromPassword(password: string): Promise<string> {
+    const key = await this.genSymKey(password);
     await this.addKey(key);
     return key.id;
   }
@@ -128,28 +129,39 @@ export class WakuKeyring implements IWakuKeyring {
   private genKeyPair(prvKey?: string): KeyPair {
     if (prvKey) {
       return {
-        id: uuid(),
-        pubKey: bufferToHex(getPublic(hexToBuffer(prvKey)), true),
+        id: this.getKeyId(prvKey),
+        pubKey: this.getPubKey(prvKey),
         prvKey,
       };
     } else {
       const key = generateKeyPair();
       return {
-        id: uuid(),
+        id: this.getKeyId(bufferToHex(key.privateKey)),
         pubKey: bufferToHex(key.publicKey, true),
         prvKey: bufferToHex(key.privateKey, true),
       };
     }
   }
 
-  private genSymKey(): SymKey {
-    const symKey = generatePrivate();
+  private async genSymKey(password?: string): Promise<SymKey> {
+    const symKey =
+      typeof password === "string"
+        ? await pbkdf2(utf8ToBuffer(password))
+        : randomBytes(32);
     return {
-      id: uuid(),
+      id: this.getKeyId(bufferToHex(symKey)),
       symKey: bufferToHex(symKey, true),
     };
   }
 
+  private getPubKey(prvKey: string): string {
+    return bufferToHex(getPublicCompressed(hexToBuffer(prvKey)), true);
+  }
+
+  private getKeyId(prvKey: string): string {
+    return removeHexPrefix(this.getPubKey(prvKey)).substr(2);
+  }
+
   private async loadKeys(): Promise<void> {
     this.keyMap = (await this.store.get(STORE_KEYS_ID)) || {};
   }
diff --git a/src/helpers/index.ts b/src/helpers/index.ts
index e27cc00..709045d 100644
--- a/src/helpers/index.ts
+++ b/src/helpers/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 export * from "./json";
 export * from "./local";
 export * from "./misc";
-export * from "./uuid";
+export * from "./validators";
diff --git a/src/helpers/uuid.ts b/src/helpers/uuid.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 870a101..0000000
--- a/src/helpers/uuid.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-export function uuid(): string {
-  const result: string = ((a?: any, b?: any) => {
-    for (
-      b = a = "";
-      a++ < 36;
-      b +=
-        (a * 51) & 52
-          ? (a ^ 15 ? 8 ^ (Math.random() * (a ^ 20 ? 16 : 4)) : 4).toString(16)
-          : "-"
-    ) {
-      // empty
-    }
-    return b;
-  })();
-  return result;
-}
diff --git a/src/typings/controllers.ts b/src/typings/controllers.ts
index a33b889..7ce3ee5 100644
--- a/src/typings/controllers.ts
+++ b/src/typings/controllers.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ export interface IWakuKeyring extends IWakuController {
   getPrivateKey(id: string): Promise<string>;
   newSymKey(): Promise<string>;
   addSymKey(symKey: string): Promise<string>;
-  generateSymKeyFromPassword(): Promise<string>;
+  generateSymKeyFromPassword(password: string): Promise<string>;
   hasSymKey(id: string): Promise<boolean>;
   getSymKey(id: string): Promise<string>;
   deleteSymKey(id: string): Promise<boolean>;
diff --git a/test/client.test.ts b/test/client.test.ts
index 6a7c62e..22b9df4 100644
--- a/test/client.test.ts
+++ b/test/client.test.ts
@@ -57,4 +57,24 @@ describe("Waku", () => {
     });
     expect(prvKey).toBeTruthy();
   });
+
+  it("should create symmetric key", async () => {
+    const symKey = await waku.request({
+      id: 1,
+      jsonrpc: "2.0",
+      method: "waku_newSymKey",
+      params: [],
+    });
+    expect(symKey).toBeTruthy();
+  });
+
+  it("should generate symmetric key from password", async () => {
+    const symKey = await waku.request({
+      id: 1,
+      jsonrpc: "2.0",
+      method: "waku_generateSymKeyFromPassword",
+      params: ["password"],
+    });
+    expect(symKey).toBeTruthy();
+  });
 });
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 2e725b5..5e97e76 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -2705,15 +2705,16 @@ ecc-jsbn@~0.1.1:
     jsbn "~0.1.0"
     safer-buffer "^2.1.0"
 
-eccrypto-js@^5.2.0:
-  version "5.2.0"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/eccrypto-js/-/eccrypto-js-5.2.0.tgz#eb3b36e9978d316fedf50be46492bb0d3e240cf5"
-  integrity sha512-pPb6CMapJ1LIzjLWxMqlrnfaEFap7qkk9wcO/b4AVSdxBQYlpOqvlPpq5SpUI4FdmfdhVD34AjN47fM8fryC4A==
+eccrypto-js@^5.3.0:
+  version "5.3.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/eccrypto-js/-/eccrypto-js-5.3.0.tgz#67417e43691ad78992249097ac558776c9ac5ff3"
+  integrity sha512-fCPIHNr/RDSCNY9NKkrSsjkurb6Rw/d5TYVdzjJeA3E+HcF+DdaWAvhDdsAcBOGUJ6Ygs8o6b4imuvhx9t7o+Q==
   dependencies:
     aes-js "3.1.2"
     enc-utils "2.1.0"
     hash.js "1.1.7"
     js-sha3 "0.8.0"
+    pbkdf2 "^3.0.17"
     randombytes "2.1.0"
     secp256k1 "3.8.0"
 
@@ -5602,7 +5603,7 @@ path-type@^4.0.0:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/path-type/-/path-type-4.0.0.tgz#84ed01c0a7ba380afe09d90a8c180dcd9d03043b"
   integrity sha512-gDKb8aZMDeD/tZWs9P6+q0J9Mwkdl6xMV8TjnGP3qJVJ06bdMgkbBlLU8IdfOsIsFz2BW1rNVT3XuNEl8zPAvw==
 
-pbkdf2@^3.0.3:
+pbkdf2@^3.0.17, pbkdf2@^3.0.3:
   version "3.0.17"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/pbkdf2/-/pbkdf2-3.0.17.tgz#976c206530617b14ebb32114239f7b09336e93a6"
   integrity sha512-U/il5MsrZp7mGg3mSQfn742na2T+1/vHDCG5/iTI3X9MKUuYUZVLQhyRsg06mCgDBTd57TxzgZt7P+fYfjRLtA==