The paper focuses on the differential cryptanalysis of block ciphers with 4-bit s-boxes, considering alternative operations beyond the standard XOR.
Key highlights:
The authors characterize the group of linear transformations that are linear with respect to both the XOR operation and a parallel alternative operation. This allows for differential attacks where the output difference can be predicted with probability 1 through the linear layer.
The authors investigate the differential properties of all 16 classes of optimal 4-bit s-boxes, as classified by Leander and Poschmann, with respect to 105 possible alternative operations. They find that certain classes contain s-boxes that are weak against alternative differential attacks.
Experimental results on a family of toy SPNs with the identified weak s-boxes and the characterized diffusion layers demonstrate the effectiveness of the alternative differential approach compared to the standard XOR-based differential cryptanalysis.
The work provides a comprehensive analysis of the interplay between s-box design, diffusion layer, and alternative operations in the context of differential cryptanalysis. The findings highlight the importance of considering alternative difference operators beyond the standard XOR when evaluating the security of block ciphers.
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by Marco Calder... at arxiv.org 04-01-2024
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2403.20059.pdfDeeper Inquiries