Survey and Benchmark of Block Ciphers for Wireless Sensor Networks

Cryptographic algorithms play an important role in the security architecture of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Choosing the most storage- and energy-efficient block cipher is essential, due to the facts that these networks are meant to operate without human intervention for a long period of time with little energy supply, and that available storage is scarce on these sensor nodes. However, to our knowledge, no systematic work has been done in this area so far.We construct an evaluation framework in which we first identify the candidates of block ciphers suitable for WSNs, based on existing literature and authoritative recommendations. For evaluating and assessing these candidates, we not only consider the security properties but also the storage- and energy-efficiency of the candidates. Finally, based on the evaluation results, we select the most suitable ciphers for WSNs, namely Skipjack, MISTY1, and Rijndael, depending on the combination of available memory and required security (energy efficiency being implicit). In terms of operation mode, we recommend Output Feedback Mode for pairwise links but Cipher Block Chaining for group communications

Algebraic properties of generalized Rijndael-like ciphers

We provide conditions under which the set of Rijndael functions considered as permutations of the state space and based on operations of the finite field \GF (p^k) ($p\geq 2$ a prime number) is not closed under functional composition. These conditions justify using a sequential multiple encryption to strengthen the AES (Rijndael block cipher with specific block sizes) in case AES became practically insecure. In Sparr and Wernsdorf (2008), R. Sparr and R. Wernsdorf provided conditions under which the group generated by the Rijndael-like round functions based on operations of the finite field \GF (2^k) is equal to the alternating group on the state space. In this paper we provide conditions under which the group generated by the Rijndael-like round functions based on operations of the finite field \GF (p^k) ($p\geq 2$) is equal to the symmetric group or the alternating group on the state space.Comment: 22 pages; Prelim0

A Survey of ARX-based Symmetric-key Primitives

Addition Rotation XOR is suitable for fast implementation symmetric –key primitives, such as stream and block ciphers. This paper presents a review of several block and stream ciphers based on ARX construction followed by the discussion on the security analysis of symmetric key primitives where the best attack for every cipher was carried out. We benchmark the implementation on software and hardware according to the evaluation metrics. Therefore, this paper aims at providing a reference for a better selection of ARX design strategy

Cryptanalysis and Design of Symmetric Primitives

Der Schwerpunkt dieser Dissertation liegt in der Analyse und dem Design von Block- chiffren und Hashfunktionen. Die Arbeit beginnt mit einer Einführung in Techniken zur Kryptoanalyse von Blockchiffren. Wir beschreiben diese Methoden und zeigen wie man daraus neue Techniken entwickeln kann, welche zu staerkeren Angriffen fuehren. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit stellen wir eine Reihe von Angriffen auf eine Vielzahl von Blockchiffren dar. Wir haben dabei Angriffe auf reduzierte Versionen von ARIA und dem AES entwickelt. Darueber hinaus praesentieren wir im dritten Teil Angriffe auf interne Blockchiffren von Hashfunktionen. Wir entwickeln Angriffe, welche die inter- nen Blockchiffren von Tiger und HAS-160 auf volle Rundenanzahl brechen. Die hier vorgestellten Angriffe sind die ersten dieser Art. Ein Angriff auf eine reduzierte Ver- sion von SHACAL-2 welcher fast keinen Speicherbedarf hat, wird ebenfalls vorgestellt. Der vierte Teil der Arbeit befasst sich mit den Design und der Analyse von kryp- tographischen Hashfunktionen. Wir habe einen Slide Angriff, eine Technik welche aus der Analyse von Blockchiffren bekannt ist, im Kontext von Hashfunktionen zur Anwendung gebracht. Dabei praesentieren wir verschiedene Angriffe auf GRINDAHL und RADIOGATUN. Aufbauend auf den Angriffen des zweiten und dritten Teils dieser Arbeit stellen wir eine neue Hashfunktion vor, welche wir TWISTER nennen. TWISTER wurde fuer den SHA-3 Wettbewerb entwickelt und ist bereits zur ersten Runde angenommen.This thesis focuses on the cryptanalysis and the design of block ciphers and hash func- tions. The thesis starts with an overview of methods for cryptanalysis of block ciphers which are based on differential cryptanalysis. We explain these concepts and also sev- eral combinations of these attacks. We propose new attacks on reduced versions of ARIA and AES. Furthermore, we analyze the strength of the internal block ciphers of hash functions. We propose the first attacks that break the internal block ciphers of Tiger, HAS-160, and a reduced round version of SHACAL-2. The last part of the thesis is concerned with the analysis and the design of cryptographic hash functions. We adopt a block cipher attack called slide attack into the scenario of hash function cryptanalysis. We then use this new method to attack different variants of GRINDAHL and RADIOGATUN. Finally, we propose a new hash function called TWISTER which was designed and pro- posed for the SHA-3 competition. TWISTER was accepted for round one of this com- petition. Our approach follows a new strategy to design a cryptographic hash function. We also describe several attacks on TWISTER and discuss the security issues concern- ing these attack on TWISTER