297 research outputs found
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) ( 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) () is
equal to the symmetric group or the alternating group on the state space.Comment: 22 pages; Prelim0
Group theory in cryptography
This paper is a guide for the pure mathematician who would like to know more
about cryptography based on group theory. The paper gives a brief overview of
the subject, and provides pointers to good textbooks, key research papers and
recent survey papers in the area.Comment: 25 pages References updated, and a few extra references added. Minor
typographical changes. To appear in Proceedings of Groups St Andrews 2009 in
Bath, U
Projective Aspects of the AES Inversion
We consider the nonlinear function used in the Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES). This nonlinear function is essentially inversion in
the finite field \GF (2^8), which is most naturally considered as a
projective transformation. Such a viewpoint allows us to demonstrate
certain properties of this AES nonlinear function. In particular, we
make some comments about the group generated by such transformations,
and we give a characterisation for the values in the AES
{\em Difference} or XOR {\em Table} for the AES nonlinear function and
comment on the geometry given by this XOR Table
A forensics software toolkit for DNA steganalysis.
Recent advances in genetic engineering have allowed the insertion of artificial DNA strands into the living cells of organisms. Several methods have been developed to insert information into a DNA sequence for the purpose of data storage, watermarking, or communication of secret messages. The ability to detect, extract, and decode messages from DNA is important for forensic data collection and for data security. We have developed a software toolkit that is able to detect the presence of a hidden message within a DNA sequence, extract that message, and then decode it. The toolkit is able to detect, extract, and decode messages that have been encoded with a variety of different coding schemes. The goal of this project is to enable our software toolkit to determine with which coding scheme a message has been encoded in DNA and then to decode it. The software package is able to decode messages that have been encoded with every variation of most of the coding schemes described in this document. The software toolkit has two different options for decoding that can be selected by the user. The first is a frequency analysis approach that is very commonly used in cryptanalysis. This approach is very fast, but is unable to decode messages shorter than 200 words accurately. The second option is using a Genetic Algorithm (GA) in combination with a Wisdom of Artificial Crowds (WoAC) technique. This approach is very time consuming, but can decode shorter messages with much higher accuracy
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