INTRODUCTION TO MODERN

SYMMETRIC KEY CIPHERS

Prof. Chittaranjan Pradhan

Asst. Professor, School of Computer Engineering,
KIIT University, BBSR

 Stream Cipher:
Encryption and Decryption are done one symbol (such as a bit
or a byte) at a time.

Block Cipher:
A group of PT symbols of size m (m>1) are encrypted together
creating a group of CT of the same size
A single key is used to encrypt the whole block even if the key is
made of multiple values

Stream cipher is very time consuming

8/9/2011

Prof. Chittaranjan Pradhan, SCE,

KIIT University

Modern Block Ciphers

A
symmetric-key
modern
block
cipher
encrypts
an
n-bit block of plaintext or decrypts an n-bit block of cipher text. The
encryption or decryption algorithm uses a k-bit key

A modern block cipher can be designed to act as a substitution

cipher or a transposition cipher
8/9/2011

Prof. Chittaranjan Pradhan, SCE,

KIIT University

Component of a modern block

cipher
Modern block ciphers normally are keyed substitution ciphers in
which the key allows only partial mappings from the possible inputs
to the possible outputs
P-Box:
A P-box (permutation box) parallels the traditional transposition cipher
for characters.
It transposes bits

S-Box:
An S-box (substitution box) can be thought of as a miniature
substitution cipher
Modern block ciphers normally use keyless S-Boxes
8/9/2011

Prof. Chittaranjan Pradhan, SCE,

KIIT University

 XOR:
XOR is reversible:- when used twice, it produces the original value

Circular Shift:
Shifting can be to the left or to the right
Circular left shift operation shifts each bit in an n-bit word k positions to
the left
Circular right shift operation shifts each bit in an n-bit word k positions
to the right

8/9/2011

Prof. Chittaranjan Pradhan, SCE,

KIIT University

 Swap:
Special case of circular shift operation where k=n/2
Swap operation is valid only if n is an even number

Split & Combine:

Split operation splits an n-bit word in the middle, creating two equallength words
Combine operation concatenates two equal-length words to create an
n-bit word

8/9/2011

Prof. Chittaranjan Pradhan, SCE,

KIIT University

Product Cipher
Shannon introduced the concept of a product cipher. A product
cipher is a complex cipher combining substitution, permutation, and
other components discussed in previous sections
Diffusion:
The idea of diffusion is to hide the relationship between the ciphertext
and the plaintext
If a single symbol in the PT is changed, several or all symbols in the CT
will also be changed

Confusion:
The idea of confusion is to hide the relationship between the ciphertext
and the key
If a single bit in the key is changed, most or all bits in CT will also be
changed
8/9/2011

Prof. Chittaranjan Pradhan, SCE,

KIIT University

Classes of Product Ciphers

Non-Feistel ciphers:
Uses S-Box, P-Box, XOR operation

8/9/2011

Prof. Chittaranjan Pradhan, SCE,

KIIT University

 Feistel cipher:
Uses Split & Combine, Swap,
XOR, Circular Shift operation

8/9/2011

Prof. Chittaranjan Pradhan, SCE,

KIIT University

8/9/2011

Prof. Chittaranjan Pradhan, SCE,

KIIT University