A new cipher system using semi-natural composition in Indian raga

Abstract

Cryptographic algorithms are the basic of care-free transactions over the Internet today. Confidential information of a government or private agency or department is secured through the use of Cryptography. From doing secure communication to transferring information of national importance, Cryptographic algorithms play the sole role in hiding the confidentiality. Musical attributes such as notes of which the music is composed are not constant and vary from composition to composition. Same tune played by different composers shows a variation in the sequence of notes used along with other attributes of a musical composition such as duration of each note and the frequency at which each note is played. Such a variation can be employed for the purpose of encrypting the message. In this paper, we have incorporated the use of Hindustani (North Indian) musical notes to encrypt messages. We have used a semi-natural composition process to generate note sequences of Indian music which can then be used as a tool for message hiding. This at first place ensures that the message is hidden from the intruder and second it gives a new random sequence of notes every time same message is sent. So the very purpose of a Cryptographic algorithm is served. The encrypted message in the form of musical notes is then sent to the intended recipient in the form of a musical composition which helps in defying the intruder of sensing any confidential information that is being sent over the communication channel.