Implementation and analysis of various symmetric cryptosystems

Himani Agrawal

doi:10.17485/ijst/2010/v3i12.25

Abstract

This paper implements some of the widely used symmetric encryption techniques i.e. data encryption standard (DES), triple data encryption standard (3DES), advanced encryption standard (AES), BLOWFISH and RC4 in MATLAB software. After the implementation, these techniques are compared on some points. These points are avalanche effect due to one bit variation in plaintext keeping the key constant, avalanche effect due to one bit variation in key keeping the plaintext constant, memory required for implementation and simulation time required for different message lengths. Keywords: DES, 3DES, AES, blowfish, RC4, encryption, decryption, ciphertext, deciphertext, plaintext.

Highlights

With the introduction of the computer, the need for automated tools for protecting files and other information stored on the computer became evident
After the extensive survey of the research papers it is observed that none of the research papers have discussed symmetric encryption techniques i.e. data encryption standard (DES), 3DES: DES was superseded by triple DES (3DES), advanced encryption standard (AES), Blowfish and RC4 all together with respect to the parameters i.e. Avalanche effect, memory required for implementation and simulation time
In order to apply an appropriate technique in a particular application we are required to know these strong and weak points. The comparison of these techniques based on several features is necessary. Some of these points under which the cryptosystems can be compared are described below: 1.Avalanche effect: A desirable property of any encryption algorithm is that a small change in either the plaintext or the key should produce a significant change in the cipher text

Summary

Introduction

With the introduction of the computer, the need for automated tools for protecting files and other information stored on the computer became evident. Symmetric encryption employs two main methods to encrypt data: (a) Block cipher (Eg. DES, 3DES, AES & BLOWFISH) and (b) Stream cipher (Eg. RC4). Stream cipher encrypts one bit or one byte of data at a time.

Results

Conclusion