CRYPTOLOGY

Cryptology is the study of cryptography and cryptanalysis. Cryptography is the study

and practice of securing communications between two parties, the encrypter and decrypter, in
the presence of a third party, the eavesdropper [22]. The purpose of cryptanalysis is to find
weaknesses in a cryptosystem that will allow the eavesdropper to gain knowledge about the
secure communication.

Classical Cryptography
Cryptosystem 1.1. Shift Cipher [22]
Cryptosystem 1.2. Permutation Cipher [22]

There are five components to any cryptosystem: plaintext, ciphertext, keyspace, encryption rule, and
decryption rule.

The most simple of cryptosystems is the Shift Cipher

A more complex form of a cryptosystems includes block ciphers.

Block ciphers break the plaintext into blocks of equal length that get encrypted as a unit.
The Shift Cipher encrypts blocks of one while permutation ciphers permute blocks of length m to
encrypt the plaintext.
The secret key of a permutation cipher would be the rule that explains how to rearrange the elements of
the plaintext.

Most modern block ciphers are based on iterative product ciphers proposed by Shannon in [20].

Iterative block ciphers incorporate a combination of permutations and substitutions and are used to
encrypt large amounts of data.

the publication of an iterative block cipher known as Date Encryption Standard (DES) was a major
influence in the development of cryptanalysis. DES paved the way to the creation of many block ciphers
which are classified as substitution-permutation networks (SPN). SPN’s significant contribution to
cryptography is the ability to implement encryption efficiently in hardware.

Advanced Encryption System (AES), a type of SPN based on the Rijndael cipher, is specified
for use in the encryption of electronic data and is used worldwide.[22]

In addition to private-key cryptosystems, there are public key cryptosystems.

In a public-key encryption system, the decrypter has both an encryption key and decryption key. The
decrypter’s encryption key is made public, hence the name public-key encryption system.

Once the encrypter encrypts his message with the decrypters public encryption key, the
message is locked. The only way to unlock the message is to use the decryption key, which is
kept private and is only known by the decrypter.

A well known example of a public-key cryptosystem is the RSA Cryptosystem. The idea behind RSA
is it is easy to multiply two large prime numbers, however, factoring two large prime numbers is a very
challenging problem.
Cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis is the study of analyzing a cryptosystem to gain information about the secret key.

Gaining information about the secrete key allows an eavesdropper to “breaks a

cryptosystem.” Generally, the term “break a cryptosystem” refers to the ability of the
eavesdropper to determine the secrete key or a portion of it.
For the purpose of this thesis, the definition will also include the ability of the eavesdropper
to determine the plaintext from observing the ciphertext without gaining information about
the secret key.

The goal of cryptanalysis is to determine the security of a cryptosystem.

There are various types of security: computational, provable, and unconditional.

 Computational security measures the computational cost required to break a
cryptosystem. A cryptosystem is computationally secure if breaking the code requires
at least N computations, where N is a predetermined very large number.

 Provable security provides proof of security relative to a simpler problem. This is not
an absolute proof as it is a proof by reduction. Instead, it proves that determining the
key is at least as challenging to break as another problem.

 Unconditional security is determined by a system that cannot be broken regardless of

an infinite amount of computational time and resources

To ensure security of a cryptosystem, implementations or rounds of computation

should be added to the cryptosystem to obstruct the statistical analysis.

Shannon discusses in [20] that confusion and diffusion are two elements which help
obstruct the statistical analysis of a cryptosystem and therefore can make a cryptosystem
more secure.

Diffusion is a process that disperses the statistical data. To successfully diffuse the statistical
data, the non-uniformity of the plaintext must be dispersed across the ciphertext to make the
non-uniformity less detectable

In practice, if one element of the plaintext is changed, then multiple elements of the
ciphertext should be affected and also changed.
Confusion is a process which makes the secret key of the cryptosystem relate to the plaintext
in a more complex way.

In the case of confusion, the relationship between the ciphertext and the secret key should be
as complex and as involved as possible.

To ensure a system has both confusion and diffusion, many cryptosystems use multiple
rounds of a combination of substitution (replacement of elements based on a set of rules) and
permutations (manipulation of the order of elements).

1.2 DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS

In many cases, systems that behave close to linear are more predictable, i.e. the output is a
direct function of the input.

In many cases, a dynamical system is the approximation of a system’s true dynamics which
can be altered by interactions with other systems or by time scales that cannot be
incorporated into the model.

As the nonlinearities of a system become stronger, those outcomes become less predictable

Dynamical systems are mathematical models that provide a rule for how the system changes
relative to time [9].

There are two types of dynamical systems, discrete-time and continuous-time.

 Continuous-time dynamical systems can be represented by a system of first order

differential equations, x(t) = F(x(t)) and are often referred to as flows.

 A discrete-time dynamical system is a difference function that determines the present

state based on the previous state [1].

In a discrete-time function, the evolution of t1 and t2 can be written as a mapping x(t2)

= F(x(t1)), where F is the transformation rule. Additionally, if the time increments of a
discrete-time mapping are uniform, then the mapping can be written in the form x(t +
1) = F(x(t)) [9].

Examples of discrete-time functions that are studied in dynamical systems are:

It is not a requirement for a discrete-time dynamical system to be invertible. If a dynamical
system is invertible, then there is a unique predecessor from x(t) to x(t -1).

The LogisticMap is a non-invertible function because solving for xn gives:

This shows that xt+1 maps to two different values for xt.

The remaining examples will focus around the logistic map in order to simplify the
discussion of dynamical systems

The dynamics of these systems are based on the nth-dimensional composition of the
function. Figure 1.3 is a visual representation of this. It can be mathematically represented by
the function fn(x0) = f(f(_ _ _ f(f(x0)))) = xn, where the initial state, or condition, x0 is
iterated n times.

Discrete time systems can be visualized with maps that show the orbit of an initial condition
as a set of disconnected points [14]. Figure 1.4 shows the possible inputs and outputs for the
logistic map plotted as a green curve.

One way to graphically represent the orbit of discrete maps is with cobweb plots.
1.2.1 Concepts of Dynamical Systems
The fundamental concepts in the study of dynamical systems are finding and understanding
the orbits of dynamical systems. These topics include stability of equilibrium points, orbits,
periodic points/orbits, and bifurcations.

A fixed point, or equilibrium, can be stable or unstable. An equilibrium is considered

stable if small perturbations die out, returning the system naturally to that equilibrium.

Another way to discuss stability is by looking at the Lyapunov exponents of the system.
Lyapunov exponents provide a measure of the stability of a trajectory, the orbit or path taken
by an initial condition for a dynamical system with a given parameter value. The orbits that
end at a fixed point are considered stable.

In a discrete-time dynamical system, the stability of a fixed point p can be determined

by taking the functions derivative. The following theorem states the rule for determining the
stability of a fixed point.

The stability of the system cannot be determined when |f’(p)| = 1 because this implies the
function experiences a change for this parameter value called a bifurcation.

A bifurcation is a qualitative change in the behavior of a system. Changing a parameter can

cause a stable fixed point to appear, disappear, or change its qualitative properties [9].
Classification of a bifurcation is based on the loss of stability of a fixed point.

Saddle-node bifurcations occur when one fixed point changes stability giving way to an
additional fixed point.
Period-doubling bifurcations occur when one stable fixed point becomes unstable and leads
to multiple stable fixed points [1].

1.2.2 Chaos
chaotic dynamics occurs when nearby trajectories separate at an exponential rate making the
motion appear asymptotically unstable [9]. A geometric representation of chaotic motion in a
nonlinear dynamical system is a screen-saver image that continually bounces off the side of the
screen in different directions, but remains forever on the screen. In a nonlinear dynamical
system, the orbit of an initial condition separates exponentially, however, the motion of the
orbit folds back on itself limiting the phase space to a bounded region [9]. In [1], a chaotic orbit
is described as “one that forever continues to experience the unstable behavior that an orbit
exhibits near an unstable point, but that is not itself fixed or periodic.” Unlike periodic orbits,
chaotic orbits never repeat the same behavior.
In fact, an initial condition in a chaotic system can be iterated infinite many times without
ever reaching the same output twice.

An important characteristic of chaotic systems is ergodicity.

In an ergodic system, the behavior averaged over time is equivalent to the behavior averaged
over the space of the system.

Chaotic behavior is characterized by a Lyapunov exponent greater than zero.

Again, the Lyapunov exponent 𝜆 is a measure of the stretching of an orbit.
If that orbit is stable, then the largest Lyapunov exponent is negative and stretching is
minimal. A positive Lyapunov exponent shows exponential stretching of the orbit.

2.1 TYPES OF CHAOS-BASED CRYPTOSYSTEMS