On the Role of the Inner State Size in Stream Ciphers

Erik Zenner

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Many modern stream ciphers consist of a keystream generator and an initialisation function. In fielded systems, security of the keystream generator is often based on a large inner state rather than an inherently secure design. As a consequence, an increasing number of attacks on stream ciphers exploit the (re-)initialisation of large inner states by a weak initialisation function. In this paper, we propose a strict separation of keystream generator and initialisation function in stream cipher design. After giving lower bounds on the necessary inner state size, we show how a secure stream cipher can be constructed from a weak keystream generator. We introduce the notion of inner state size efficiency and compare it for a number of fielded stream ciphers, indicating that a secure cipher can be based on reasonable inner state sizes. Concluding, we ask a number of open questions that may give rise to a new field of research that is concerned with the security of initialisation functions.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings WOSIS 2004
EditorsEduardo Fernández-Medina, Julio César Hernández Castro, Luis Javier García Villalba
PublisherINSTICC Press
Publication date2004
Pages237-250
ISBN (Print)972-8865-07-4
Publication statusPublished - 2004
Externally publishedYes
EventInternational Workshop on Security in Information Systems - Porto, Portugal
Duration: 1 Jan 2004 → …

Conference

ConferenceInternational Workshop on Security in Information Systems
CityPorto, Portugal
Period01/01/2004 → …

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