Lattice Gas Symmetric Cryptography

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel symmetric cryptographic algorithm based on lattice gas cellular automata, specifically using hpp rules to perform data mixing, with analysis of its properties and potential vulnerabilities.

Contribution

The paper presents an original cryptographic method utilizing cellular automata, detailing its design, parameters, and properties, along with initial security evaluations.

Findings

Block size is 2^(2n-1) bits

Key length is 2^n bits

Number of rounds is 2^(n+1)

Abstract

Lattice gas cellular automata (Lgca) are particular cellular automata that imitate the behavior of par- ticles moving on a lattice. We used a particular set of Lgca rules, called hpp, to mix bits in data blocks and obtain a symmetric cryptographic algorithm. The encryption and decryption keys are the positions of perturbation sites on the lattice (walls). Basically, this paper presents an original way to perform cryp- tographic operations, based on cellular automata. In this paper, we show several characteristics about our algorithm: typical block size (2^(2n-1) ), key-length (2^n ), number of rounds (2^(n+1) ). We also evaluate avalanche and strict avalanche properties with respect to key and plain text. Finally, we highlight the underbellies of our method and give clues to solve them.