Insights Gained after a Decade of Cellular Automata-based Cryptography

TL;DR

This paper reviews a decade of research on cellular automata in cryptography, highlighting its history, current challenges, and potential for future collaboration between CA and cryptography communities.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of CA-based cryptography, identifies research gaps, and offers recommendations to foster collaboration and improve design methodologies.

Findings

CA has been used in symmetric cryptography for over a decade

Research in CA cryptography is often published outside cryptography venues

There are significant opportunities for collaboration between CA and cryptography communities

Abstract

Cellular Automata (CA) have been extensively used to implement symmetric cryptographic primitives, such as pseudorandom number generators and S-boxes. However, most of the research in this field, except the very early works, seems to be published in non-cryptographic venues. This phenomenon poses a problem of relevance: are CA of any use to cryptographers nowadays? This paper provides insights into this question by briefly outlining the history of CA-based cryptography. In doing so, the paper identifies some shortcomings in the research addressing the design of symmetric primitives exclusively from a CA standpoint, alongside some recommendations for future research. Notably, the paper remarks that researchers working in CA and cryptography often tackle similar problems, albeit under different perspectives and terminologies. This observation indicates that there is still ample room for fruitful collaborations between the CA and cryptography communities in the future.