Diffusive primitives in THE design of modern cryptographic algorithms

Abstract

The importance of data confidentiality, integrity and availability in any data storage and transmission is undeniable especially with the development of highly integrated communication mediums such as the Internet. Disclosure of confidential or secret data to unauthorised users has become an important issue and indirectly give opportunity for ongoing research and development for reliable and strong cryptographic algorithms. Every modern cryptographic algorithm must have the elements of confusion and diffusion in it design. Research on finding effective and efficient diffusive element is still ongoing and highly discussed amongst researchers in the area of information security. In this paper, we investigate the diffusive property of three cryptographic algorithms: Rijndael, Twofish and Safer+ using a simple test vectors. Binary and decimal representation will be used to show the characteristic of each diffusive that play an important role as it will ensure any ciphertext generated from cryptographic algorithm are random and free from any predicted pattern which might be used by cryptanalyst to decipher the original message.