Applications of machine learning in cryptography: a survey

Machine learning techniques have had a long list of applications in recent years. However, the use of machine learning in information and network security is not new. Machine learning and cryptography have many things in common. The most apparent is the processing of large amounts of data and large search spaces. In its varying techniques, machine learning has been an interesting field of study with massive potential for application. In the past three decades, machine learning techniques, whether supervised or unsupervised, have been applied in cryptographic algorithms, cryptanalysis, steganography, among other data-security-related applications. This paper presents an updated survey of applications of machine learning techniques in cryptography and cryptanalysis. The paper summarizes the research done in these areas and provides suggestions for future directions in research.