Cryptographic Techniques Based on Bio-Inspired Systems

In this chapter, bio-inspired techniques based on the cellular automata (CAs) and programmable cellular automata (PCAs) theory are used to develop information security systems. The proposed cryptosystem is composed from a combination of a CA as a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) and a PCA that construct the ciphering functions of the designed enciphering scheme. It is presented how simple elements named „cells” interact between each other using certain rules and topologies to form a larger system that can be used to encrypt/decrypt data sent over network communication systems. The proposed security system was implemented in hardware in FPGA devices of type Spartan 3E – XC3S500E and was analyzed and verified, including NIST statistical tests, to assure that the system has good security and high speed. The experimental results proves that the cryptographic techniques based on bio-inspired algorithms provides an alternative to the conventional techniques (computational methods).