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access icon free Cryptanalysis of a random number generator based on continuous-time chaos

© The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Received 11/08/2019, Accepted 10/02/2020, Revised 04/02/2020, Published 17/02/2020

This study presents the algebraic cryptanalysis of a continuous-time chaotic random number generator (RNG) based on a Zhongtang chaotic system. The chaos-based RNG provides key values for logic encryption, round key formation and the substitution box (S-box) generation steps in AES (advanced encryption standard). In this study, an attack method is proposed to exploit the weaknesses of the chaos-based RNG used in this cryptographic system. By observing a chaotic state variable and knowing the structure of the target RNG, output bit sequence of the target RNG is reproduced by a clone RNG used in master–slave synchronisation scheme. The feasibility of the attack system is confirmed through simulation and numerical results. Through this attack method, the same S-box parameters and key values can be obtained which can be used for decryption of the proposed encryption algorithm. This study targets a specific continuous-time chaos-based RNG and the associated cryptographic system as a case study. However, the cryptanalysis method described in this study is applicable to any continuous-time or discrete-time chaos-based RNGs. Therefore, this study highlights the security vulnerabilities of chaos-based RNGs and emphasises that deterministic chaos phenomena itself should not be considered as the actual source of randomness.

Inspec keywords: cryptography; synchronisation; random number generation

Other keywords: box generation steps; chaotic state variable; master–slave synchronisation scheme; attack system; decryption; algebraic cryptanalysis method; deterministic chaos phenomena; Zhongtang chaotic system; discrete-time chaos-based RNG; advanced encryption standard; S-box parameters; logic encryption; associated cryptographic system; continuous-time chaos-based RNG; clone RNG; continuous-time chaotic random number generator; discrete-time chaos-based random number generator; AES

Subjects: Data security; Cryptography

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