Evolution of block symmetric cipher architectures
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30837/rt.2025.4.223.03Keywords:
сryptography, cryptanalysis, block symmetric ciphers, post-quantum cryptography, lightweight cryptographyAbstract
The article presents an analysis of the evolution and design principles of block symmetric ciphers (BSCs), which are a direct implementation of the fundamental ideas of Claude Shannon.
A detailed comparative analysis of two classical iterative architectures is carried out, namely, the Feistel Network (FN) and the Substitution-Permutation Network (SPN), which have become the basis for most modern standards (including DES and AES). The key differences in their reversibility, requirements for the round function and diffusion rate are considered. Additionally, alternative designs such as the Leigh-Massey (LM) Network and the Generalized Feistel (GFN) Network, ARX (Add-Rotate-XOR) ciphers are investigated, emphasizing their role in providing faster diffusion and flexibility.
Three main directions of modern adaptation of BSNs are highlighted:
Performance on powerful processors: dominance of ARX (Add-Rotate-XOR) designs that replace traditional S-blocks with operations efficient for 32/64-bit architectures (e.g., ChaCha20);
Post-quantum stability: it is substantiated that BSNs such as AES-256 remain resistant to Grover's attack by doubling the key length;
Minimalism and Lightweight Cryptography: changing priorities to energy efficiency and minimizing hardware costs for IoT devices. This has led to the development of ciphers with very small S-blocks (like PRESENT), which compensate for the weaker round function by significantly increasing the number of rounds.
Thus, the article demonstrates that the architecture of BSS is a dynamic field that successfully evolves, effectively adapting to both theoretical threats (quantum computing) and hard practical hardware limitations.
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