cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

, decorrelation theory is a system developed by

Serge Vaudenay Serge Vaudenay (born 5 April 1968) is a French cryptographer and professor, director of the Communications Systems Section at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Serge Vaudenay entered the École Normale Supérieure in Paris as a '' ...

in 1998 for designing

block cipher In cryptography, a block cipher is a deterministic algorithm operating on fixed-length groups of bits, called ''blocks''. Block ciphers are specified cryptographic primitive, elementary components in the design of many cryptographic protocols and ...

s to be

provably secure Provable security refers to any type or level of computer security that can be proved. It is used in different ways by different fields. Usually, this refers to mathematical proofs, which are common in cryptography. In such a proof, the capabiliti ...

against

differential cryptanalysis Differential cryptanalysis is a general form of cryptanalysis applicable primarily to block ciphers, but also to stream ciphers and cryptographic hash functions. In the broadest sense, it is the study of how differences in information input can aff ...

linear cryptanalysis In cryptography, linear cryptanalysis is a general form of cryptanalysis based on finding affine approximations to the action of a cipher. Attacks have been developed for block ciphers and stream ciphers. Linear cryptanalysis is one of the two most ...

, and even undiscovered cryptanalytic attacks meeting certain broad criteria. Ciphers designed using these principles include COCONUT98 and the

AES candidate The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), the symmetric block cipher ratified as a standard by National Institute of Standards and Technology of the United States (NIST), was chosen using a process lasting from 1997 to 2000 that was markedly more ...

DFC, both of which have been shown to be vulnerable to some forms of

cryptanalysis Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...

not covered by the theory. According to Vaudenay, the decorrelation theory has four tasks: 1) the definition of a measurement for the decorrelation, which usually relies on a matrix norm; 2) the construction of simple primitive or "decorrelation module" with a quite good decorrelation; 3) the construction of

cryptographic algorithms Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adve ...

with decorrelation modules so that the primitive can be inherited by the algorithm; and, 4) proving that the decorrelation provides security against attacks.Serve Vaudenay (May 2003). "Adaptive-Attack Norm for Decorrelation and Super-Pseudorandomness," In Howard Heys and Carlisle Adams' Selected Areas in Cryptography: 6th Annual International Workshop, SAC'99 Kingston, Ontario, Canada, August 9-10, 1999 Proceedings. Berlin: Springer. pp. 49-61.

References

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External links

Introduction to Decorrelation Theory
Online manual by Serge Vaudenay Theory of cryptography {{crypto-stub