Title :
The effectiveness of brute force attacks on RC4
Author :
Couture, Nathaniel ; Kent, Kenneth B.
Author_Institution :
Fac. of Comput. Sci., New Brunswick Univ., Fredericton, NB, Canada
Abstract :
The security of encryption algorithms depends heavily on the computational infeasibility of exhaustive key-space searches. We use the RC4 cipher, utilized primarily in the area of data communications, as a test case for determining the effectiveness of exhaustive key-searches implemented on FPGAs using a network on chip (NoC) design architecture. Preliminary results show that a network of key-checker units implemented on a Xilinx XC2V1000 FPGA using Celoxica DK2 design tools can exploit the speed and parallelism of hardware such that the entire key-space of a 40-bit RC4 encryption can be searched in minutes. Furthermore, it has been found that the clock rate of the circuit diminishes as the number of key-checker units increases. Future work is proposed to find a method for predicting an optimal balance between the size of the network (number of key-checker units) and the clock rate in order to maximize performance.
Keywords :
cryptography; field programmable gate arrays; logic CAD; 40-bit encryption; CAD tools; Celoxica DK2 design tools; RC4 cipher; Xilinx XC2V1000 FPGA; brute force attacks; clock rate; computational infeasibility; data communications; encryption algorithm security; exhaustive key-searches; key-space searches; network on chip design architecture; Clocks; Computer architecture; Cryptography; Data communication; Data security; Field programmable gate arrays; Hardware; Network-on-a-chip; Parallel processing; Testing;
Conference_Titel :
Communication Networks and Services Research, 2004. Proceedings. Second Annual Conference on
Print_ISBN :
0-7695-2096-0
DOI :
10.1109/DNSR.2004.1344747
