## CryptoDB

### Paper: Rewriting Variables: the Complexity of Fast Algebraic Attacks on Stream Ciphers

Authors: Philip Hawkes Gregory G. Rose URL: http://eprint.iacr.org/2004/081 Search ePrint Search Google Recently proposed algebraic attacks [AK03,CM03] and fast algebraic attacks [A04,C03] have provided the best analyses against some deployed LFSR-based ciphers. The process complexity is exponential in the degree of the equations. Fast algebraic attacks were introduced [C03] as a way of reducing run-time complexity by reducing the degree of the system of equations. Previous reports on fast algebraic attacks [A04,C03] have underestimated the complexity of substituting the keystream into the system of equations, which in some cases dominates the attack. We also show how the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) [CT65] can be applied to decrease the complexity of the substitution step, although in one case this step still dominates the attack complexity. Finally, we show that all functions of degree d satisfy a common, function-independent linear combination that may be used in the pre-computation step of the fast algebraic attack and provide an explicit factorization of the corresponding characteristic polynomial. This yields the fastest known method for performing the pre-computation step.
##### BibTeX
@misc{eprint-2004-12054,
title={Rewriting Variables: the Complexity of Fast Algebraic Attacks on Stream Ciphers},
booktitle={IACR Eprint archive},
keywords={secret-key cryptography / stream ciphers},
url={http://eprint.iacr.org/2004/081},
note={ phawkes@qualcomm.com 12493 received 15 Mar 2004},
author={Philip Hawkes and Gregory G. Rose},
year=2004
}