Differential and Linear Cryptanalysis Using Mixed-Integer Linear Programming

Differential and linear cryptanalysis are two of the most powerful techniques to analyze symmetric-key primitives. For modern ciphers, resistance against these attacks is therefore a mandatory design criterion. In this paper, we propose a novel technique to prove security bounds against both differential and linear cryptanalysis. We use mixed-integer linear programming (MILP), a method that is frequently used in business and economics to solve optimization problems. Our technique significantly reduces the workload of designers and cryptanalysts, because it only involves writing out simple equations that are input into an MILP solver. As very little programming is required, both the time spent on cryptanalysis and the possibility of human errors are greatly reduced. Our method is used to analyze Enocoro-128v2, a stream cipher that consists of 96 rounds. We prove that 38 rounds are sufficient for security against differential cryptanalysis, and 61 rounds for security against linear cryptanalysis. We also illustrate our technique by calculating the number of active S-boxes for AES.