Linearity in decimation-based generators: an improved cryptanalysis on the shrinking generator

Abstract

Abstract Decimation-based sequence generators are a class of non-linear cryptographic generators designed to be used in hardware implementations. An inherent characteristic of such generators is that their output sequences are interleaved sequences. This profitable characteristic can be used in the cryptanalysis of those generators. In this work, emphasis is on the most representative decimation-based generator, the shrinking generator, which has been cryptanalyzed just by solving linear equation systems. Compared with previous cryptanalysis, computational complexity and intercepted sequence requirements are dramatically reduced. Although irregularly decimated generators have been conceived and designed as non-linear sequence generators, in practice they can be easily analyzed in terms of simple linear structures.