Stream or Block Cipher for Securing VoIP?

When the network is homogeneous, choosing the cipher type for a packet telephony application is simple. It is clear that stream ciphers perform better than block ciphers over landline, circuit-switched networks, since loss is negligible in these networks but corruption is not. Likewise, it is also clear that block ciphers perform better than stream ciphers over landline, packet-switched networks, since corruption is negligible in these networks but loss is not [9]. However, the choice of cipher is not so clear for a heterogeneous internetwork containing a mix of packet and circuit-switched networks. Additionally, this issue becomes even more confounded when heterogeneous internetwork also consists of wireless links. Existing encryption systems will degrade performance in a heterogeneous internetwork because such internetworks have appreciable loss and corruption. Thus, the error properties would degrade the subjective quality of the packet telephony application. In this paper we prese...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2007
• Where: IJNSEC
• Authors: Ashraf D. Elbayoumy, Simon J. Shepherd
• Keywords: Ciphers, Heterogeneous Internetwork, IJNSEC 2007, Packet Telephony Application