PET SNAKE: A Special Purpose Architecture to Implement an Algebraic Attack in Hardware

Abstract. In [24] Raddum and Semaev propose a technique to solve systems of polynomial equations over F2 as occurring in algebraic attacks on block ciphers. This approach is known as MRHS, and we present a special purpose architecture to implement MRHS in a dedicated hardware device. Our preliminary performance analysis of this Parallel Elimination Technique Supporting Nice Algebraic Key Elimination shows that the use of ASICs seems to enable significant performance gains over a software implementation of MRHS. The main parts of the proposed architecture are scalable, the limiting factor being mainly the available bandwidth for interchip communication. Our focus is on a design choice that can be implemented within the limits of available fab technology. The proposed design can be expected to offer a running time improvement in the order of several magnitudes over a software implementation. We do not make any claims about the practical feasibility of an attack against AES-128 with our d...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: TCOS
• Authors: Willi Geiselmann, Kenneth Matheis, Rainer Steinwandt
• Keywords: Algebraic Attack, Algebraic Key Elimination, Computer Science, Software Implementation, TCOS 2010