Efficient digital fingerprint production and evaluation for secure communication systems based on genetic algorithms

Abstract

A novel procedure based on genetic algorithms is presented for the evaluation and production of digital fingerprints in the design of secure communication systems. These digital fingerprints are computed using the methodology of un-keyed one-way functions (hash functions). The problem of evaluating the quality of such functions is formulated as a global optimization one in the space spanned by all possible messages and is approached from a practical viewpoint by involving genetic algorithms, contrary to the very few similar research efforts existing in the literature that are of only theoretical interest. Moreover, the problem of producing digital fingerprints of good quality for use in communication systems is formulated in terms of a hash function constructed by involving the genetic algorithm procedure, exclusively utilizing the crossover operator and the steady-state reproduction method and omitting its random components. The promising results herein obtained illustrate the importance of applying genetic algorithms in communication systems security design.