Practical attack on the shrinking generator

Abstract

This work proposes an efficient attack on the Shrinking Generator based on its characterization by means of Linear Hybrid Cellular Automata. The algorithm uses the computation of the characteristic polynomials of specific sub-automata and the generation of the Galois field associated to one of the Linear Feedback Shift Registers components of the generator. Both theoretical and empirical evidences for the effectiveness of the attack are given. The two main advantages of the described cryptanalysis are the determinism of bits prediction and the possible application of the obtained results to different generators. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.