What is Confusion in Information Security?


Confusion defines that the key does not associate in a simple method to the ciphertext. In specific, each character of the ciphertext should be based on several elements of the key.

In confusion, the relationship between the data of the ciphertext and the value of the encryption key is made difficult. It is completed by substitution.

For example, suppose that it can have a Hill cipher with an n x n matrix, and suppose that it can have a plaintext-ciphertext pair of length n2 with which it is able to solve for the encryption matrix.

If it can change one character of the ciphertext, one column of the matrix can change effectively. Of course, it can be more desirable to have the complete key change. When a situation like that appears, the cryptanalyst can probably require to solve for the complete key simultaneously, instead of piece by piece.

Confusion is a cryptographic approach devised to enhance the vagueness of the cipher text. In the other words, the approach provides that the cipher text gives no clue about the plaintext.

In the given approach the relationship between the data of the cipher text and the value of the encryption key is supported as difficult as possible.

Even though the attacker receive some control over the data of the ciphertext, it could not be able to understand the key as the manner in which the key was used to make that ciphertext is so difficult. The confusion can be acquired by using substitution and complex scrambling algorithm that based on key and the input (plaintext).

The main objective of confusion is to make it very complex to discover the key even if one has most of the plaintext-ciphertext pairs created with the similar key and in this regard, each bit of the Ciphertext should be based on the entire key and in several methods on different bits of the key, changing one bit of the key should change the Ciphertext completely.

The simplest method is to obtain both diffusion and confusion is a substitutionpermutation network. In these systems, the plaintext and the key provide have a very same role in creating the output, therefore it is the same structure that provides both diffusion and confusion.

Property of Confusion

The property of confusion is as follows −

  • The property of confusion protect the relationship between the ciphertext and the key.

  • This property creates it complex to find the key from the ciphertext.

  • If an individual bit in a key is changed, there are several bits in the ciphertext will be changed.

Diffusion and Confusion can be achieved using continual product cipher where each redundancy is a set of S-boxes, D-boxes, and other element. Each iteration is defined as a round.

Updated on: 14-Mar-2022

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