Spectr-H64

Spectr-H64

General
Designers	N.D. Goots, A.A. Moldovyan and N.A. Moldovyan
First published	2001
Successors	CIKS-1
Cipher detail
Key sizes	256 bits
Block sizes	64 bits
Structure	Feistel-like network
Rounds	12
Best public cryptanalysis
Slide attack using 217 chosen plaintexts

In cryptography, Spectr-H64 is a block cipher designed in 2001 by N. D. Goots, A. A. Moldovyan and N. A. Moldovyan. It relies heavily on the permutation of individual bits, so is much better suited to implementation in hardware than in software.

The algorithm has a block size of 64 bits and key size of 256 bits. It uses a 12 round structure in which half of the block determines the transformation of the other half in each round, similar to a Feistel cipher or RC5. This same basic design was repeated in its successor, CIKS-1.

Cryptanalysis

An analysis of Spectr-H64 was presented in 2002 by Selçuk Kavut and Melek D Yücel of the Middle East Technical University, showing a method of using a differential attack to retrieve half of the key bits when a single round is used. Using this method, they then presented a slide attack that requires 2¹⁷ chosen plaintexts to return all key bits on the full 12 rounds.