Tokyo, Japan, Mar 23, 2007 - (JCN Newswire) - Sony Corporation today
announced "CLEFIA",[1] a new highly secure and efficient block cipher
algorithm that delivers advanced copyright protection and
authentication, which is essential in the growing environment of
digital data distribution, such as music and images. Based on cutting
edge cipher design techniques, Sony's "CLEFIA" block cipher maintains
high security levels while providing both world-leading hardware and
software implementation capabilities, the combination of which had
proved difficult until now. Sony will unveil the results of this
development at the "Fast Software Encryption 2007"[2] international
conference, to be held in Luxembourg for three days from March 26.
Sony's
newly developed "Diffusion Switching Mechanism (DSM)"[3] technology is
the result of research into improving security while reducing overall
cost. It successfully achieves secure cipher algorithms, even with
fewer operations, by selecting the optimum diffusion matrices in the
Feistel structure[4]. This technology enables reductions in gate size
when implemented in hardware, and greater implementation efficiency
when used in software.
The key advantages of "CLEFIA" are its
enhanced implementation efficiency in terms of both hardware and
software, and its high speed operation. When implemented in hardware it
achieves maximum throughput of 1.42 Gbps using a 0.09 micrometer CMOS
standard cell library and gate size of just 6.1K, representing the
world's highest hardware gate efficiency. Consequently, "CLEFIA" is
able to provide advanced capabilities, even in restrictive environments
such as smart cards and mobile devices. When implemented in software it
can realize high speed performance on a wide variety of processors.
The
"CLEFIA" interface corresponds to 128-bit block cipher technology such
as the US government's Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), and the
ISO/IEC 18033-3 International Standards. Block length is 128 bits,
while key length can be selected from 128 bits, 192 bits, and 256 bits.
The "CLEFIA" cipher is meticulously designed to concentrate
state-of-the-art cryptanalysis techniques and achieve sufficient
immunity against known cryptanalytic attacks. Sony has cooperated with
Japan's leading researcher in this field to create this design, and has
had the new cipher design verified by a number of third party experts
overseas.
Going forward, Sony will seek to establish an
environment in which "CLEFIA" can be used across various applications
and products such as AV devices, while continuing to develop
technologies that our customers can use with confidence.
[1] Based on the French word "Clef" meaning "key".
[2]
International conference hosted by IACR (International Association of
Cryptologic Research) for presenting research results on symmetric key
cipher technology. This year is the 14th meeting.
[3] Basic block cipher structure, as adopted by DES (Data Encryption Standard) etc.
[4] Diffusion Switching Mechanism. Related research results previously presented at FSE2004, ASIACRYPT2004, FSE2006 etc.
About Sony
Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game,
communications, key device and information technology products for the
consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer
entertainment and on-line businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be
the leading personal broadband entertainment company in the world. Sony
recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $67 billion for the
fiscal year ended March 31, 2005. Sony Global Web Site:
http://www.sony.net
Contact:
Sony Corporation
Corporate Communications
Tel: +81-3-5448-2200
Fax: +81-3-5448-3061
Source:
Sony Corporation via JCN Newswire