A Key Distribution Method Based on an Adaptive Combined Coding and Cryptographic System

In this paper, we present an adaptive modified version of the Niederreiter public-key cryptosystem (PKC) and we then apply it for key distribution in distributed systems - like the Internet. With this scheme not only encryption and error-control is performed within one single block, but noise is also added purposefully to reinforce its security. We show how the new system adapts the number of errors added during encryption to the number of errors added by the unpredictable Gaussian channel. Its performance is then evaluated. In our application, the adaptive PKC is found to provide added security by optimising the level of confusion and diffusion in the ciphertext during encryption.