A Strong 4 × 4 S-Box Using an Enhanced Tent Map

Substitution boxes (S-Boxes) are essential nonlinear components in order to be resistant to the cryptanalytic analysis of modern block ciphers. Given their significance, there is a wide range of S-Box construction techniques. Chaos systems are candidates for constructing S-boxes, with properties characterized by uncertainty, irregularity, and unpredictability. This paper proposes an effective method to create a 4 × 4 S-Box with strong cryptographic properties based on a one-dimensional chaotic map, which is the enhanced tent map. The algorithm used to create S-Boxes uses parameters based on the fundamental characteristics of an S-Box. The cryptanalysis results show that the created S-Box satisfies high-security properties. The output Bit Independence Criterion (BIC) and Strict Avalanche Criterion (SAC) simultaneously reach the ideal value, which no other S-Boxes have ever achieved. Additionally, the other evaluation criteria are comparable to most existing S-Boxes. Owing to these characteristics, the S-Box is appropriate for developing lightweight block ciphers.