A Novel Algebraic Technique for Design of Computational Substitution-Boxes Using Action of Matrices on Galois Field

Cryptography entails the practice of designing mathematical algorithms to secure data communication over insecure networks in the presence of adversaries. In this aspect, a cryptographic algorithm encrypts the confidential data and converts it into a non-readable text for adversaries. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is the most effective encryption algorithm proposed till now. Substitution-box (S-box) is the most crucial and only nonlinear component in AES (or any cryptographic algorithm), which provides data confusion. A highly nonlinear S-box offers high confidentiality and security against cryptanalysis attacks; hence, the design of S-box is very crucial in any encryption algorithm. To address this challenge, we propose the action of matrices (conforming to the basis of P
₇
[Z
₂
]) on the Galois field GF (2
⁸
). Consequently, a novel algebraic technique for S-box construction to generate highly nonlinear 8 × 8 S-boxes based on by our proposed algorithm, we obtain 1.324×10
¹⁴
different S-boxes. Standard S-box tests analyze the cryptographic strength of our proposed S-boxes. The examined results show that the proposed S-boxes possess state-of-the-art cryptographic properties. Moreover, we also demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed S-boxes in image encryption applications using the majority logic criterion.