JITA

JITA Journal of Information Technology and Applications

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2026): JITA - APEIRON

Dragana Božilović Đokić, Vladimir Đokić, Lazar Stošić, Željko Stanković, Olja Krčadinac

Security Analysis of the S-DES Cryptographic System

Review paper
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7251/JIT2601057DJ

Abstract

S-DES (Simplified Data Encryption Standard) is a pedagogically oriented, reduced-complexity variant of the full DES algorithm. It operates on 8-bit plaintext blocks with a 10-bit secret key, providing a tractable environment for studying fundamental cryptanalytic methods — linear cryptanalysis, differential cryptanalysis, and combined linear-differential cryptanalysis. This paper analyzes the architectural design, subkey generation mechanism, permutation logic, and security properties of S-DES. The cipher’s vulnerability to brute-force exhaustive search and differential cryptanalytic attacks is examined in detail, and its potential use as an image encryption primitive — enhanced through chaotic key generation — is evaluated experimentally. The study concludes that, while S-DES is cryptographically inadequate for practical deployment, it constitutes a highly effective educational tool for illustrating the core principles of symmetric block cipher design.

Keywords: S-DES, DES, cryptography, differential cryptanalysis, symmetric encryption, image encryption

Paper received: 21.4.2026.
Paper accepted: 2.5.2026.

Downloaded Article PDF: 20 times

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2026): JITA - APEIRON

Dragana Božilović Đokić, Vladimir Đokić, Lazar Stošić, Željko Stanković, Olja Krčadinac

Security Analysis of the S-DES Cryptographic System

Review paper

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7251/JIT2601057DJ

Abstract

S-DES (Simplified Data Encryption Standard) is a pedagogically oriented, reduced-complexity variant of the full DES algorithm. It operates on 8-bit plaintext blocks with a 10-bit secret key, providing a tractable environment for studying fundamental cryptanalytic methods — linear cryptanalysis, differential cryptanalysis, and combined linear-differential cryptanalysis. This paper analyzes the architectural design, subkey generation mechanism, permutation logic, and security properties of S-DES. The cipher’s vulnerability to brute-force exhaustive search and differential cryptanalytic attacks is examined in detail, and its potential use as an image encryption primitive — enhanced through chaotic key generation — is evaluated experimentally. The study concludes that, while S-DES is cryptographically inadequate for practical deployment, it constitutes a highly effective educational tool for illustrating the core principles of symmetric block cipher design.

Keywords: S-DES, DES, cryptography, differential cryptanalysis, symmetric encryption, image encryption

Paper received: 21.4.2026.
Paper accepted: 2.5.2026.

Downloaded Article PDF: 20 times

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2026): JITA - APEIRON

Dragana Božilović Đokić, Vladimir Đokić, Lazar Stošić, Željko Stanković, Olja Krčadinac

Security Analysis of the S-DES Cryptographic System

Review paper

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7251/JIT2601057DJ

Abstract

S-DES (Simplified Data Encryption Standard) is a pedagogically oriented, reduced-complexity variant of the full DES algorithm. It operates on 8-bit plaintext blocks with a 10-bit secret key, providing a tractable environment for studying fundamental cryptanalytic methods — linear cryptanalysis, differential cryptanalysis, and combined linear-differential cryptanalysis. This paper analyzes the architectural design, subkey generation mechanism, permutation logic, and security properties of S-DES. The cipher’s vulnerability to brute-force exhaustive search and differential cryptanalytic attacks is examined in detail, and its potential use as an image encryption primitive — enhanced through chaotic key generation — is evaluated experimentally. The study concludes that, while S-DES is cryptographically inadequate for practical deployment, it constitutes a highly effective educational tool for illustrating the core principles of symmetric block cipher design.

Keywords: S-DES, DES, cryptography, differential cryptanalysis, symmetric encryption, image encryption

Paper received: 21.4.2026.
Paper accepted: 2.5.2026.

Downloaded Article PDF: 20 times