A New Diffusion Strategy Using an Epidemic Spreading Model for Encryption

Area of Science:

• Cryptography
• Network Science
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Diffusion is a common phenomenon in both natural systems and cryptography.
• Traditional cryptographic diffusion is linear, while natural diffusion, like in epidemics, can be non-linear and faster.
• Epidemic models offer complex network structures for diffusion processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel cryptography diffusion strategy based on epidemic models.
• To leverage the non-linear transmission dynamics of epidemic models for faster and more secure encryption.
• To analyze the effectiveness of this new approach against various cryptographic attacks.

Main Methods:

• Representing pixels and their adjacency as a complex network (vertices and edges).
• Integrating the Susceptible-Vaccinated-Infected-Recovered (SVIR) epidemic model with chaotic dynamics for the encryption process.
• Simulating the proposed algorithm and evaluating its performance.

Main Results:

• The proposed algorithm achieves faster encryption speeds.
• The encryption method effectively resists brute force, statistical, and differential attacks.
• The algorithm demonstrates strong robustness against noise interference and data loss.

Conclusions:

• The proposed cryptography diffusion strategy based on epidemic models is effective and efficient.
• This novel approach enhances security and robustness in data encryption.
• The integration of epidemic dynamics offers a promising direction for future cryptographic research.