Wolfram Computation Meets Knowledge

Wolfram Summer School

Alumni

Robert Mendelsohn

Summer School

Class of 2014

Bio

Robert will be a senior at Pearce High School, and is very interested in number theory and information assurance. He has studied and developed algorithms for cryptanalysis, stock market analysis, efficient modular exponentiation, and error-correcting codes, and enjoys solving difficult problems with Mathematica. In his free time, Robert pursues an interest in fencing, fitness, philosophy, and music composition.

Project: Enumeration and Analysis of DES and Variant Systems

The Data Encryption Standard (DES) is an algorithm invented by IBM to encrypt data. Its design centers around repeatedly shuffling around and substituting bits according to a rule list. This rule list (also called a substitution box or S-Box) has come under scrutiny for possibly being a backdoor or intentionally placed weakness, though modern thought holds that the design of these substitution boxes was intended to strengthen DES against differential cryptanalysis, a modern technique for making such systems insecure. The purpose of this project is to create an enumeration scheme to describe DES-like systems and analyze the security of DES in comparison to these variant systems

Favorite Outer Totalistic r=1, k=2 2D Cellular Automaton

Rule 151869