A new multi-level key block cypher based on the Blowfish algorithm

Abstract

Blowfish is a block cypher algorithm used in many applications to enhance security, but it includes several drawbacks. For example, the mix between the key and data is limited. This paper presents a new modification to the Blowfish algorithm to overcome such problems realised through a multi-state operation instead of an XOR. Our proposed algorithm uses three keys in the encryption and decryption processes instead of one for controlling the variable block bits sizes (1, 2, 4, and 8) bits and for determining the state table numbers. These tables are formed from the addition in a Galois field GF (2ⁿ) based on block bit size to increase the complexity of the proposed algorithm. Results are evaluated based on the criteria of complexity, time encryption, throughout, and histogram, and show that the original Blowfish, those modified by other scholars, and our proposed algorithm are similar in time computation. Our algorithm is demonstrated to be the most complex compared with other well-known and modified algorithms. This increased complexity score for our proposed Blowfish makes it more resistant against attempts to break the keys.