To guarantee security and privacy in
contemporary communications applications, adequate efficient bulk encryption techniques
are necessary which are able to cope with the vast amounts of data involved. This quest is
usually resolved by the use of symmetric block-oriented product ciphers, since they can
offer a high level of security as well as high encryption rates.
In this report we introduce a new design paradigm for implementing symmetric
block-oriented product ciphers. While almost all of the current product ciphers use rather
simple fixed permutation operations, our approach involves parameterizable (keyed)
permutations induced by specific (pseudo-)chaotic systems (Kolmogoroff-Flows). By
combining these highly unstable dynamics with an adaption of a standard shift-register
based PRNG, we obtain a new class of secure product ciphers which are firmly grounded on
systems theoretic concepts, offering many features that should make them superior to
comparable bulk encryption systems.