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Optics Express

Machine-learning attacks on interference-based optical encryption: experimental demonstration

Lina Zhou, Yin Xiao, Wen Chen

Published Aug 29, 2019• 53 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Optical techniques have boosted a new class of cryptographic systems with some remarkable advantages, and optical encryption not only has spurred practical developments but also has brought a new insight into cryptography. However, this does not mean that it is elusive for the opponents to attack optical encryption systems. In this paper, for the first time to our knowledge, we experimentally demonstrate the machine-learning attacks on interference-based optical encryption. Using machine-learning models that are trained by a series of ciphertext-plaintext pairs, an unauthorized person is capable to retrieve the unknown plaintexts from the given ciphertexts without the usage of various different optical encryption keys existing in interference-based optical encryption. In comparison with conventional cryptanalytic methods, the proposed machine-learning-based attacking method can estimate transfer function or point spread function of interference-based optical encryption systems without subsidiary conditions. Simulations and optical experiments demonstrate feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method, and the proposed machine-learning-based attacking method provides a versatile approach to analyzing the vulnerability of interference-based optical encryption.

DOI
10.1364/oe.27.026143

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Optical techniques have boosted a new class of cryptographic systems with some remarkable advantages, and optical encryption not only has spurred practical developments but also has brought a new insight into cryptography. However, this does not mean that it is elusive for the opponents to attack optical encryption systems. In this paper, for the first time to our knowledge, we experimentally demonstrate the machine-learning attacks on interference-based optical encryption. Using machine-learning models that are trained by a series of ciphertext-plaintext pairs, an unauthorized person is capable to retrieve the unknown plaintexts from the given ciphertexts without the usage of various different optical encryption keys existing in interference-based optical encryption. In comparison with conventional cryptanalytic methods, the proposed machine-learning-based attacking method can estimate transfer function or point spread function of interference-based optical encryption systems without subsidiary conditions. Simulations and optical experiments demonstrate feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method, and the proposed machine-learning-based attacking method provides a versatile approach to analyzing the vulnerability of interference-based optical encryption.
The phase-shifting interferometry-based (PSI-based) encryption is one of most typical optical encryption systems. In this paper, we demonstrate a new approach to ciphertext-only attack (COA) on PSI-based encryption, revealing that there is serious security risk in PSI-based encryption. With the proposed COA approach, an opponent can crack the ciphertexts directly without use of the keys of the system. This demonstration, as far as our best knowledge, shows the PSI technique is vulnerable to COA for the first time. A series of attack results are shown to demonstrate the feasibility and robustness of the attack method. Our study reveals a critical security issue that should be taken in to account when designing an optical information security system.
In conventional symmetric encryption, it is common for the encryption/decryption key to be reused for multiple plaintexts. This gives rise to the concept of a known-plaintext attack. In optical image encryption systems, such as double random phase encoding (DRPE), this is also the case. With optical encryption, if one knows a plaintext-ciphertext pair, one can carry out a known-plaintext attack more efficiently than a bruteforce attack, using heuristics based on phase retrieval or simulated annealing. However, it is more likely that an attacker will find an imperfect encryption/decryption key using such heuristics. Such an imperfect key will work for the known plaintext-ciphertext pair, but not an arbitrary unseen plaintext-ciphertext pair using the original key. In this paper, we illustrate the problem and attempt to characterise the increase in security it affords optical encryption.
The optical cryptosystem based on phase-shifting interferometry (PSI) is one of the most interesting optical cryptographic schemes in recent years. However, we find that the PSI technique provides an attractive method to record the ciphertext, but contributes little to the security level of the cryptosystem. From the cryptanalysis point of view, in a certain simplified case, an attacker is only required to crack two equivalent decryption keys instead of the original random phase keys and geometric key. Moreover, a chosen-plaintext attack method is proposed, in which an impulse function is chosen as a known plaintext. By using this attack, the attacker can effectively recover any plaintext from the corresponding ciphertext. The validity of the attack is verified by computer simulations.
The security strength of an interference-based optical image cryptosystem with a designed amplitude modulator (AM) is evaluated. Compared to previous improved interference-based cryptosystems in which iterative or post-processing algorithms are involved, to remove the silhouette problem, a pre-designed AM is placed at the image plane to modulate the plaintext directly, which eliminates this drawback. Moreover, the AM is used as an additional private key, which enlarges the key space and further enhances the security system. However, we have noticed that one of the designed parameters in the AM has a low key sensitivity, which is fault-tolerant and is not required for precise reconstruction. Additionally, the AM is plaintext-independent, which means that the AM can be recovered first by using a pair of chosen plaintexts and the corresponding ciphertext. Based on these findings, we propose a hybrid algorithm that includes two chosen-plaintext attacks (CPAs) and a ciphertext-only attack (COA) to break the enhanced cryptosystem. Specially, CPAs with an impulse function and an arbitrarily given plaintext are proposed to retrieve two parameters in the AM. With the retrieved AM, information on the plaintext can be recovered from the corresponding ciphertext by two kinds of COAs without any knowledge of the private keys. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the interference-based cryptosystem with a designed AM has been cracked successfully, which may provide potential evidence for further security improvements. Numerical simulations are carried out to validate the feasibility of the proposed attacks.
This paper presents a security analysis of the optical image encryption scheme based on interference and fixed phase masks. Unlike the traditional interference-based scheme, which uses only one phase-only mask (POMs) generated during the encryption process as the private key, the improved system incorporates fixed phase masks as the additional private keys. While it appears that the security strength of the interference-based scheme is enhanced by expanding the key space, our analysis reveals that these fixed phase masks are independent of the plaintext and can be recovered through a known-plaintext attack (KPA). Once these additional private keys are obtained, the number of unknown private keys is reduced to one, allowing the plaintext information encrypted by the improved interference-based scheme to be recovered from any arbitrarily given ciphertexts without any knowledge of the private key. To show the vulnerability of this cryptosystem, we propose a hybrid attack combining the KPA and ciphertext-only attack (COA) which can break the improved interference-based cryptosystem. Numerical simulations have been performed to confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed hybrid attack.