High-performance multimedia encryption system based on chaos

Current chaotic encryption systems in the literature do not fulfill security and performance demands for real-time multimedia communications. To satisfy these demands, we propose a generalized symmetric cryptosystem based on N independently iterated chaotic maps (N-map array) periodically perturbed with a three-level perturbation scheme and a double feedback (global and local) to increase the system's robustness to attacks. The first- and second-level perturbations make cryptosystem extremely sensitive to changes in the plaintext data since the system's output itself (ciphertext global feedback) is used in the perturbation process. Third-level perturbation is a system reset, in which the system-key and chaotic maps are replaced for totally new values. An analysis of the proposed scheme regarding its vulnerability to attacks, statistical properties, and implementation performance is presented. To the best of our knowledge we provide a secure cryptosystem with one of the highest levels of performance for real-time multimedia communications. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.