AES and Block Ciphers

What is a Block Cipher?

A block cipher encrypts data in fixed-size blocks (e.g., 128 bits at a time).

Contrast with stream ciphers: Process one bit/byte at a time

Key Properties

Deterministic: same plaintext block → same ciphertext block (with same key)
Reversible: encryption and decryption are inverse operations
Confusion & Diffusion: Claude Shannon's principles

AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)

Overview

AES is the standard symmetric block cipher used everywhere today.

Block size: 128 bits (16 bytes)
Key sizes: 128, 192, or 256 bits
Rounds: 10, 12, or 14 (depending on key size)

History:

Replaced DES in 2001
Winner of NIST competition
Original name: Rijndael

AES Structure

High-Level Flow

flowchart TD
    A([Plaintext\n128 bits]) --> B[Key Expansion\nGenerate round keys]
    B --> C[AddRoundKey\nInitial Round]
    C --> D[SubBytes]
    D --> E[ShiftRows]
    E --> F[MixColumns]
    F --> G[AddRoundKey]
    G --> H{Rounds 1–9\ncomplete?}
    H -- No --> D
    H -- Yes --> I[SubBytes\nFinal Round]
    I --> J[ShiftRows]
    J --> K[AddRoundKey]
    K --> L([Ciphertext\n128 bits])

    style A fill:#7c4dff,color:#fff
    style L fill:#00897b,color:#fff
    style H fill:#f57c00,color:#fff

The State

AES organizes the 128-bit block as a 4×4 matrix of bytes (called the state).

┌─────┬─────┬─────┬─────┐
│ s₀₀ │ s₀₁ │ s₀₂ │ s₀₃ │
├─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤
│ s₁₀ │ s₁₁ │ s₁₂ │ s₁₃ │
├─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤
│ s₂₀ │ s₂₁ │ s₂₂ │ s₂₃ │
├─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤
│ s₃₀ │ s₃₁ │ s₃₂ │ s₃₃ │
└─────┴─────┴─────┴─────┘

Each cell is 1 byte (8 bits).

AES Operations

1. SubBytes (Confusion)

Replace each byte with another byte from the S-box (substitution box).

Purpose: Non-linear transformation (provides confusion)

$$s'_{i,j} = \text{S-box}[s_{i,j}]$$

Example:

Input byte: 0x53
S-box lookup: 0xED
Output byte: 0xED

S-box properties:

Non-linear (based on multiplicative inverse in GF(2⁸))
Designed to resist differential and linear cryptanalysis

2. ShiftRows (Diffusion)

Cyclically shift the rows of the state:

Row 0: No shift
Row 1: Shift left by 1
Row 2: Shift left by 2
Row 3: Shift left by 3

Before:                After:
┌────────────────┐    ┌────────────────┐
│ s₀₀ s₀₁ s₀₂ s₀₃│    │ s₀₀ s₀₁ s₀₂ s₀₃│  (no shift)
│ s₁₀ s₁₁ s₁₂ s₁₃│    │ s₁₁ s₁₂ s₁₃ s₁₀│  (shift 1)
│ s₂₀ s₂₁ s₂₂ s₂₃│ →  │ s₂₂ s₂₃ s₂₀ s₂₁│  (shift 2)
│ s₃₀ s₃₁ s₃₂ s₃₃│    │ s₃₃ s₃₀ s₃₁ s₃₂│  (shift 3)
└────────────────┘    └────────────────┘

Purpose: Spreads bytes across columns (diffusion)

3. MixColumns (Diffusion)

Mix each column independently using matrix multiplication in GF(2⁸).

$$\begin{bmatrix} s'_{0,j} \ s'_{1,j} \ s'_{2,j} \ s'_{3,j} \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} 2 & 3 & 1 & 1 \ 1 & 2 & 3 & 1 \ 1 & 1 & 2 & 3 \ 3 & 1 & 1 & 2 \end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} s_{0,j} \ s_{1,j} \ s_{2,j} \ s_{3,j} \end{bmatrix}$$

Purpose: Each output byte depends on all 4 input bytes (diffusion)

Note: Multiplication is in GF(2⁸), not regular integers!

4. AddRoundKey (Key Mixing)

XOR the state with the round key.

$$s'_{i,j} = s_{i,j} \oplus k_{i,j}$$

Purpose: Incorporate the secret key

Galois Fields GF(2⁸)

Why Galois Fields?

AES does math on bytes (8-bit chunks). But AES needs to:

Multiply bytes (for MixColumns)
Find inverses (for S-box)

Regular arithmetic doesn't work well for cryptography. Galois Fields provide the right structure.

GF(2⁸) Basics

Elements of GF(2⁸):

All 8-bit values: 0x00 to 0xFF
Represented as polynomials of degree < 8

Example: 0x53 = $x^6 + x^4 + x + 1$

Addition in GF(2⁸)

Addition = XOR

$$a + b = a \oplus b$$

Example:

  0x53 = 01010011
⊕ 0xCA = 11001010
  ──────────────
  0x99 = 10011001

Multiplication in GF(2⁸)

Multiply polynomials, then reduce modulo an irreducible polynomial.

AES uses: $m(x) = x^8 + x^4 + x^3 + x + 1$

Example: $0x53 \times 0xCA$ in GF(2⁸)

Multiply polynomials
Reduce mod $m(x)$
Result (in GF(2⁸))

Special case: multiply by 2:

If MSB = 0: left shift
If MSB = 1: left shift, then XOR with 0x1B

Key Expansion

AES takes one original key and expands it into multiple round keys.

For AES-128:

Original key: 128 bits (16 bytes)
Need: 11 round keys (176 bytes total)

Process:

Copy original key as first 4 words
Generate new words using:
- RotWord - circular byte rotation
- SubWord - S-box substitution
- Rcon - round constant XOR

AES Variants

Variant	Key Size	Rounds	Security Level
AES-128	128 bits	10	High
AES-192	192 bits	12	Very high
AES-256	256 bits	14	Extremely high

Most common: AES-128 (good balance of speed and security)

Block Cipher Modes of Operation

The Problem

A block cipher like AES encrypts one fixed-size block at a time. But real messages:

Are longer than one block
Might not be a multiple of block size

How do we encrypt multiple blocks?

ECB Mode (Electronic Codebook)

How It Works

Encrypt each block independently with the same key.

flowchart LR
    P1[P₁] --> E1[AES_K]
    P2[P₂] --> E2[AES_K]
    P3[P₃] --> E3[AES_K]
    E1 --> C1[C₁]
    E2 --> C2[C₂]
    E3 --> C3[C₃]
    style E1 fill:#ef5350,color:#fff
    style E2 fill:#ef5350,color:#fff
    style E3 fill:#ef5350,color:#fff

Security

!!! danger "NEVER USE ECB!" Problem: Identical plaintext blocks → identical ciphertext blocks

**Attack:** Patterns in plaintext are visible in ciphertext

**Famous example:** ECB penguin image: encrypted but still recognizable!

CBC Mode (Cipher Block Chaining)

How It Works

XOR each plaintext block with the previous ciphertext block before encryption.

flowchart LR
    IV([IV]) --> X1((⊕))
    P1[P₁] --> X1
    X1 --> E1[AES_K] --> C1[C₁]
    C1 --> X2((⊕))
    P2[P₂] --> X2
    X2 --> E2[AES_K] --> C2[C₂]
    C2 --> X3((⊕))
    P3[P₃] --> X3
    X3 --> E3[AES_K] --> C3[C₃]

    style IV fill:#7c4dff,color:#fff
    style E1 fill:#1565c0,color:#fff
    style E2 fill:#1565c0,color:#fff
    style E3 fill:#1565c0,color:#fff

Initialization Vector (IV):

Random value for first block
Must be unpredictable
Transmitted with ciphertext (can be public)

Decryption

C₁ → [D_K] → ⊕ IV → P₁
C₂ → [D_K] → ⊕ C₁ → P₂
C₃ → [D_K] → ⊕ C₂ → P₃

Security

Good:

Identical plaintexts → different ciphertexts (if IV is random)
Self-synchronizing

Issues:

Not parallelizable for encryption
Padding oracle attacks possible
IV must be unpredictable (not just unique)

CTR Mode (Counter)

How It Works

Encrypt a counter value, then XOR with plaintext.

flowchart LR
    N1["Nonce ∥ 1"] --> E1[AES_K]
    N2["Nonce ∥ 2"] --> E2[AES_K]
    N3["Nonce ∥ 3"] --> E3[AES_K]
    E1 --> X1((⊕)) --> C1[C₁]
    E2 --> X2((⊕)) --> C2[C₂]
    E3 --> X3((⊕)) --> C3[C₃]
    P1[P₁] --> X1
    P2[P₂] --> X2
    P3[P₃] --> X3
    style E1 fill:#00897b,color:#fff
    style E2 fill:#00897b,color:#fff
    style E3 fill:#00897b,color:#fff

Nonce: Number used once (like IV)
Counter: Increments for each block

Security

Advantages:

Parallelizable (both encryption and decryption)
No padding needed
Random access to blocks
Turns block cipher into stream cipher

Requirements:

Never reuse nonce with same key
Counter must not repeat

GCM Mode (Galois/Counter Mode)

How It Works

CTR mode + authentication tag (AEAD: Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data)

flowchart LR
    A[Plaintext] --> B[CTR Encryption]
    B --> C[Ciphertext]
    C --> D[GHASH]
    AD[Additional Data] --> D
    D --> E[Auth Tag]
    B --> F([Ciphertext + Tag])
    E --> F
    style F fill:#00897b,color:#fff

Advantages:

Authenticated encryption (detects tampering)
Parallelizable
Fast (hardware support)
AEAD - can authenticate additional data without encrypting it

!!! success "Most recommended mode for new applications"

Padding

The Problem

Messages often aren't exact multiples of block size (16 bytes for AES).

Solution: Add padding to the last block.

PKCS#7 Padding

Pad with bytes, each containing the number of padding bytes.

Examples:

Need 5 bytes: ... 05 05 05 05 05
Need 1 byte:  ... 01
Need full block: 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Why this works:

Always unambiguous
Last byte tells you how much padding to remove

Mode Comparison

Mode	Parallelizable?	Random Access?	Padding?	Authentication?	Use Case
ECB	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	NEVER USE
CBC	Decrypt only	No	Yes	No	Legacy systems
CTR	Yes	Yes	No	No	High speed needed
GCM	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Recommended

AES Security

Why AES is Secure

Large key space (2¹²⁸ for AES-128)
No practical attacks known (only theoretical)
Confusion and diffusion well-designed
Extensive cryptanalysis by community
Hardware acceleration available (AES-NI)

Known Attacks

Brute force:

AES-128: 2¹²⁸ operations (infeasible)
AES-256: 2²⁵⁶ operations (quantum computers might reduce to 2¹²⁸)

Theoretical attacks:

Slightly faster than brute force
Still completely impractical
Don't affect real-world security

Implementation Pitfalls

Side-Channel Attacks

Timing attacks: Measure how long operations take
Power analysis: Measure power consumption
Cache attacks: Exploit CPU cache behavior

Defense: Constant-time implementations

Weak Keys

No weak keys in AES (unlike DES)

Every key is equally strong.

IV/Nonce Reuse

!!! danger "CRITICAL: Never reuse IV/nonce with same key" - CBC: Predictable IV is vulnerable - CTR/GCM: Reused nonce completely breaks security

Key Takeaways

AES is the standard block cipher (128-bit blocks)
Never use ECB mode - patterns leak
CBC mode is okay but has issues
GCM mode is recommended - provides authentication
Galois Fields GF(2⁸) enable AES mathematics
IV/nonce must never repeat with same key
Use hardware AES when available (AES-NI)

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AES and Block Ciphers

What is a Block Cipher?

Key Properties

AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)

Overview

AES Structure

High-Level Flow

The State

AES Operations

1. SubBytes (Confusion)

2. ShiftRows (Diffusion)

3. MixColumns (Diffusion)

4. AddRoundKey (Key Mixing)

Galois Fields GF(2⁸)

Why Galois Fields?

GF(2⁸) Basics

Addition in GF(2⁸)

Multiplication in GF(2⁸)

Key Expansion

AES Variants

Block Cipher Modes of Operation

The Problem

ECB Mode (Electronic Codebook)

How It Works

Security

CBC Mode (Cipher Block Chaining)

How It Works

Decryption

Security

CTR Mode (Counter)

How It Works

Security

GCM Mode (Galois/Counter Mode)

How It Works

Padding

The Problem

PKCS#7 Padding

Mode Comparison

AES Security

Why AES is Secure

Known Attacks

Implementation Pitfalls

Side-Channel Attacks

Weak Keys

IV/Nonce Reuse

Key Takeaways