Mir-1 Explained

In cryptography, Mir-1 is a software-oriented stream cypher algorithm developed by Alexander Maximov. The algorithm was submitted to the eSTREAM project of the eCRYPT network in 2005. Mir-1 is named after the Russian space station Mir.^[1]

Mir-1 uses a multiword T-function with four 64-bit words. The data in each word is processed, generating a keystream.^[2] Its key size is 128 bits, and its IV is 64 bits.

The designer claimed that Mir-1 had a security level of 2¹²⁸, i.e., that it could not be "broken" faster than an exhaustive search. At SASC 2006, a successful key-recovery attack on Mir-1 was shown. Maximov did not dispute the attack, and the algorithm was archived after Phase 1 by the eSTREAM committee.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Maximov . Alexander . A New Stream Cipher 'Mir-1' . 14 February 2023.
2. Tsunoo . Yukiyasu . Saito . Teruo . Kubo . Hiroyasu . Suzaki . Tomoyasu . Cryptanalysis of Mir-1: A T-Function-Based Stream Cipher . IEEE Transactions on Information Theory . November 2007 . 53 . 11 . 4377–4383 . 10.1109/TIT.2007.907340 . 6501255 . 14 February 2023.
3. Web site: Bernstein . Daniel . Which eSTREAM ciphers have been broken? . 14 February 2023.