{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,25]],"date-time":"2026-02-25T18:13:44Z","timestamp":1772043224464,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,25]],"date-time":"2024-04-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1714003200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie","award":["101007820\u2014TRUST"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["101007820\u2014TRUST"]}]},{"name":"European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie","award":["ECS00000041-VITALITY-CUP D83C22000710005"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ECS00000041-VITALITY-CUP D83C22000710005"]}]},{"name":"European Union\u2014NextGenerationEU under the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR), National Innovation Ecosystem","award":["101007820\u2014TRUST"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["101007820\u2014TRUST"]}]},{"name":"European Union\u2014NextGenerationEU under the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR), National Innovation Ecosystem","award":["ECS00000041-VITALITY-CUP D83C22000710005"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ECS00000041-VITALITY-CUP D83C22000710005"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cryptography"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In the realm of smart communication systems, where the ubiquity of 5G\/6G networks and IoT applications demands robust data confidentiality, the cryptographic integrity of block and stream cipher mechanisms plays a pivotal role. This paper focuses on the enhancement of cryptographic strength in these systems through an innovative approach to generating substitution boxes (S-boxes), which are integral in achieving confusion and diffusion properties in substitution\u2013permutation networks. These properties are critical in thwarting statistical, differential, linear, and other forms of cryptanalysis, and are equally vital in pseudorandom number generation and cryptographic hashing algorithms. The paper addresses the challenge of rapidly producing random S-boxes with desired cryptographic attributes, a task notably arduous given the complexity of existing generation algorithms. We delve into the hill climbing algorithm, exploring various cost functions and their impact on computational complexity for generating S-boxes with a target nonlinearity of 104. Our contribution lies in proposing a new cost function that markedly reduces the generation complexity, bringing down the iteration count to under 50,000 for achieving the desired S-box. This advancement is particularly significant in the context of smart communication environments, where the balance between security and performance is paramount.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cryptography8020017","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,25]],"date-time":"2024-04-25T08:08:32Z","timestamp":1714032512000},"page":"17","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Enhancing Smart Communication Security: A Novel Cost Function for Efficient S-Box Generation in Symmetric Key Cryptography"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2331-6326","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Oleksandr","family":"Kuznetsov","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Political Sciences, Communication and International Relations at the University of Macerata, Via Crescimbeni, 30\/32, 62100 Macerata, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Security Information Systems and Technologies at the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, 4 Svobody Sq., 61022 Kharkiv, Ukraine"}]},{"given":"Nikolay","family":"Poluyanenko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Security Information Systems and Technologies at the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, 4 Svobody Sq., 61022 Kharkiv, Ukraine"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8893-9244","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emanuele","family":"Frontoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Political Sciences, Communication and International Relations at the University of Macerata, Via Crescimbeni, 30\/32, 62100 Macerata, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0552-8341","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sergey","family":"Kandiy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Security Information Systems and Technologies at the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, 4 Svobody Sq., 61022 Kharkiv, Ukraine"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Grami, A. (2023). Discrete Mathematics, Academic Press.","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-12-820656-0.00006-X"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Martin, T. (2022). Designing Secure IoT Devices with the Arm Platform Security Architecture and Cortex-M33, Newnes.","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-12-821469-5.00007-7"},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Milani\u010d, M., Servatius, B., and Servatius, H. (2024). Discrete Mathematics with Logic, Academic Press."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Pandey, R., Goundar, S., and Fatima, S. (2023). 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