Symmetric Encryption Algorithms: Review and Evaluation Study

Authors

  • Mohammad Nasser Alenezi Public Authority for Applied Education and Training
  • Haneen Khalid Alabdulrazzaq Public Authority for Applied Education and Training
  • Nada Qasem Mohammad Public Authority for Applied Education and Training

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17762/ijcnis.v12i2.4698

Abstract

The increased exchange of data over the Internet in the past two decades has brought data security and confidentiality to the fore front. Information security can be achieved by implementing encryption and decryption algorithms to ensure data remains secure and confidential, especially when transmitted over an insecure communication channel. Encryption is the method of coding information to prevent unauthorized access and ensure data integrity and confidentiality, whereas the reverse process is known as decryption. All encryption algorithms aim to secure data, however, their performance varies according to several factors such as file size, type, complexity, and platform used. Furthermore, while some encryption algorithms outperform others, they have been proven to be vulnerable against certain attacks. In this paper, we present a general overview of common encryption algorithms   and explain their inner workings. Additionally, we select ten different symmetric encryption algorithms and conduct a simulation in Java to test their performance. The algorithms we compare are: AES, BLOWFISH, RC2, RC4, RC6, DES, DESede, SEED, XTEA, and IDEA. We present the results of our simulation in terms of encryption speed, throughput, and CPU utilization rate for various file sizes ranging from 1MB to 1GB. We further analyze our results for all measures that have been tested, taking into account the level of security they provide.

Author Biographies

Mohammad Nasser Alenezi, Public Authority for Applied Education and Training

Assistant Professor at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, College of Business Studies, Computer Science & Information Systems (CSIS) Department. Alenezi received his B. E. in Computer Engineering from the University of Kuwait in 2001. He worked as an analyst programmer and system administrator for the Kuwait Oil Company (K.O.C) for five years. He obtained his master's degree in information networks from the University of Essex, UK, in 2008 with Distinction. He received his Ph.D. in Network Security from the University of Essex, UK, in 2014. His main research interests are network security, network protocols, data science & analytics, web development, ethical hacking; and has published in these areas.

Haneen Khalid Alabdulrazzaq, Public Authority for Applied Education and Training

Assistant Professor in the Computer Science and Information Systems Department at the College of Business Studies a part of the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training. Alabdulrazzaq received a PhD. in Computer Science and Software Engineering from Auburn University, a Master of Science in Computer Science and Software Engineering from the George Washington University, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science from Kuwait University. Her research interests include secure software development, software process, software quality assurance and agile software development

Nada Qasem Mohammad, Public Authority for Applied Education and Training

Instructor in the Computer Science and Information Systems Department at the College of Business Studies a part of the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training. Ms. Mohammad received a Master of Science in Computer Science  and a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science from Kuwait University. Prior to joining the department at PAAET, Ms. Mohammad worked for Kuwait's Ministry of Education.

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Published

2020-08-23 — Updated on 2022-04-17

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How to Cite

Alenezi, M. N., Alabdulrazzaq, H. K., & Mohammad, N. Q. (2022). Symmetric Encryption Algorithms: Review and Evaluation Study. International Journal of Communication Networks and Information Security (IJCNIS), 12(2). https://doi.org/10.17762/ijcnis.v12i2.4698 (Original work published August 23, 2020)

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Section

Surveys / Reviews