Solving for the RC4 stream cipher state register using a genetic algorithm

The RC4 stream cipher has shown to be quite resilient to cryptanalysis for the 26 years it has been around. The algorithm is still one of the most widely used methods of encryption over the Internet today being implemented through the Secure Socket Layer and Transport Layer Security protocols. Genetic algorithms are a sub-class of evolutionary algorithms that have been used to help solve many different problems of optimization in a variety of disciplines. In this paper we will examine the abilities of the genetic algorithm as a tool to help solve the permutation that is stored as the state register of the RC4 stream cipher. Finally, we will show that on average the genetic algorithm can solve 100% of the keystream in 2121:5 generations.

@article{Ferriman2014,
  title     = {Solving for the RC4 stream cipher state register using a genetic algorithm},
  journal   = {International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications},
  volume    = {5},
  number    = {5},
  year      = {2014},
  publisher = {The Science and Information Organization},
  author    = {Benjamin Ferriman and Charlie Obimbo},
  doi       = {10.14569/IJACSA.2014.050533},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2014.050533}
}