ABSTRACT
Evolutionary Computation algorithms are stochastic optimization methods inspired by natural evolution and social behavior. These methods have been proven effective in tackling difficult problems that involve discontinuous objective functions and disjoint search spaces. In this contribution a problem introduced by the cryptanalysis of Feistel cryptosystems by means of differential cryptanalysis is formulated as an optimization problem and the performance of Evolutionary Computation methods in addressing this problem is studied for a representative Feistel cryptosystem, the DES. This approach is applicable to all Feistel cryptosystems that are amenable to the differential cryptanalysis method.
