Comments on “arithmetic coding as a non-linear dynamical system”

Nagaraj et al. [1,2] present a skewed-non-linear generalized Luroth Series (s-nGLS) framework. S-nGLS uses non-linear maps for GLS to introduce a security parameter a which is used to build a keyspace for image or data encryption. The map introduces non-linearity to the system to add an “encryption key parameter”. The skew is added to achieve optimal compression efficiency. s-nGLS used as such for joint encryption and compression is a weak candidate, as explained in this communication. First, we show how the framework is vulnerable to known plaintext based attacks and that a key of size 256 bits can be broken within 1000 trials. Next, we demonstrate that the proposed non-linearity exponentially increases the hardware complexity of design. We also discover that s-nGlS cannot be implemented as such for large bitstreams. Finally, we demonstrate how correlation of key parameter with compression performance leads to further key vulnerabilities.