On evolutionary computation methods in cryptography

Evolutionary computation algorithms represent a range of problem-solving techniques based on principles of biological evolution, like natural selection and genetic inheritance. Such algorithms can be used to solve a variety of difficult problems, among which are those from the area of cryptography. Examples of such an approach include the evolving hash functions or creation of a new block cipher. First results in this area have emerged over 30 years ago, and in recent years there has been an increased interest in this area. Still, some problems like problem formulation and representation remain open. The purpose of this paper is to give a survey of cryptographic applications that can be developed with the help of evolutionary computation methods, and to address their applicability to the real-world scenarios.