eSTREAM facts for kids

eSTREAM was a special project that aimed to find new ways to keep digital information secret. Think of it like finding the best secret codes! This project was organized by a group called ECRYPT from the EU. It started in November 2004 and finished in April 2008. The main goal was to discover "stream ciphers" that could be used widely. Stream ciphers are a type of secret code that encrypts data one bit or byte at a time, like a stream of water. The project was needed because earlier attempts to find good stream ciphers had not worked out.

What eSTREAM Looked For

The eSTREAM project had two main goals, or "profiles," for the secret codes they were looking for:

• Profile 1: These were codes designed for computer programs. They needed to be super fast at encrypting and decrypting lots of data. Imagine sending a huge file quickly and securely!
• Profile 2: These codes were for small electronic devices, like smart cards or tiny sensors. They needed to work well even with limited power, memory, or processing power.

Some codes also offered an extra feature called "authentication." This means they could not only encrypt data but also prove that the data had not been changed. However, in the final stages, the project focused only on encryption for better speed.

The Best Secret Codes from eSTREAM

By September 2011, eSTREAM had chosen a group of top-performing secret codes. These codes are now part of the "eSTREAM portfolio." They are all free for anyone to use! One of them, called Rabbit, used to have a patent, but it was made free for everyone in October 2008.

Here are some of the codes chosen:

Profile 1 (for computers)	Profile 2 (for small devices)
HC-128	Grain
Rabbit	MICKEY
Salsa20/12	Trivium
SOSEMANUK

Originally, another code called F-FCSR was also in the Profile 2 list. But later, experts found some weaknesses in it. So, in September 2008, F-FCSR was removed from the official list.

How the Project Worked: Different Phases

The eSTREAM project was divided into several stages, or "phases," to carefully test and choose the best codes.

Phase 1: The First Look

Phase 1 was all about checking out all the submitted secret codes. Experts looked at how secure they were, how fast they ran compared to other codes like AES (a well-known US standard), how simple they were to use, and how well they were explained.

For codes in Profile 1 (for computers), they had to be faster than AES-128 when used in a specific way called "counter mode." The project also created special tools to test how well these codes performed on different computer systems. Phase 1 officially ended on March 27, 2006.

Phase 2: Deeper Dive

Phase 2 began on August 1, 2006. In this phase, some codes were chosen as "Focus Phase 2 algorithms." This meant they were extra interesting, and experts were encouraged to study them even more closely to find any weaknesses or improve their speed. Other codes were still considered valid candidates, but not as intensely studied. The "Focus" list was updated every six months.

Phase 3: The Final Choice

Phase 3 started in April 2007. This was the last stage before the final selection. Many codes were still being considered for both profiles.

Here are some of the codes that made it to Phase 3:

Phase 3 wrapped up on April 15, 2008. That's when the final list of chosen codes for the eSTREAM portfolio was announced.

• For Profile 1 (software): HC-128, Rabbit, Salsa20/12, and SOSEMANUK.
• For Profile 2 (hardware): F-FCSR-H v2, Grain v1, Mickey v2, and Trivium.

More About the Codes

The eSTREAM project looked at many different secret codes. Here's a quick guide to what the symbols in the tables below mean:

Key
P	This code is in the eSTREAM official list.
P	This code used to be in the eSTREAM official list but was removed.
3	This code made it to Phase 3 of the project.
F	This code was a "Focus Phase 2" candidate, meaning it was studied very closely.
2	This code was a "Phase 2" candidate.
A	This code was "archived," meaning it was kept for reference but not actively considered.
M	This code also includes a way to check if data has been changed (a MAC).
pat	This code had a patent, so you might need a license to use it.
pat	This code used to have a patent but is now free for everyone to use.

Codes in the eSTREAM Official List

As of January 2012, these are the codes in the eSTREAM portfolio:

Profile 1 (for computers)	Profile 2 (for small devices)
Uses a 128-bit key	Uses an 80-bit key
HC-128	Grain v1
Rabbit	MICKEY 2.0
Salsa20/12	Trivium
SOSEMANUK	-

Some of these codes also have versions that use longer keys, which can make them even more secure:

Profile 1 (for computers)	Profile 2 (for small devices)
Uses a 256-bit key	Uses a 128-bit key
HC-256	-
-	MICKEY-128 2.0
Salsa20/12	-
-	-

It's worth noting that a 128-bit version of Grain v1 is no longer supported by its creators. A newer version, Grain-128a, exists, but it's not part of the official eSTREAM portfolio.

Here's a table showing more details about the codes in the eSTREAM portfolio as of December 2008:

Cipher	eSTREAM webpage	Profile 1 (software)	Profile 2 (hardware)	Properties	Creators
Grain	[1]		PF		Martin Hell, Thomas Johansson and Willi Meier
HC-256 (HC-128, HC-256)	[2]	PF			Hongjun Wu
MICKEY (MICKEY 2.0, MICKEY-128 2.0)	[3]		PF		Steve Babbage and Matthew Dodd
Rabbit	[4]	P	2	pat	Martin Boesgaard, Mette Vesterager, Thomas Christensen and Erik Zenner
Salsa20	[5]	PF	2		Daniel J. Bernstein
SOSEMANUK	[6]	P			Come Berbain, Olivier Billet, Anne Canteaut, Nicolas Courtois, Henri Gilbert, Louis Goubin, Aline Gouget, Louis Granboulan, Cédric Lauradoux, Marine Minier, Thomas Pornin and Hervé Sibert
Trivium	[7]		PF		Christophe De Cannière and Bart Preneel

Codes No Longer in the Official List

This code was in the first official list but was removed in September 2008 because weaknesses were found.

Cipher	eSTREAM webpage	Profile 1 (software)	Profile 2 (hardware)	Properties	Creators
F-FCSR (F-FCSR-H v2, F-FCSR-16)	[8]		P		Thierry Berger, François Arnault and Cédric Lauradoux

Codes That Made it to Phase 3 but Not the Final List

These codes were strong enough to reach Phase 3 but were not chosen for the final eSTREAM portfolio.

Cipher	eSTREAM webpage	Profile 1 (software)	Profile 2 (hardware)	Properties	Creators
CryptMT (version 3)	[9]	3		pat	Makoto Matsumoto, Hagita Mariko, Takuji Nishimura and Matsuo Saito
DECIM (DECIM v2, DECIM-128)	[10]		3	pat	Come Berbain, Olivier Billet, Anne Canteaut, Nicolas Courtois, Blandine Debraize, Henri Gilbert, Louis Goubin, Aline Gouget, Louis Granboulan, Cédric Lauradoux, Marine Minier, Thomas Pornin and Hervé Sibert
Dragon	[11]	3F			Ed Dawson, Kevin Chen, Matt Henricksen, William Millan, Leonie Simpson, HoonJae Lee, SangJae Moon
Edon80	[12]		3		Danilo Gligoroski, Smile Markovski, Ljupco Kocarev and Marjan Gusev
LEX	[13]	3F	2		Alex Biryukov
MOSQUITO (aka Moustique)	[14]		3		Joan Daemen and Paris Kitsos
NLS (encryption-only)	[15]	3			Gregory Rose, Philip Hawkes, Michael Paddon and Miriam Wiggers de Vries
Pomaranch (version 3)	[16]		3		Tor Helleseth, Cees Jansen and Alexander Kolosha

Codes That Were Focus Candidates in Phase 2 but Not Phase 3

These codes were studied very closely in Phase 2 but did not move on to Phase 3.

Cipher	eSTREAM webpage	Profile 1 (software)	Profile 2 (hardware)	Properties	Creators
Phelix	[17]	F	F	M	Doug Whiting, Bruce Schneier, Stefan Lucks and Frédéric Muller
Py	[18]	F			Eli Biham and Jennifer Seberry

Codes That Were Phase 2 Candidates but Not Focus or Phase 3

These codes were considered valid candidates in Phase 2 but did not become "focus" candidates or move to Phase 3.

Cipher	eSTREAM webpage	Profile 1 (software)	Profile 2 (hardware)	Properties	Creators
ABC	[19]	2			Vladimir Anashin, Andrey Bogdanov, Ilya Kizhvatov and Sandeep Kumar
Achterbahn	[20]		2		Berndt Gammel, Rainer Göttfert and Oliver Kniffler
DICING	[21]	2			Li An-Ping
Hermes8	[22]	A	2		Ulrich Kaiser
NLS	[23]	2	2		Gregory Rose, Philip Hawkes, Michael Paddon and Miriam Wiggers de Vries
Polar Bear	[24]	2	2		Johan Håstad and Mats Näslund
Pomaranch	[25]	A	2		Cees Jansen and Alexander Kolosha
SFINKS	[26]		2	M	An Braeken, Joseph Lano, Nele Mentens, Bart Preneel and Ingrid Verbauwhede
TSC-3	[27]		2		Jin Hong, Dong Hoon Lee, Yongjin Yeom, Daewan Han and Seongtaek Chee
VEST	[28]		2	M pat	Sean O'Neil, Benjamin Gittins and Howard Landman
WG	[29]		2		Guang Gong and Yassir Nawaz
Yamb	[30]	2	2		LAN Crypto
ZK-Crypt	[31]		2	M pat	Carmi Gressel, Ran Granot and Gabi Vago

Codes Not Selected for Focus or Phase 2

These codes were submitted but did not advance far in the selection process.

Cipher	eSTREAM webpage	Profile 1 (software)	Profile 2 (hardware)	Properties	Creators
Frogbit	[32]	A		M pat	Thierry Moreau
Fubuki	[33]	A		pat	Makoto Matsumoto, Hagita Mariko, Takuji Nishimura and Matsuo Saito
MAG	[34]	A	A		Rade Vuckovac
Mir-1	[35]	A			Alexander Maximov
SSS	[36]	A	A	M	Gregory Rose, Philip Hawkes, Michael Paddon and Miriam Wiggers de Vries
TRBDK3 YAEA	[37]	A	A		Timothy Brigham

See also

• AES process
• CAESAR Competition – Another competition for secure codes
• NESSIE
• CRYPTREC

External links

• Homepage for the project
  • Discussion forum
  • The eSTREAM testing framework eSTREAM Optimized Code HOWTO
  • Update 1: (PDF)
• Notes on the ECRYPT Stream Cipher project by Daniel J. Bernstein

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