🔐 Salsa20/12 Encryption Algorithm Implementation

📖 Overview

This project implements the Salsa20/12 encryption algorithm, a lightweight and secure stream cipher used for encrypting data. The algorithm is a variant of Salsa20, designed for fast and efficient encryption while maintaining strong security properties.

The provided Python script (salsa2012.py) contains the implementation of quarter rounds, row rounds, and column rounds, which form the core of the Salsa20/12 encryption function.

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🛠 Technologies Used

• Python – Core implementation language.
• NumPy – Optimized numerical computations for encryption operations.
• Struct & Bitwise Operations – Used for efficient data transformations.

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📌 Features

✅ Implements Salsa20/12 Encryption Algorithm
✅ Fast and Secure Stream Cipher
✅ Lightweight & Efficient for Data Encryption
✅ Python-Based Implementation
✅ Supports 128-bit and 256-bit Encryption Keys

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📂 Project Structure

📁 Salsa20-Encryption/
│── salsa2012.py     # Python script implementing Salsa20/12 encryption
│── README.md        # Project documentation

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🚀 How It Works

1️⃣ Initialize the Salsa20/12 state
2️⃣ Perform quarter-round transformations
3️⃣ Apply row and column rounds for mixing data
4️⃣ Generate keystream for encrypting plaintext
5️⃣ Encrypt or decrypt data using XOR with keystream

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🏃 Running the Encryption Script

Encrypting Data

python salsa2012.py --encrypt --input plaintext.txt --output encrypted.bin --key "your-secret-key"

Decrypting Data

python salsa2012.py --decrypt --input encrypted.bin --output decrypted.txt --key "your-secret-key"

This will securely encrypt and decrypt data using Salsa20/12.

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🔐 Security Considerations

• Salsa20/12 is resistant to known cryptanalysis attacks.
• The 12-round variant is a trade-off between speed and security.
• Always use a unique nonce to prevent repetition in encryption.

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🔮 Future Enhancements

🔹 Expand to Full Salsa20 Implementation (20 Rounds)
🔹 Integrate ChaCha20 Encryption
🔹 Support for File Encryption & Secure Key Management
🔹 Performance Optimizations for Large Data Sets

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📜 References

• Salsa20 Research Paper
• NumPy Documentation
• Cryptography in Python

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📧 Contact

Author: Siddartha Reddy Boreddy
📍 SUNY Binghamton
✉️ Email: sboreddy@binghamton.edu

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⭐ If you find this project helpful, feel free to star the repository! 🚀