CryptoBench: benchmarking evolutionary algorithms with cryptographic problems

Stjepan Picek, Domagoj Jakobovic, Una-May O'Reilly

Abstract: We propose a new set of benchmark problems that come from the field of cryptography. These problems are often easy to define, they are relevant in practice, and some of them have a known optimal value. The solutions from these problems can be used as cryptographic primitives and consequently function as components of cryptographic algorithms. They can be compared not only with other evolutionary computation techniques but with a broad spectrum of techniques. Finally due to the fact that many of the optimal solutions are not known (although we know they must exist), finding such solutions would also have a significant practical impact.