Cryptanalysis of a chaotic communication scheme using adaptive observer

This paper addresses the cryptanalysis of a secure communication scheme recently proposed by Wu [Chaos 16, 043118 (2006)], where the information signal is modulated into a system parameter of a unified chaotic system. With the Kerckhoff principle, assuming that the structure of the cryptosystem is known, an adaptive observer can be designed to synchronize the targeted system, so that the transmitted information and the user-specific parameters are obtained. The success of adaptive synchronization is mathematically proved with the use of Lyapunov stability theory, based on the original assumption, i.e., the dynamical evolution of the information signal is available. A more practical case, but yet much more difficult, is also considered. As demonstrated with simulations, generalized synchronization is still possible, even if the derivative of the information signal is kept secret. Hence, the message can be coarsely estimated, making the security of the considered system questionable. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.