Abstract
Differential and linear cryptanalysis, two of the most important techniques in modern block cipher cryptanalysis, still lack a sound, generally-applicable analysis of their success probabilities. In this paper, we present an analytical calculation
of the success probability of differential and linear cryptanalytic attacks. In addition to a formulation of the success probability, the analysis yields a formulation of the attacks' data requirements as well, and it also finds the size of the aimed key information in differential cryptanalysis as one of the factors affecting the success probability. We also discuss the issue of key dependence in linear cryptanalysis, which can be a serious limitation for this technique of attack.
