Cryptanalysis of a new image alternate encryption algorithm based on chaotic map

Wang and Guo (Nonlinear Dyn 76(4):1943–1950, 2014) proposed a new image alternate encryption algorithm based on chaotic map. The image alternate encryption can be conceptually treated as a block cipher where a round function which provides both confusion and diffusion is applied on a plain image iteratively. After performing the round function for T iterations, the processed image is denoted as the encrypted image. We analyse the security of Wang and Guo image encryption scheme, especially from cryptographic point of view, in line with the designers’ approach in their security analyses. Negatively, we show that the image encryption scheme is vulnerable to an impossible differential attack (a type of chosen plaintext attack) and a divide-and-conquer attack when a large all black image is encrypted. This paper serves as another important security result showing that any future design of image encryption schemes based on chaotic map should be evaluated through systematic cryptanalytic approaches which include impossible differential attack. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first impossible differential attack applied on an image encryption algorithm.