A Prefix-Preserving Anonymization Method Based on an Unbalanced and Heterogeneous Feistel Cipher
Abstract
Data privacy concerns are growing due to an increase in threats of data breaches. Data anonymization, a technique employed to achieve privacy, faces the challenge of balancing data protection and preserving data utility, as for IP addresses. In order to maintain the utility of these addresses, prefix-preserving anonymization is employed, but it is vulnerable to semantic attacks that can reverse the original values. Solutions such as multi-view data schemes or Feistel ciphers have been explored to strengthen this technique. Yet, they still need to address vulnerabilities against linear and differential attacks (i.e., deducing original data from changes in input). Hence, this paper introduces PROTECT, a method of anonymization with prefix preservation for IPv4 based on an unbalanced and heterogeneous Feistel cipher. The solution features avalanche effect properties and exceeds existing literature for the data leakage metric by 20% knowledge from the attacker.
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