METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CRYPTOGRAPHICALLY TRANSFORMING AN INPUT BLOCK INTO AN OUTPUT BLOCK

A method and apparatus for cryptographically transforming an input block into an output block. The input block has a first block size and is partitionable into a plurality of input subblocks having a second block size that is a submultiple of the first block size. To encrypt or decrypt, the input subblocks are passed through respective first substitution functions controlled by one or more keys to generate a first plurality of modified subblocks. The first plurality of modified subblocks are then passed through a mixing function to generate a second plurality of modified subblocks, each of which depends on each of the first plurality of modified subblocks. Finally, the second plurality of modified subblocks are passed through respective second substitution functions controlled by one or more keys to generate a plurality of output subblocks that are combinable into an output block.