A modified chaotic firefly algorithm for solving discrete logarithm problem and analysis

Abstract

In this paper, we present a modified version of firefly algorithm that shows considerable potential in solving discrete logarithm problem, a mathematical function used in public-key cryptography like Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange and El Gamal Encryption. Firefly Algorithm has been experimentally proved to have outperformed a number of metaheuristics like the popular Particle Swarm Optimization. While solving the problem of finding discrete logarithm, we also evaluate the effectiveness of the algorithm and its modified version in solving such cryptographic problems. Observations show significant potential of Firefly Algorithm in solving small instances of the problem, while it calls for further research in scaling up the effectiveness of the algorithm in solving bigger instances of the problem. Simultaneously, we also analyze the convergence of the modified algorithm. © 2015 IEEE.