On the performance of AES algorithm variants
Mohammed N. Alenezi, Haneen Alabdulrazzaq, Hajed M. Alhatlani, Faisal A. S. AlObaid · International Journal of Information and Computer Security · 2024
Advanced encryption standard (AES) is frequently used to encrypt data transmission over the internet since it is not prone to practical attacks. Many variants of AES exist with different key sizes and block cipher modes. Choosing an AES variant depends on several factors such as speed, the extent of security required, and the type of the application. As such, it becomes vital to test the performance of these variants to help users choose the most suitable one for their needs. This research presents a performance evaluation of encryption/decryption time and throughput of AES-128, AES-192, AES-256 using modes such as CTR, CBC, CFB, and OFB in Python on various file sizes ranging from 1 MB to 50 MB. The results show a natural pattern where an increase in key size and/or file size prolonged encryption and decryption time. Furthermore, CBC mode was the highest in performance for all key sizes.