We apply the algebraic attacks on stream ciphers with memories to the summation generator. For a summation generator that
uses
n LFSRs, an algebraic equation relating the key stream bits and LFSR output bits can be made to be of degree less than or equal
to
élog2 n ù^{\lceil\log_2 n \rceil} using ⌈log
2
n ⌉ + 1 consecutive key stream bits. This is much lower than the upper bound given by previous general results. We also show
that the techniques of [6,2] can be applied to summation generators using 2
k
LFSRs to reduce the effective degree of the algebraic equation.
Keywords stream ciphers - algebraic attacks - summation generators