In cryptography, SHARK is a block cipher identified as one of the predecessors of Rijndael (the Advanced Encryption Standard).
SHARK has a 64-bit block size and a 128-bit key size. It is a six-round SP-network which alternates a key mixing stage with linear and non-linear transformation layers. The linear transformation uses an MDS matrix representing a ReedâÂÂSolomon error correcting code in order to guarantee good diffusion. The nonlinear layer is composed of eight 8ÃÂ8-bit S-boxes based on the function F(x) = x<sup>âÂÂ1</sup> over GF(2<sup>8</sup>).
Five rounds of a modified version of SHARK can be broken using an interpolation attack (Jakobsen and Knudsen, 1997).