Abstract. In this paper we define small scale variants of the AES. These variants inherit the design features of the AES and provide a suitable framework for comparing different cryptanalytic methods. In particular, we provide some preliminary results and insights when using off-theshelf computational algebra techniques to solve the systems of equations arising from these small scale variants. 1

ABSTRACT: Impossible differential cryptanalysis is one of the cryptanalysis methods that are applicable to the new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). In this paper, we present an introduction to the method by applying it on Mini-AES, the mini version of the AES published in Cryptologia recently.