Multi-Staged Matrix Transformations Playfair Cipher (MSMT-PF)

In this study, we present the Multi-Staged Matrix Transformations Playfair Cipher (MSMT-PF), a novel approach designed to advance the traditional Playfair cipher's encryption security. While historically significant, the Playfair cipher reveals vulnerabilities in modern cryptographic contexts due to advances in computational power and cryptanalysis techniques. Our approach expands the traditional 5x5 matrix to a 10x5 matrix, increasing the complexity and variability of the ciphertext. We further strengthen the algorithm by incorporating advanced matrix transformations, including rotation, flipping, and shifting. Simulation results indicate that the proposed Playfair model achieves an average Avalanche Effect of 55.357% with plaintexts ranging from 10 to 10,000 characters, exceeding the Strict Avalanche Criterion (SAC) benchmark. In addition, the modified algorithm's compression ratio is 0.33. These results demonstrate that the enhanced Playfair cipher significantly improves security while maintaining practical performance levels. This research contributes to the field of cryptography by introducing a new approach to enhance classical algorithms using advanced matrix transformations.