International Association
for Cryptologic Research

In this paper, we propose an improvement to the McEliece encryption scheme by replacing the Goppa code with a $(U+V,U+W)$ code. Specifically, we embed the generator matrices of a split Reed-Solomon code into the generator matrix of the $(U+V,U+W)$ code. This approach disrupts the algebraic structure of Reed-Solomon codes, thereby enhancing resistance against structural attacks targeting such codes, while simultaneously preserving their excellent error-correcting capabilities. As a result, the proposed scheme achieves a significant reduction in public key size. Under the hardness assumptions of the decoding problem and the code distinguishing problem for $(U+V,U+W)$ codes, we prove that the scheme achieves indistinguishability under chosen-plaintext attacks (IND-CPA security). Finally, we provide recommended parameters for various security levels and compare the proposed scheme with other code-based public key encryption schemes.