International Association
for Cryptologic Research

The chair of Security Engineering at Horst Görtz Institute for IT-Security (HGI) at Ruhr University Bochum (Germany) has openings for a post-doc position. We are looking for outstanding candidate with strong background in Electrical/Computer Engineering, and/or Cryptography. The available position is fully funded for two years with possible extensions depending on the candidate's performance. In addition to the usual computer and electrical engineering background, the candidate is expected to be familiar with side-channel analysis attacks, and be able to deal with FPGAs & hardware designs, e.g., VHDL/verilog, which is essential for the project. The candidate should show strong publication records, at least a publication in venues like CHES, EUROCRYPT, ASIACRYPT, CRYPTO, DATE & DAC.
Please send your application via e-mail as a single pdf containing a CV, list of publications, and copies of transcripts and certificates.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: amir (dot) moradi (at) rub (dot) de

The PCI Standards Council (PCI SCSC) was founded in 2006 by American Express, Discover, JCB International, MasterCard and Visa Inc. who share equally in governance and execution of the organisation’s work. Its stated aim is to bring payments industry stakeholders together to develop and drive adoption of data security standards and resources for safe payments worldwide. PCI SSC mandates in the PIN Security Requirements and Testing Procedures: V3 2018 that to achieve “Control Objective 5: Keys are used in a manner that prevents or detects their unauthorised usage”, that “Encrypted symmetric keys must be managed in structures called key blocks. The key usage must be cryptographically bound to the key using accepted methods.” This is PIN Security Requirement 18-3, which further details three acceptable methods of implementing this requirement but also states that these methods are not an exhaustive list. The Australian payments industry does not use key blocks to manage the symmetric keys used as PIN Encrypting Keys (PEK). The question of which other methods are acceptable has been raised, which has resulted in a PCI FAQ. The latest version of which is in the publicly available document PCI PTS PIN Security Requirements, Technical FQAs V3, February 2020, FAQ 27, and requires an independent expert to assess the equivalency of other methods. PCI has also produced several blogs on the case for key blocks and two Informational Supplements, PCI PTS PIN: Cryptographic Key Blocks June 2017 and PCI PIN Security Requirement: PIN Security Requirement 18-3 Key Blocks: June 2019. AusPayNet is seeking to engage an independent expert, who meets the requirements set out by PCI in the PIN Security FAQ 27. This expert must assess the Australian PEK key management methodologies and determine if they provide equivalent levels of protection that prevent or detect their unauthorised usage, as compared to key blocks. AusPayNet is seeking to have the work completed in Q2 2020. For more information or to provide a copy of your CV and some indicative costs.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Arthur Van Der Merwe - [email protected]

1. Overall introduction. There are three Ph.D. position openings (full scholarship, tuition & very competitive stipend) at Dr. Jiafeng Harvest Xie's Security & Cryptography (SAC) Lab for the Fall of 2020, located at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Villanova University (PA, USA).

2. Research area. Post quantum cryptography hardware, fault detection/attack, and cryptanalysis.

3. Qualification. Preferred to have research experience in the areas of cryptographic engineering, fault detection, cryptanalysis, and VLSI design. Students from electrical/computer engineering, computer science, and cryptography (applied mathematics) or other related majors are WARMLY welcome! Programming skills such as HDL, C++, Python will be more favorable.

4. Application process. Interested students can directly send the CV/resume to Dr. Jiafeng Harvest Xie's email: [email protected].

5. Application information. The detailed application requirement is available at https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/engineering/grad/admission/departmentalRequirements.html

6. Additional information. Villanova University is a private research university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. U.S. News & World Report ranks Villanova as tied for the 46th best National University in the U.S. for 2020.

7. PI introduction. Dr. Jiafeng Harvest Xie is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Villanova University. His research interests include cryptographic engineering, hardware security, and VLSI digital design. He is the Best Paper Awardee of IEEE HOST 2019. He is also the Associate Editor for Microelectronics Journal, IEEE Access, and IEEE Trans. Circuits and Systems II.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Dr. Jiafeng Harvest Xie, email: [email protected]

The Network and Information Security Group is currently looking for up to 2 motivated and talented researchers (Postdoctoral Researchers) to contribute to research projects related to applied cryptography, security and privacy. The successful candidates will be working on the following topics (but not limited to):

• Searchable Encryption and data structures enabling efficient search operations on encrypted data;
• Restricting the type of access given when granting access to search over one's data;
• Processing of encrypted data in outsourced and untrusted environments;
• Applying encrypted search techniques to SGX environments;
• Revocable Attribute-Based Encryption schemes and their application to cloud services;
• Functional Encryption;
• Privacy-Preserving Analytics;
• IoT Security.

Programming skills is a must.

The positions are strongly research-focused. Activities include conducting both theoretical and applied research, design of secure and/or privacy-preserving protocols, software development and validation, reading and writing scientific articles, presentation of the research results at seminars and conferences in Finland and abroad, acquiring (or assisting in acquiring) further funding.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Antonis Michalas

The School of Cyber Science and Engineering (formerly known as the School of Information Security Engineering) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University was founded in October 2000. It was the first school-level training base for high-level information security professionals in China and was jointly established by the Ministry of Education of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. The undergraduate and postgraduate students of the school mainly come from the top 100 key high schools and 985/double first-class universities in China. The school is ranked among the best cyberspace security nationwide every year. The school has a solid foundation and strength in the field of academic research and technological innovation on cyberspace security. The school is committed to building a world-class academic research center, cultivating the talents of the country and society. The school is in great demand of a number of world renowned professors, outstanding young researchers, full-time research fellows and post-doctors. The school now has about 20 positions available at the rank of tenure-track Assistant Professors, tenure-track Associate Professors, or tenured Full Professors in theory and practice of cyberspace security. Applicants should have (a) a doctoral degree in Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Communication, Mathematics or Statistics; (b) an established track record in research and scholarship; (c) expertise in the cryptographic and security research areas; and (d) a demonstrated commitment to excellence in teaching. The school will provide highly competitive remuneration packages and assist applicants to apply for various national, provincial and ministerial level talent programs such as “1000 Youth Talents Program”, Shanghai “Oriental Scholar Program”,etc. We will also assist on employment of spouses, schooling for children and medical care.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Chaoping Xing, emial: [email protected] Linjie Li, email: [email protected]

More information: http://english.seiee.sjtu.edu.cn/english/info/14810.htm

This is an exciting opportunity to join the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Cyber Security and Privacy on an exciting EPSRC funded project ‘SIPP - Secure IoT Processor Platform with Remote Attestation’. The proposed project brings together the core partners of the NCSC/EPSRC-funded Research Institute in Secure Hardware and Embedded Systems (RISE), that is, Queen's University Belfast and the Universities of Cambridge, Bristol and Birmingham, with the leading academics in the field of hardware security and security architecture design from the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, to develop a novel secure IoT processor platform with remote attestation implemented on the RISC-V architecture. To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the Apply Online button below or visit our careers website; https://bham.taleo.net/careersection/external/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en&portal=101430233, please quote Job Ref 95352 in all enquiries.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: For informal inquiries please contact Mark Ryan; [email protected]

More information: https://bham.taleo.net/careersection/external/jobdetail.ftl?job=190005S3&tz=GMT%2B00%3A00&tzname=Europe%2FLondon

NuCypher is a cryptography company that builds privacy-preserving infrastructure and protocols. We are backed by Y Combinator and Polychain Capital.

A successful candidate will lead engineering for the new open-source cryptographic product from the ground up. They will work on problems at the forefront of cryptography and have a leadership role in design decisions of the system. As such, competency in algorithms and low-level design is a must. An interest in compilers and/or optimization would be nice to have.

Given the nature of an early stage product, a successful candidate should work in a fast and iterative style when it comes to prototyping. They will be be motivated by solving tough open-ended problems. Additionally, they should be highly comfortable working in a system programming language such as C or Rust (whether through work experience or side projects).

We offer extremely competitive compensation and a highly flexible working environment (remote-first, headquartered in San Francisco).

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Ravital Solomon

The PhD student will join the Prof. Mitrokotsa's group, working in the area of information and communication security and machine learning with a focus on mechanisms and protocols for secure and private machine learning. More precisely, we envision secure and privacy-preserving machine learning algorithms for artificial intelligence applications in everyday life that can provide confidentiality and integrity guarantees. In particular the main aims of the project are to: (i) Safeguard the privacy of individuals that participate by either providing their data to build the AI system or being end-users of the system, (ii) safeguard the integrity of the system by ensuring its robustness to adversarial inputs and cryptographically limiting the possible points of adversarial manipulation.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Katerina Mitrokotsa, [email protected]

More information: https://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/Working-at-Chalmers/Vacancies/Pages/default.aspx?rmpage=job&rmjob=p8402

Algorand is looking for a Cryptography Intern to join our Team. This is an opportunity for someone who is genuinely excited by new technologies to influence the design and implementation of Algorand’s consensus infrastructure. You will be working on a fast-paced, rapidly growing, high-profile project with a significant opportunity for industry-level impact on emerging blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies. Core Responsibilities: Design and build cryptographic protocols and schemes for privacy preserving assets Design and build cryptographic protocols for cross-chain transfers Partner with the larger organization (including Product and Engineering) regarding the implementation of designs at scale Be a key part of an inclusive environment that fosters collaboration and creativity both internally and externally Requirements & Qualifications: Masters in Computer Science or related technical field is required; PhD (either earned or in progress) preferred Expertise in distributed computation, probabilistic analysis, data structure, algorithm design and analysis required Experience with zero-knowledge proofs and proof systems Solid mathematics training, highly capable of abstract thinking and modeling Good written communication and ability to communicate technical information with wide variety of audiences Exposure to game theory, cryptography, or distributed systems preferred Experience in driving the implementation of complex theoretical designs or as a technical participant for highly scalable distributed system designs preferred Enjoyment for working in a highly collaborative, fast-paced, and dynamic environment Internships at Algorand, Inc. are non-exempt temporary positions, with hourly rates set to market standards. You must be a matriculated university student, scheduled to return in the Fall.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Makena Stone

A postdoctoral positions related to privacy-enhancing cryptography in distributed ledgers. Strong applicants in other areas of cryptography, or security & privacy might also be considered. Candidates should have a PhD in cryptography, or a security & privacy related field.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Interested persons please email with a cover letter and updated curriculum vitae to [email protected]. The position will be available until filled; only short-listed candidates will be notified.

The PhD students will join Prof. Mitrokotsa's group focusing on security and cryptography, working in the area of privacy-preserving biometric authentication and within the Marie Curie ITN project: "TRESPASS-ETN: Training in Secure and Privacy-preserving biometrics". Privacy-preserving biometric authentication focuses on guaranteeing accurate biometric authentication, while at the same time providing strong privacy guarantees (e.g., avoid tracking, profiling of users and leakage of sensitive information). The focus of one of the PhD positions would be to examine how to guarantee privacy-preservation in biometric authentication systems by employing advanced cryptographic methods such as secure multiparty computation (SMPC) primitives (e.g., homomorphic encryption) and verifiable computation (when biometric authentication is applied in a distributed setting). The second PhD position will focus on employing differentially private mechanisms in the biometric authentication process. The goal is to achieve high accuracy in the authentication process, while at the same time avoid any leakage of information.
Please apply:
https://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/Working-at-Chalmers/Vacancies/Pages/default.aspx?rmpage=job&rmjob=p8404

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Professor Aikaterini Mitrokotsa (Networks and Systems), [email protected]

More information: https://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/Working-at-Chalmers/Vacancies/Pages/default.aspx?rmpage=job&rmjob=p8404

We are looking for postdoctoral researchers with an excellent track record in one of the following fields of applied cryptography:

• symmetric-key cryptology such as block ciphers, stream ciphers, hash functions, message authentication codes, authenticated encryption schemes, etc.
• post-quantum cryptology
• cryptology for emerging technologies such as IoT and public ledger/blockchain
• side-channel analysis, whitebox cryptography, countermeasures
• implementation aspects of cryptography in software or hardware
• provable security of symmetric cryptographic primitives and modes of operation

The appointment is for 3 years with a flexible starting date in 2020. We offer a competitive salary, a team of other postdocs as well as PhD students within the field to work with, a dynamic and highly international work environment as well as possibilities to conduct top-notch research in any subdomain of applied cryptology.

More information: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/183156/postdoctoral-research-fellow-position-in-informatics-applied-cryptology

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Prof. Andrey Bogdanov, [email protected]

Call for 3 Years Funded Doctoral Positions

Safety and Security in Industry Research Lab (SafeSecLab)

https://karriere.tuwien.ac.at/Job/126869?culture=en

Deadline: 19.03.2020

Cyber-physical production systems (CPPS) need suitable networked architectures that take into account and combine safety (operation of the system must not pose any danger) and security (protection against unauthorized manipulation). As part of the newly founded "TÜV AUSTRIA Safety and Security in Industry Research Lab" (SafeSecLab), several related research questions are addressed within the framework of dissertation projects (3 years funding) at TU Wien.

Open PhD topics:

• Safety and Security Modelling
• Safe and Secure System Architectures
• Automated Risk Management
• Secure Hardware Design

More details can be found on the application website: https://karriere.tuwien.ac.at/Job/126869?culture=en

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Wolfgang Kastner

More information: https://karriere.tuwien.ac.at/Job/126869?culture=en

Simula UiB (http://simula-uib.com) in Bergen, Norway, has one three-year Ph.D positions available in the field of cryptography. Ph.D students at Simula UiB enjoy a startup-like international working environment with good salaries and work-life balance, with very few obligations on top of doing research. Project/Job description: The Ph.D candidate will be supervised by Helger Lipmaa (https://sites.google.com/view/helgerlipmaa) on topics related to zk-SNARKs and zero-knowledge and their various applications (cryptocurrencies, verifiable computation, e-voting, to name a few). Zk-SNARKs have been become excessively popular during the last few years due to the application in privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies, leading the MIT technology review to name them one of the “10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2018” (https://www.technologyreview.com/lists/technologies/2018/). Candidate Profile: a completed MSc degree in cryptography, or related areas (in particular, theoretical computer science, including algorithms and/or complexity theory, and mathematics). We will also consider applicants who are in the final phase of their Master studies. We expect an excellent academic track record, including top grades. The student is expected to be at home both in theory and in practice. Simula UiB is an equal opportunity employer, and women are particularly encouraged to apply. Simula UiB Offers: Modern office facilities located in downtown Bergen ("the gateway to the fjords"). A competitive salary starting from NOK 479.600 (approx 48000 euros). Special emphasis on wellness and work-life balance. Numerous additional benefits. About Simula UiB: Simula UiB AS is a research centre owned by Simula Research Laboratory AS and the University of Bergen (UiB). The goal of Simula UiB is to increase the security expertise in Norway through research and education in cryptography and information theory. The student will officially defend at UiB.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Helger Lipmaa

More information: https://www.simula.no/about/job/call-phd-student-cryptography

Funded position for PhD in the Mathematics of Post-Quantum Cryptography, to work on theoretical questions. The research will be on some or all of the following: isogenies, algebraic geometry, codes, lattices. The ideal candidate will have a strong undergraduate mathematics knowledge including abstract algebra, number theory and geometry. An MSc is a plus. Experience with computer programming and cryptography is also desirable. This is part of a collaboration with the group of Prof. Steven Galbraith at the University of Auckland and interaction with this group is expected.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Prof. Felipe Voloch

More information: http://www.math.canterbury.ac.nz/~f.voloch/prospective.html

BIMSA

Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (BIMSA) is a new research institution to be established and lead by Professor Shing-Tung Yau, a Fields medalist of 1982. Its location is in the Yanqi Lake area of Beijing where APEC 2014 was hosted. It was expected to launch by the end of March 2020.

Program

Advanced Cryptography and Blockchain Program will be one of the many research groups of BIMSA. It will be focused on:

• zero knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs etc.)
• fully homomorphic encryption
• secure multiparty computation
• other related cryptographic schemes
• blockchain

with a combination of theoretical studies and practical implementations.

Positions

We have 20 open positions on all levels, with competitive compensation packages:

• Distinguished Research Professor
• Research Professor
• Associate Research Professor
• Assistant Research Professor (tenure-track)
• Visiting Research Professor
• Research Fellowship (postdoc)

We intend to build a strong and highly international team, participating in the mainstream of academic studies and industrial innovations worldwide.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Prof. Kevin Mo

More information: http://ymsc.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/content/show/91-275.html https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/14633 https://www.linkedin.co

Cryptography, Security & Privacy Research Group at Koç University has multiple openings for summer research interns.

For summer research opportunities (at both undergraduate and graduate level), visit

http://kusrp.ku.edu.tr

All applications must be completed online. Deadline is 29 March 2020.

For more information about joining our group and projects, visit

https://crypto.ku.edu.tr/work-with-us/

Application Requirements:

1. CV
2. 2 Recommendation Letters
3. Official transcripts from all the universities attended
4. Statement of Purpose
5. Application Form filled online

Closing date for applications:

Contact: http://kusrp.ku.edu.tr

More information: http://kusrp.ku.edu.tr

The Services and Cybersecurity (SCS) group at the University of Twente invites applications for a 4-year PhD position in secure data management.

In this PhD project, we will investigate cryptographic concepts for secure data management with a particular focus on searchable encryption schemes that enable the secure search over encrypted data. Existing searchable encryption schemes typically allow for some leakage in order to achieve efficient solutions, which makes them susceptible to leakage-abuse attacks. The PhD project will investigate different ways to attack such schemes and will deliver new schemes that are secure against such attacks while still being efficient. The developed solutions will be validated in the application domain of healthcare in collaboration with our partners CZ (a major Dutch health insurance company) and TNO (the Dutch Organization for Applied Scientific Research).

For more information and the link to apply, please visit:
https://www.utwente.nl/en/organization/careers/!/1097017/full-time-phd-position-in-secure-data-management

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Andreas Peter; [email protected]

More information: https://www.utwente.nl/en/organization/careers/!/1097017/full-time-phd-position-in-secure-data-management

The Cybersecurity - Identity Management group at the Hasso-Plattner-Institute (HPI), University of Potsdam is seeking to fill several PhD and PostDoc positions in the area of cryptography and privacy.

Your future tasks

• Development of provably secure cryptographic protocols for real-world problems. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
  • Distributed identity management
  • Privacy-enhancing technologies
  • Foundations and solutions for real-world cryptography
• Publish and present results at top-tier international conferences
• Participate in teaching activities

Your skills

• Master's degree (or PhD for postdoctoral position) in Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related area by the time of appointment
• Profound knowledge in the areas of cryptography and IT security (for postdoctoral candidates proven in the form of publications in these areas)
• Excellent English language skills

What we offer

• Collaborative work environment in a newly established research group
• Outstanding setting to conduct top academic research with strong connections to industry
• Working at the HPI campus in Potsdam-Babelsberg (S-Bahn station Griebnitzsee) near to Berlin

We look forward to your application including two references, motivation letter and copies of relevant diplomas and certificates. Please submit your application documents (only as PDF) via email.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Anja Lehman, email: anja.lehmann (at) hpi.de

More information: https://hpi.de/lehmann/

The cryptographic protocols mainly comprise functionalities such as public-key encryption, digital signatures, and key exchange. These cryptographic protocols are based on the difficulty of certain mathematical operations, such as finding the prime factors of a very large integer. However, recent advances in quantum computing mean that these difficult math problems might soon be solved efficiently, with a potentially serious impact upon our security. Realizing the availability of quantum computers from research labs to general purpose use in the near future, the preparation against such a threat has taken shape recently, and happening to be a fast growing topic of research referred as post-quantum cryptography (PQC). Nowadays, certain candidate families of post-quantum schemes have been realized including code-based, hash-based, multivariate, lattice-based and supersingular isogeny-based. Security of all these primitives are based on different mathematical problems which are believed to be hard even with respect to quantum computation and quantum communications. In this project, we aim to achieve the following goals: • To study the existing PQC schemes and demonstrate state of the art PQC following an extensive review. • To propose post-quantum schemes taking in account their possible application to IoT security or Blockchain.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: [email protected] and [email protected]