International Association
for Cryptologic Research

We are looking for a motivated, bright, and hard-working student that wishes to pursue a PhD in Cryptography. The candidate will work in cryptographic research topics such as zero-knowledge arguments, oblivious algorithms, trusted-hardware-assisted cryptography, verifiable computation, homomorphic commitments, searchable encryption, secure blockchain protocols, and more. The specific research topic will be determined based on the common interests of the candidate and the supervisor.

Applicants’ profile

• MSc or BSc degree in Computer Science or related field.
• Excellent programming skills, preferably in C++.
• Very good understanding of CS fundamentals: algorithm analysis, data structures, etc.
• Good understanding of basic cryptographic primitives: hashing, encryption, commitments, etc.
• Strong enthusiasm about research.

Ideal candidates have prior knowledge in implementing cryptographic primitives or a relevant project. Solid background in theoretical computer science (complexity analysis, reduction proofs, etc.), or experience in programming for trusted-hardware environments (Intel SGX, ARM TrustZone, etc.) is also a big plus.

Work environment
HKUST offers guaranteed funding for the PhD duration with competitive stipends. Our CSE department was ranked 17th in the world in 2020 by THE World University Rankings. Our graduates typically produce research output of the highest quality and consistently staff world-class institutions. The lab offers a creative work environment that is ideal for excellent research.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Dimitrios Papadopoulos

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate to fill a post-doctoral researcher position at Northwestern University in applied cryptography. Topics include:

• Secure multi-party computation
• Zero-knowledge proof
• Post-quantum security
• Differential privacy
• Other related/non-related topics of mutual interests

Experience in implementation is preferred.

Apply: please send your CV (and other material if available) to the PoC.

Closing date for applications:

Contact: Xiao Wang (wangxiao1254@gmail.com)

Event date: 14 November 2021
Submission deadline: 25 June 2021
Notification: 13 August 2021

Event date: 8 November 2021

In TCC 2013, Boyen suggested the first lattice based construction of attribute based encryption (ABE) for the circuit class $NC1$. Unfortunately, soon after, a flaw was found in the security proof of the scheme. However, it remained unclear whether the scheme is actually insecure, and if so, whether it can be repaired. Meanwhile, the construction has been heavily cited and continues to be extensively studied due to its technical novelty. In particular, this is the first lattice based ABE which uses linear secret sharing schemes (LSSS) as a crucial tool to enforce access control.

In this work, we show that the scheme is in fact insecure. To do so, we provide a polynomial-time attack that completely breaks the security of the scheme. We suggest a route to fix the security of the scheme, via the notion of admissible linear secret sharing schemes (LSSS) and instantiate these for the class of DNFs. Subsequent to our work, Datta, Komargodski and Waters (Eurocrypt 2021) provided a construction of admissible LSSS for NC1 and resurrected Boyen's claimed result.

Let n be a positive integer. An n-stage Galois NFSR has n registers and each register is updated by a feedback function. Then a Galois NFSR is called nonsingular if every register generates (strictly) periodic sequences, i.e., no branch points. In this paper, a generic method for investigating nonsingular Galois NFSRs is provided. Two fundamental concepts that are standard Galois NFSRs and the simplified feedback function of a standard Galois NFSR are proposed. Based on the new concepts, a sufficient condition is given for nonsingular Galois NFSRs. In particular, for the class of Galois NFSRs with linear simplified feedback functions, a necessary and sufficient condition is presented. Hopefully, some new insights are provided on determining nonsingular Galois NFSRs.

Multiparty computation does not tolerate $n/3$ corruptions under a plain asynchronous communication network, whatever the computational assumptions. However, Beerliová-Hirt-Nielsen [BHN, Podc'10] showed that, assuming access to a synchronous broadcast at the beginning of the protocol, enables to tolerate up to $t<n/2$ corruptions. This model is denoted as ``Almost asynchronous'' MPC. Yet, [BHN] suffers from limitations: (i) {Setup assumptions:} their protocol is based on an encryption scheme, with homomorphic additivity, such that the secret keys of players are given by a trusted entity ahead of the protocol. It was left as an open question in [BHN] whether one can remove this assumption, denoted as ``trusted setup''. (ii) {Common Randomness generation:} the generation of common random secrets uses the broadcast, therefore is allowed only at the beginning of the protocol. (iii) {Proactive security:} the previous limitation directly precludes the possibility of tolerating a mobile adversary. Indeed, tolerance to this kind of adversary, which is denoted as ``proactive'' MPC, would require a mechanism by which players refresh their (shares of) keys, without the intervention of a trusted entity, with {on the fly} randomness generation. (iv) {Triple generation latency: } The protocol to preprocess the material necessary for multiplication has latency $t$, which is thus linear in the number of players.

We remove all the previous limitations. Of independent interest, our novel computation framework revolves around players, denoted as ``kings'', which, in contrast to Podc'10, are now \emph{replaceable} after every elementary step of the computation.

Revocable hierarchical identity-based encryption (RHIBE) is an extension of HIBE that provides the efficient key revocation function by broadcasting an update key per each time period. Many RHIBE schemes have been proposed by combining an HIBE scheme and the tree-based revocation method, but a generic method for constructing an RHIBE scheme has not been proposed. In this paper, we show for the first time that it is possible to construct RHIBE schemes by generically combining underlying cryptographic primitives and tree-based revocation methods. We first generically construct an RHIBE-CS scheme by combining HIBE scheme and the complete subtree (CS) method, and prove the adaptive security of this scheme by using the adaptive security of the HIBE schemes. Next, we generically construct an RHIBE-SD scheme by combining HIBE and hierarchical single revocation encryption (HSRE) schemes, and the subset difference (SD) method to reduce the size of an update key. Finally, we generically construct an RHIBE-CS scheme with shorter ciphertexts by combining HIBE schemes with constant-size ciphertext and the CS method.

Cryptocurrencies have received a lot of research attention in recent years following the release of the first cryptocurrency Bitcoin. With the rise in cryptocurrency transactions, the need for smart contracts has also increased. Smart contracts, in a nutshell, are digitally executed contracts wherein some parties execute a common goal. The main problem with most of the current smart contracts is that there is no privacy for a party's input to the contract from either the blockchain or the other parties. Our research builds on the Hawk project that provides transaction privacy along with support for smart contracts. However, Hawk relies on a special trusted party known as a manager, which must be trusted not to leak each party's input to the smart contract. In this paper, we present a practical private smart contract protocol that replaces the manager with an MPC protocol such that the function to be executed by the MPC protocol is relatively lightweight, involving little overhead added to the smart contract function, and uses practical sigma protocols and homomorphic commitments to prove to the blockchain that the sum of the incoming balances to the smart contract matches the sum of the outgoing balances.

Running secure multiparty computation (MPC) protocols with hundreds or thousands of players would allow leveraging large volunteer networks (such as blockchains and Tor) and help justify honest majority assumptions. However, most existing protocols have at least a linear (multiplicative)dependence on the number of players, making scaling difficult. Known protocols with asymptotic efficiency independent of the number of parties (excluding additive factors) require expensive circuit transformations that induce large overheads.

We observe that the circuits used in many important applications of MPC such as training algorithms used to create machine learning models have a highly repetitive structure. We formalize this class of circuits and propose an MPC protocol that achieves O(|C|) total complexity for this class. We implement our protocol and show that it is practical and outperforms O(n|C|) protocols for modest numbers of players.

The recent work of Garg et al. from TCC'18 introduced the notion of registration based encryption (RBE). The principal motivation behind RBE is to remove the key escrow problem of identity based encryption (IBE), where the IBE authority is trusted to generate private keys for all the users in the system. Although RBE has excellent asymptotic properties, it is currently impractical. In our estimate, ciphertext size would be about 11 terabytes in an RBE deployment supporting 2 billion users. Motivated by this observation, our work attempts to reduce the concrete communication and computation cost of the current state-of-the-art construction. Our contribution is two-fold. First, we replace Merkle trees with crit-bit trees, a form of PATRICIA trie, without relaxing any of the original RBE efficiency requirements introduced by Garg et al. This change reduces the ciphertext size by 15% and the computation cost of decryption by 30%. Second, we observe that increasing RBE's public parameters by a few hundred kilobytes could reduce the ciphertext size by an additional 50%. Overall, our work decreases the ciphertext size by 57.5%.

The secure multi-device instant messaging ecosystem is diverse, varied, and underrepresented in academia. We create a systematization of knowledge which focuses on the challenges of multi-device messaging in a secure context and give an overview of the current situation in the multi-device setting. For that, we analyze messenger documentation, white papers, and research that deals with multi-device messaging. This includes a detailed description of different patterns for data transfer between devices as well as device management, i.e. how clients are cryptographically linked or unlinked to or from an account and how the initial setup can be implemented. We then evaluate different instant messengers with regard to relevant criteria, e.g. whether they achieve specific security, usability, and privacy goals. In the end, we outline interesting areas for future research.

Side-channel attacks that leak sensitive information through a computing device’s interaction with its physical environment have proven to be a severe threat to devices’ security, particularly when adversaries have unfettered physical access to the device. Traditional approaches for leakage detection measure the physical properties of the device. Hence, they cannot be used during the design process and fail to provide root cause analysis. An alternative approach that is gaining traction is to automate leakage detection by modeling the device. The demand to understand the scope, benefits, and limitations of the proposed tools intensifies with the increase in the number of proposals.

In this SoK, we classify approaches to automated leakage detection based on the model’s source of truth. We classify the existing tools on two main parameters: whether the model includes measurements from a concrete device and the abstraction level of the device specification used for constructing the model. We survey the proposed tools to determine the current knowledge level across the domain and identify open problems. In particular, we highlight the absence of evaluation methodologies and metrics that would compare proposals’ effectiveness from across the domain. We believe that our results help practitioners who want to use automated leakage detection and researchers interested in advancing the knowledge and improving automated leakage detection.

In a prior paper we introduced a new symmetric key encryption scheme called Short Key Random Encryption Machine (SKREM), for which we claimed excellent security guarantees. In this paper we present and briefly discuss some of its applications outside conventional data encryption. These are Secure Coin Flipping, Cryptographic Hashing, Zero-Leaked-Knowledge Authentication and Authorization and a Digital Signature scheme which can be employed on a block-chain. We also briefly recap SKREM-like ciphers and the assumptions on which their security are based. The above applications are novel because they do not involve public key cryptography. Furthermore, the security of SKREM-like ciphers is not based on hardness of some algebraic operations, thus not opening them up to specific quantum computing attacks.

It has long been known that cryptographic schemes offering provably unbreakable security exist - namely the One Time Pad (OTP). The OTP, however, comes at the cost of a very long secret key - as long as the plain-text itself. In this paper we propose an encryption scheme which we (boldly) claim offers the same level of security as the OTP, while allowing for much shorter keys, of size polylogarithmic in the computing power available to the adversary. The Scheme requires a large sequence of truly random words, of length polynomial in the both plain-text size and the logarithm of the computing power the adversary has. We claim that it ensures such an attacker cannot discern the cipher output from random data, except with small probability. We also show how it can be adapted to allow for several plain-texts to be encrypted in the same cipher output, with almost independent keys. Also, we describe how it can be used in lieu of a One Way Function.

Key-oblivious encryption (KOE) is a newly developed cryptographic primitive that randomizes the public keys of an encryption scheme in an oblivious manner. It has applications in designing accountable tracing signature (ATS) that facilitates the group manager to revoke the anonymity of traceable users in a group signature while preserving the anonymity of non-traceable users. Despite of its importance and strong application, KOE has not received much attention in the literature.

In this work, we introduce the first isogeny-based KOE scheme. Isogeny is a fairly young post-quantum cryptographic field with sophisticated algebraic structures and unique security properties. Our KOE scheme is resistant to quantum attacks and derives its security from Commutative Supersingular Decisional Diffie-Hellman (CSSDDH), which is an isogeny based hard problem. More concretely, we have shown that our construction exhibits key randomizability, plaintext indistinguishability under key randomization and key privacy under key randomization in the standard model adapting the security framework of [KM15]. Furthermore, we have manifested instantiation of our scheme from cryptosystem based on Commutative Supersingular Isogeny Diffie-Hellman (CSIDH-512) [BKV19]. Additionally, we demonstrate the utility of our KOE scheme by leveraging it to construct an isogeny-based ATS scheme preserving anonymity under tracing, traceability, non-frameability, anonymity with accountability and trace obliviousness in the random oracle model following the security framework of [LNWX19].

BIKE is a key encapsulation mechanism that entered the third round of the NIST post-quantum cryptography standardization process. This paper presents two constant-time implementations for BIKE, one tailored for the Intel Haswell and one tailored for the ARM Cortex-M4. Our Haswell implementation is much faster than the avx2 implementation written by the BIKE team: for bikel1, the level-1 parameter set, we achieve a 1.39x speedup for decapsulation (which is the slowest operation) and a 1.33x speedup for the sum of all operations. For bikel3, the level-3 parameter set, we achieve a 1.5x speedup for decapsulation and a 1.46x speedup for the sum of all operations. Our M4 implementation is more than two times faster than the non-constant-time implementation portable written by the BIKE team. The speedups are achieved by both algorithm-level and instruction-level optimizations.

This paper presents a constant-time implementation of Classic McEliece for ARM Cortex-M4. Specifically, our target platform is stm32f4-Discovery, a development board on which the amount of SRAM is not even large enough to hold the public key of the smallest parameter sets of Classic McEliece. Fortunately, the flash memory is large enough, so we use it to store the public key. For the level-1 parameter sets mceliece348864 and mceliece348864f, our implementation takes 582 199 cycles for encapsulation and 2 706 681 cycles for decapsulation. Compared to the level-1 parameter set of FrodoKEM, our encapsulation time is more than 80 times faster, and our decapsulation time is more than 17 times faster. For the level-3 parameter sets mceliece460896 and mceliece460896f, our implementation takes 1 081 335 cycles for encapsulation and 6 535 186 cycles for decapsulation. In addition, our implementation is also able to carry out key generation for the level-1 parameter sets and decapsulation for level-5 parameter sets on the board.

In most verifiable electronic voting schemes, one key step is the tally phase, where the election result is computed from the encrypted ballots. A generic technique consists in first applying (verifiable) mixnets to the ballots and then revealing all the votes in the clear. This however discloses much more information than the result of the election itself (that is, the winners) and may offer the possibility to coerce voters. In this paper, we present a collection of building blocks for designing tally-hiding schemes based on multi-party computations. As an application, we propose the first tally-hiding schemes with no leakage for four important counting functions: D'Hondt, Condorcet, STV, and Majority Judgment. We also unveil unknown flaws or leakage in several previously proposed tally-hiding schemes.

Fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) allows us to perform computations directly over encrypted data and can be widely used in some highly regulated industries. Gentry's bootstrapping procedure is used to refresh noisy ciphertexts and is the only way to achieve the goal of FHE up to now. In this paper, we optimize the LWE-based GSW-type bootstrapping procedure. Our optimization decreases the lattice approximation factor for the underlying worst-case lattice assumption from $\tilde{O}(N^{2.5})$ to $\tilde{O}(N^{2})$, and is time-efficient by a $O(\lambda)$ factor. Our scheme can also achieve the best factor in prior works on bootstrapping of standard lattice-based FHE by taking a larger lattice dimension, which makes our scheme as secure as the standard lattice-based PKE. Furthermore, in this work we present a technique to perform more operations per bootstrapping in the LWE-based FHE scheme. Although there have been studies to evaluate large FHE gates using schemes over ideal lattices, (i.e. using FHEW or TFHE), we are the first to study how to perform complex functions homomorphically over standard lattices.