IACR News
Here you can see all recent updates to the IACR webpage. These updates are also available:
09 December 2019
The Signal Private Group System and Anonymous Credentials Supporting Efficient Verifiable Encryption
Melissa Chase, Trevor Perrin, Greg Zaverucha
ePrint ReportAuthentication in our design uses a primitive called a keyed-verification anonymous credential (KVAC), and we construct a new KVAC scheme based on an algebraic MAC, instantiated in a group $\G$ of prime order. The benefit of the new KVAC is that attributes may be elements in $\G$, whereas previous schemes could only support attributes that were integers modulo the order of $\G$. This enables us to encrypt group data using an efficient Elgamal-like encryption scheme, and to prove in zero-knowledge that the encrypted data is certified by a credential. Because encryption, authentication, and the associated proofs of knowledge are all instantiated in $\G$ the system is efficient, even for large groups.
06 December 2019
Avignon, France, 29 June - 1 July 2020
Event CalendarSubmission deadline: 18 February 2020
Notification: 23 March 2020
University of York, Department of Computer Science, York, UK
Job PostingWorking with Prof. Kahrobaei (the Director of York Interdisciplinary Centre for Cyber Security) and Prof. Wade (the Director of the Centre for Future Health).
Topic: Fully Homomorphic Encryption for Secure Processing of Sensitive Video Game Data by Artificial Intelligence Systems". Application deadline: January 31, 2020.
Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) promises to revolutionise the way we deal with data. It enables researchers to analyze encrypted datasets and obtain useful outputs - safeguarding the privacy of the data providers and broadening the scope of available datasets at the same time. One of the most promising targets for FHE is video game telemetry - a form of data that has vast commercial and health-related potential but which is often hard to share because of issues relating to privacy, security and consent.
This competitively funded PhD studentship is advertised under the IGGI programme (http://www.iggi.org.uk/) - the largest doctoral training programme in advanced video game technology in the world. The student would focus on the theoretical and practical issues involved in implementing a fast and secure next-generation FHE analysis framework based on recent work from PI Delaram Kahrobaei (https://www.cs.york.ac.uk/research/cyber-security/people/). We will iterate development using test datasets from video games in close collaboration with our partners in the video game industry and focus on the secure, private extraction of data relating to worldwide cognitive health.
The student would engage with a full set of the training opportunities presented under the IGGI programme and would gain a broad understanding of the entire video game ecosystem - including design, analytics and applications. In addition, the work would require a deep understanding of the maths and computer science underlying FHE and the student would be supervised by world experts in the fields of both cryptography (PI Kahrobaei) and cognitive neuroscience and game analytics (PI Wade).
We expect candidate to have excellent mathematical skills and some experience in programming.
Closing date for applications:
Contact: Project enquiries: Professor Delaram Kahrobaei (delaram.kahrobaei@york.ac.uk) Professor Alex Wade (alex.wade@york.ac.uk) Application enquiries: apply@iggi.org.uk
More information: http://iggi.org.uk/apply
Simula UiB; Bergen, Norway
Job PostingProject/Job description
Cryptology forms the backbone of modern digital security. While in theory it is known how to make secure cryptosystems that are asymptotically secure, a considerable gap with practice is demonstrated time and again by breaks of practical, implemented cryptosystems, deployed as part of a larger security ecosystem. The project “concrete cryptology” aims to provide concrete and meaningful security guarantees from low-level implementation to high-level deployment.
The postdoc will have considerable freedom in selecting specific problems to work on within the larger scope of the project. One focus is the effect that side-channel attacks that do not result in full key recovery have on security, including provable security, higher up the chain. Another focus is the effect that large-scale deployment deviating from some abstract ideal has.
Candidate Profile
We are looking for interested candidates who have completed, or are about to complete, a PhD degree in cryptology or a suitably related relevant field. We expect an excellent academic track record and will be looking for publications in the relevant venues. Previous experience with the analysis of practical implementations or deployed cryptosystems is an advantage, but a lack of such experience may be compensated for by a demonstrated ability to learn advanced topics in related areas. We are looking for a curious and creative mind.
Closing date for applications:
Contact: Martijn Stam
More information: https://www.simula.no/about/job/call-post-doctoral-fellow-concrete-cryptography
University of Surrey
Job PostingClosing date for applications:
Contact: Professor Helen Treharne Head of Computer Science Department h.treharne@surrey.ac.uk
More information: https://jobs.surrey.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=091419
Salerno, Italy, 3 August - 7 August 2020
Event CalendarSubmission deadline: 17 February 2020
Notification: 4 May 2020
Hossein Arabnezhad-Khanoki, Babak Sadeghiyan
ePrint ReportMuhammad Rezal Kamel Ariffin
ePrint ReportFrancesco Berti, Chun Guo, Olivier Pereira, Thomas Peters, François-Xavier Standaert
ePrint ReportAugustin P. Sarr
ePrint ReportJames Howe, Thomas Prest, Thomas Ricosset, Mélissa Rossi
ePrint Report05 December 2019
Kaushik Nath, Palash Sarkar
ePrint ReportGareth T. Davies, Herman Galteland, Kristian Gjøsteen, Yao Jiang
ePrint ReportAleksandr Kutsenko
ePrint ReportMoni Naor, Omer Paneth, Guy N. Rothblum
ePrint ReportIn this work, we present a new framework for constructing incrementally verifiable computation schemes in both the publicly verifiable and designated-verifier settings. Our designated-verifier scheme is based on somewhat homomorphic encryption (which can be based on Learning with Errors) and our publicly verifiable scheme is based on the notion of zero-testable homomorphic encryption, which can be constructed from ideal multi-linear maps [Paneth and Rothblum, TCC 17].
Our framework is anchored around the new notion of a probabilistically checkable proof (PCP) with incremental local updates. An incrementally updatable PCP proves the correctness of an ongoing computation, where after each computation step, the value of every symbol can be updated locally without reading any other symbol. This update results in a new PCP for the correctness of the next step in the computation. Our primary technical contribution is constructing such an incrementally updatable PCP. We show how to combine updatable PCPs with recently suggested (ordinary) verifiable computation to obtain our results.
Tassos Dimtiriou
ePrint ReportHoussem Maghrebi, Davide Alessio
ePrint ReportWouter Castryck, Thomas Decru
ePrint Report04 December 2019
Queen's University Belfast, Centre for Secure Information Technologies, Belfast, UK
Job PostingThese post-doctoral positions will be based at CSIT, which is recognised by NCSC as an Academic Centre of Excellence (ACE) in Cyber Security Research, and is also host to the UK Research Institute in Secure Hardware and Embedded Systems (RISE).
The successful applicants will have a 2:1 Honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering/Computer Science/Mathematics (or related discipline), and have, or be about to obtain, a PhD in a relevant subject, as well as at least 3 years recent relevant research experience in one, or more, of the following areas: side channel analysis, FPGA/ASIC/Embedded systems design, hardware design or hardware/software co-design.
For further information and to apply please check out the QUB job vacancies website: http://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/QUBJobVacancies/ResearchJobs/
Closing date for applications:
Contact: Ciara Rafferty (c.m.rafferty@qub.ac.uk)
More information: http://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/QUBJobVacancies/ResearchJobs/