IACR News
Here you can see all recent updates to the IACR webpage. These updates are also available:
29 November 2021
Mariana Botelho da Gama, John Cartlidge, Antigoni Polychroniadou, Nigel P. Smart, Younes Talibi Alaoui
Just how hard are rotations of $\mathbb{Z}^n$? Algorithms and cryptography with the simplest lattice
Huck Bennett, Atul Ganju, Pura Peetathawatchai, Noah Stephens-Davidowitz
1) We show that $\mathbb{Z}$SVP is in a certain sense strictly easier than SVP on arbitrary lattices. In particular, we show how to reduce $\mathbb{Z}$SVP to an approximate version of SVP in the same dimension (in fact, even to approximate unique SVP, for any constant approximation factor). Such a reduction seems very unlikely to work for SVP itself, so we view this as a qualitative separation of $\mathbb{Z}$SVP from SVP. As a consequence of this reduction, we obtain a $2^{0.802n}$-time algorithm for $\mathbb{Z}$SVP, i.e., a non-trivial speedup over the best known algorithm for SVP on general lattices.
2) We show a simple public-key encryption scheme that is secure if (an appropriate variant of) $\mathbb{Z}$SVP is actually hard. Specifically, our scheme is secure if it is difficult to distinguish (in the worst case) a rotation of $\mathbb{Z}^n$ from either a lattice with all non-zero vectors longer than $\sqrt{n/\log n}$ or a lattice with smoothing parameter significantly smaller than the smoothing parameter of $\mathbb{Z}^n$. The latter result has an interesting qualitative connection with reverse Minkowski theorems, which in some sense say that ``$\mathbb{Z}^n$ has the largest smoothing parameter.''
3) We show a distribution of bases $B$ for rotations of $\mathbb{Z}^n$ such that, if $\mathbb{Z}$SVP is hard for any input basis, then $\mathbb{Z}$SVP is hard on input $B$. This gives a satisfying theoretical resolution to the problem of sampling hard bases for $\mathbb{Z}^n$, which was studied by Blanks and Miller (PQCrypto, 2021). This worst-case to average-case reduction is also crucially used in the analysis of our encryption scheme. (In recent independent work that appeared as a preprint before this work, Ducas and van Woerden showed essentially the same thing for general lattices (ia.cr/2021/1332), and they also used this to analyze the security of a public-key encryption scheme.)
4) We perform experiments to determine how practical basis reduction performs on different bases of $\mathbb{Z}^n$. These experiments complement and add to those performed by Blanks and Miller, as we work with a larger class of reduction algorithms (i.e., larger block sizes) and study the ``provably hard'' distribution of bases described above. We also observe a threshold phenomenon in which ``basis reduction algorithms on $\mathbb{Z}^n$ nearly always find a shortest non-zero vector once they have found a vector with length less than $\sqrt{n}/2$,'' and we explore this further.
Chen Chen, Xiao Liang, Bogdan Carbunar, Radu Sion
Damien Robissout, Lilian Bossuet, Amaury Habrard, Vincent Grosso
Joachim Neu, Srivatsan Sridhar, Lei Yang, David Tse, Mohammad Alizadeh
Kamilla Nazirkhanova, Joachim Neu, David Tse
28 November 2021
Beersheba, Israel, 30 June - 1 July 2022
Submission deadline: 7 February 2022
Notification: 14 March 2022
Bristol, United Kingdom, 31 January - 4 February 2022
27 November 2021
31 January 2023
Submission deadline: 30 April 2022
Notification: 31 July 2022
Virtual event, Anywhere on Earth, 10 December - 11 December 2021
Nagasaki, Japan, 30 May -
Submission deadline: 8 January 2022
Notification: 22 February 2022
Santa Barbara, USA, 13 August - 18 August 2022
Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
Closing date for applications:
Contact: rcbose@isical.ac.in
More information: https://www.isical.ac.in/sites/default/files/jobs/rcbccs_advt_2022.pdf
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
- Blockchain security and privacy: we explore how to improve the security and privacy of cryptocurrencies and modern blockchain platforms while enhancing their performance and scalability.
- Platform security: we explore how to make use of hardware support to improve the security and privacy of platforms.
- ML security and privacy: we investigate how we can improve the security of machine learning algorithms and how to securely use machine learning to secure existing platforms.
Are you excited by opportunities to work in any of those topics? Do you have a solid background in blockchain technologies, machine learning techniques, or security/privacy concepts? Are you excited about building highly performant secure systems? If so, we'd like to hear from you. If you are interested in applying, please send an email to Prof. Dr. Karame (ghassan.karame@rub.de) with your current CV and a description of why you think you are a good fit.
Closing date for applications:
Contact: Prof. Dr. Ghassan Karame
24 November 2021
SCRIPTS @ Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Your role:
- To work, both independently and collaboratively, on a research-orientated post-quantum project including cryptanalysis and design of post-quantum public-key and symmetric-key cryptography primitives.
- To publish in top conferences
- PhD in cryptography
- Track-record publications in Tier-1 conferences (Asiacrypt, Eurocrypt, Crypto, CCS, Usenix, IEEE S&P, NDSS)
- globally competitive salary package
- a team with strong capability in development and research to work with
- various opportunities to work with our industry partners
Interested candidates are to send their CV and 2 reference letters. Review of applicants will start immediately until all positions are filled. More information about SCRIPTS centre can be found in https://www.ntu.edu.sg/scripts
Closing date for applications:
Contact: scripts@ntu.edu.sg with subject [IACR-PQC]
More information: https://www.ntu.edu.sg/scripts
Lund University
Main requirements: a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or a related field. Competitive research record in cryptography or information security. Strong mathematical or algorithmic background. Fluent written and verbal communication skills in English.
About the CRYSPY lab: we are about 20 researchers (counting PhD students and seniors) passionate about solving real world security issues as well as posing and addressing security challenges of a theoretical taste. We have a long history of design and cryptanalisys of symmetric ciphers and lattice-based constructions, as well as network-security. More recently, we are moving towards post-quantum cryptosystems, homomorphic authenticators, privacy-aware data storage and sharing solutions.
For more info: https://www.eit.lth.se/index.php?gpuid=508&L=1 and https://epagnin.github.io
Closing date for applications:
Contact: elena.pagnin@eit.lth.se
More information: https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:439586/type:job/where:4/apply:1
CNRS / University of Rennes 1, France
-
- security proofs for lattice-based schemes,
- building and implementing lattice-based constructions.
Review of applications will start immediately until the position is filled.
Closing date for applications:
Contact: Adeline Roux-Langlois / adeline.roux-langlois@irisa.fr and Alexandre Wallet / alexandre.wallet@inria.fr
Unversity of Warwick, Department of Computer Science
Closing date for applications:
Contact: feng.hao@warwick.ac.uk
More information: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/dcs/people/feng_hao/openings/
CSEM, Neuchâtel / AAU, Department of Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity, Klagenfurt, Austria
You will conduct research towards a distributed intrusion detection system for constrained devices in real-world IoT applications. The intrusion detection system (IDS) you will develop will facilitate detection and containment of a security breach in the Edge, making the IoT applications of tomorrow more secure and reliable.
Your activity will be at an exciting intersection of the following fields:- Embedded development. The constrained nature of low-power embedded world will present you with stimulating research challenges. You will implement and test your results on real-world, low-power embedded HW platforms, maintaining a steady link between your research and practice and ensuring a real-world impact.
- Applied security. To defend from attacks, you will get intimately familiar with them. You will acquire knowledge of different types of intrusion, how they manage to penetrate a system, and how they can be recognized.
- Artificial intelligence. Modern IDS systems rely on AI. You will review the state of the art, select the most viable AI algorithms for an IDS in the constrained setting of IoT Edge, and carefully tweak them for the job.
- Distributed computing. A swarm of Things in the Edge can, collaboratively monitor itself much more effectively than a single device. You will combine all the above and deploy a distributed IDS on a group of constrained embedded devices, identifying the tradeoffs between efficiency and overhead.
We are looking for a student who has a Masters (or equivalent) degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics or Computer Science with background and passion in (most of):
- Solid understanding of machine learning concepts and some practice
- Proficiency with programming in C
- Experience with embedded development is an advantage
- Background in applied cryptography and security is an advantage
- Fluency in English is required, proficiency in French is an advantage.
- Good communication and interpersonal skills.
Closing date for applications:
Contact: To apply visit https://www.csem.ch/page.aspx?pid=47528&jobid=122842.
You will be based in part at CSEM (Switzerland), and in part at the Cybersecurity Research Group at AAU (Austria); you need to be eligible to work in Europe, and you need to be flexible as you will travel regularly.More information: https://www.csem.ch/page.aspx?pid=47528&jobid=122842
University of Waterloo, Department of Combinatorics and Optimization
The Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo invites applications from outstanding qualified candidates for two, 2-year, prestigious postdoctoral fellowship positions. Applications are solicited from any of the research areas of the Department of Combinatorics & Optimization: Algebraic Combinatorics, Discrete Optimization, Continuous Optimization, Cryptography, Graph Theory, and Quantum Computing.
A Ph.D. degree and evidence of excellence in research are required. Successful applicants are expected to maintain an active program of research. The annual salary is $75,000. In addition, a travel fund of $15,000 per year is provided. The anticipated start date is fall 2022.
Interested individuals should apply using the MathJobs site (https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/list/19031). Applications should include a cover letter describing their interest in the position, and names of faculty members with whom the applicant would like to interact, a curriculum vitae and research statement, and at least three reference letters.
Inquiries may be addressed to Jochen Koenemann, Chair, Department of Combinatorics and Optimization. The deadline for application is December 31, 2021.
Closing date for applications:
Contact: Jochen Koenemann (jochen@uwaterloo.ca)
More information: https://uwaterloo.ca/combinatorics-and-optimization/career-opportunities#PrestigiousPDF