IACR News
Here you can see all recent updates to the IACR webpage. These updates are also available:
28 December 2015
Zhou Tanping*, Liu Longfei, Yang Xiaoyuan, Han Yiliang
ePrint ReportHassan Jameel Asghar, Mohamed Ali Kaafar
ePrint Report27 December 2015
Aalto University, Department of Computer Science, Helsinki, Finland
Job PostingThe call is targeted particularly to the field of algorithms, logic and complexity. The current research directions of the department within this field include combinatorial algorithms, computational logic, cryptography, distributed algorithms, formal methods and verification, and natural computation. The department is looking for a person to strengthen these directions or complement them with new ones.
Closing date for applications: 14 February 2016
Contact: Kaisa Nyberg, Professor, email: kaisa.nyberg (at) aalto.fi
More information: http://www.aalto.fi/en/about/careers/jobs/view/652
Florida Atlantic University
Job PostingResearch areas of particular interest for this position include, but are not limited to, mathematical foundations of public key cryptography, post-quantum cryptography, computational algebra, and algorithmic number theory.
Applicants must possess a Ph.D. in Mathematics or a closely related field. Candidates in all areas of cryptology and information security will be considered.
For additional information, please contact us by email to mathsearch (at) fau.edu. This position is open until filled and may close without prior notice. Priority consideration will be given to applications received by January 31, 2016. To be considered for the position, all applicants must apply and complete the Faculty, Administrative, Managerial & Professional Position Application form available online through the Office of Human Resources at: https://jobs.fau.edu. Please submit a cover letter, vita, copy of your transcript, research statement and a teaching statement through this website.
In addition, please arrange to have three letters of recommendation sent by first class mail to: Chair of the Search Committee, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Rd., Boca Raton, FL 33431 or by email to mathsearch (at) fau.edu.
A background check will be required for the candidate selected for this position.
Florida Atlantic University is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access Institution.
Closing date for applications: 31 January 2016
Contact: Search Committee Chair, Department of Mathematical Sciences, 777 Glades RD, Boca Raton, FL 33431
Email: mathsearch (at) fau.edu
Phone: (561) 297-3340
Fax: (561) 297-2436
More information: https://jobs.fau.edu
23 December 2015
Foteini Baldimtsi, Aggelos Kiayias, Thomas Zacharias, Bingsheng Zhang
ePrint ReportWe formalize PoWorK in terms of three basic properties, completeness, f-soundness and indistinguishability (where f is a function that determines the tightness of the proof of work aspect) and present a construction that transforms 3-move HVZK protocols into 3-move public-coin PoWorKs. To formalize the work aspect in a PoWorK protocol we define cryptographic puzzles that adhere to certain uniformity conditions, which may also be of independent interest. We instantiate our puzzles in the random oracle (RO) model as well as via constructing ``dense'' versions of suitably hard one-way functions.
We then showcase PoWorK protocols by presenting two applications. We first show how non-interactive PoWorKs can be used to reduce spam email by forcing users sending an e-mail to either prove to the mail server they are approved contacts of the recipient or to perform computational work. As opposed to previous approaches that applied proofs of work to this problem, our proposal of using PoWorKs is privacy-preserving as it hides the list of the receiver's approved contacts from the mail server. Our second application for PoWorK relates to zero-knowledge protocols. We show that PoWorK protocols imply straight-line quasi-polynomial simulatable arguments of knowledge; by applying this result to our construction we obtain an efficient straight-line concurrent 3-move statistically quasi-polynomial simulatable argument of knowledge, improving the round complexity of the previously known four-move protocols.
Cryptanalysis of a public key cryptosystem based on Diophantine equations via weighted LLL reduction
Jintai Ding, Momonari Kudo, Shinya Okumura, Tsuyoshi Takagi, Chengdong Tao
ePrint ReportEric R. Verheul
ePrint ReportWe describe a privacy friendly alternative, giving pupils (and parents) control on the exchange of their personal data. Three generic forms based on homomorphic encryption are used as building blocks. These forms do not yield personal numbers, or even personal data from a legal perspective, and have strong, unlinkability properties. Only if required a school provides a party with a party-specific {\em pseudonym} identifying a pupil. The school is provided an {\em encrypted pseudonym} by a central party based on a {\em polymorphic pseudonym} formed by the school. Only intended parties, not even schools, have access to pseudonyms. Publishers can send pupil test results to a school without being able to assess whether pupils are identical.
We also describe how the infrastructure can be supplemented with privacy friendly attributes and user inspection as required by law.
Akshima, Donghoon Chang, Mohona Ghosh, Aarushi Goel, Somitra Kumar Sanadhya
ePrint ReportOleg Mazonka, Nektarios Georgios Tsoutsos, Michail Maniatakos
ePrint ReportDebapriya Basu Roy, Poulami Das, Debdeep Mukhopadhyay
ePrint ReportMohamed Ahmed Abdelraheem, Peter Beelen, Andrey Bogdanov, Elmar Tischhauser
ePrint ReportSebastian Faust; Daniel Masny; Daniele Venturi
ePrint ReportAt the core of our construction is a trapdoor technique which originates in the work of Micciancio and Peikert (Eurocrypt 2012).
Gottfried Herold, Elena Kirshanova, Alexander May
ePrint ReportFor the BKW algorithm, we present a refined analysis for the case of only a polynomial number of samples via amplification, which allows for a fair comparison with lattice-based approaches. Somewhat surprisingly, such a small number of samples does not make the asymptotic complexity significantly inferior, but only affects the constant in the exponent.
As the main result we obtain that both, lattice-based techniques and \BKW with a polynomial number of samples, achieve running time $2^{\bigO(n)}$ for $n$-dimensional LWE, where we make the constant hidden in the big-$\bigO$ notion explicit as a simple and easy to handle function of all LWE-parameters. In the lattice case this function also depends on the time to compute a BKZ lattice basis with block size $\Theta(n)$. Thus, from a theoretical perspective our analysis reveals how LWE's complexity changes as a function of the LWE-parameters, and from a practical perspective our analysis is a useful tool to choose LWE-parameters resistant to all known attacks.
Boris Skoric
ePrint ReportDavid Cash, Eike Kiltz, Stefano Tessaro
ePrint ReportIn this paper, we construct 2-round authentication protocols that are secure against sequential man-in-the-middle (MIM) attacks with tight reductions to LPN, Field-LPN, or other problems. The best prior protocols had either loose reductions and required 3 rounds (Lyubashevsky and Masny, CRYPTO'13) or had a much larger key (Kiltz et al., EUROCRYPT'11 and Dodis et al., EUROCRYPT'12). Our constructions follow from a new generic deterministic and round-preserving transformation enhancing actively-secure protocols of a special form to be sequentially MIM-secure while only adding a limited amount of key material and computation.
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Job PostingThe PhD student is expected to have a MSc degree or equivalent, and strong background in mathematics and/or theoretical computer science, with some background in cryptography.
The position is fully funded for five years. The call for expressions of interest will remain open until a suitable candidate is appointed.
For any inquiries or to apply for the positions, submit a full research curriculum-vitae (cv), names of two references, and a research statement to Prof. Katerina Mitrokotsa (aikmitr@ chalmers.se) clearly indicating the position sought.
Successful candidates will help to design and evaluate cryptographically reliable and privacy-preserving authentication protocols.
Closing date for applications: 31 January 2016
Contact: Katerina Mitrokotsa,
Associate Professor,
Chalmers University of Technology,
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Göteborg, Sweden
22 December 2015
University College Cork
Job PostingInformal enquiries to Dr Simon Foley simon.foley (at) insight-centre.org
Further information on the Insight Centre and security research at UCC is available at http://www.insight-centre.org and http://security.ucc.ie
More information and application details at: http://www.ucc.ie/en/hr/vacancies/research/full-details-614093-en.html
Closing date for applications: 29 January 2016
Contact: Dr Simon Foley simon.foley (at) insight-centre.org
More information: http://www.ucc.ie/en/hr/vacancies/research/full-details-614093-en.html
21 December 2015
Fukuoka, Japan, 4 August - 5 August 2016
Event CalendarSubmission deadline: 15 April 2016
Notification: 1 June 2016
Cryptographic Algorithms, Saarland University
Job Posting- Cryptographic protocols
- Secure two/multi-party computation
- Verifiable computation
- Functional signatures
- Cryptography based on hardware assumptions
- Cryptocurrencies
- Foundations
Interested PhD students are expected to have a very strong background in mathematics and/or computer science. Please send a motivation letter and your complete transcripts to Dominique Schröder ds (AT) ca.cs.uni-saarland.de. Starting date is negotiable. Review of applications starts immediately until the position is filled.
Postdocs applicants are expected to have a PhD in cryptography or related areas, excellence in research proven for example by publications in IACR conferences and workshops CRYPTO, EUROCRYPT, ASIACRYPT, TCC, PKC,... or IT security venues like IEEE S&P, ACM CCS, NDSS, USENIX Security,…. Postdoc applicants should contact Dominique Schröder ds (AT) ca.cs.uni-saarland.de. Starting date is negotiable. Review of applications starts immediately until the position is filled.
Closing date for applications: 31 January 2016
Contact: Dominique Schröder: ds (AT) ca.cs.uni-saarland.de
More information: http://www.ca.cs.uni-saarland.de
University of Passau, Germany
Job PostingThe successful candidate must be interested in highest-level fundamental research, conducted cooperatively with academic and industrial partners in Germany and abroad. He or she holds an outstanding university degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Electrical/Computer Engineering or a related discipline. She or he must be fluent in oral and written English and German. Advanced knowledge of C/C++ is required, ideally with experience in cross-site software development. Prior experiences in either cryptography/cryptanalysis or in integrated circuit design are strongly desired.
When you join us, you will conduct world-class research in collaboration with the leading scientists in Germany and elsewhere; you will enjoy excellent work conditions in a publication-friendly environment, a competitive salary (TV-L E13) accompanied by the German public-service benefit package and attractive living conditions in Passau, a city of 50,000, located between Munich, Nuremberg and Vienna. The post is suitable for part-time employment upon request. Please check the official job description (in German) under http://www.uni-passau.de/fileadmin/dokumente/beschaeftigte/Stellenangebote/2016_01_WM_Prof_Polian.pdf for details how to apply. Please note that we expect a cover letter formulated in German, for an initial assessment of your language skills. Apply before February 1, 2016, for full consideration.
Closing date for applications: 1 February 2016
Contact: Professor Ilia Polian: ilia.polian (at) uni-passau.de
More information: http://www.uni-passau.de/fileadmin/dokumente/beschaeftigte/Stellenangebote/2016_01_WM_Prof_Polian.pdf