International Association for Cryptologic Research

# IACR News Central

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Further sources to find out about changes are CryptoDB, ePrint RSS, ePrint Web, Event calender (iCal).

2015-04-07
00:17 [Pub][ePrint]

A new algorithms for computing discrete logarithms on elliptic curves defined over finite fields is suggested. It is based on a new method to find zeroes of summation polynomials. In binary elliptic curves one is to solve a cubic system of Boolean equations. Under a first fall degree assumption

the regularity degree of the system is at most $4$. Extensive experimental data which supports the assumption is provided. An heuristic analysis suggests a new asymptotical complexity bound $2^{c\\sqrt{n\\ln n}}, c\\approx 1.69$ for computing discrete logarithms on an elliptic curve over a field of size $2^n$. For several binary elliptic curves recommended by FIPS the new method performs better than Pollard\'s.

00:17 [Pub][ePrint]

We present an efficient structure-preserving tagged one-time signature scheme with tight security reductions to the decision-linear assumption.

Our scheme features short tags consisting of a single group element and

gives rise to the currently most efficient structure-preserving signature scheme based on the decision-liner assumption with constant-size signatures of only 14 group elements, where the record-so-far was 17 elements.

To demonstrate the advantages of our scheme, we revisit the work by Hofheinz and Jager (CRYPTO 2012) and present the currently most efficient tightly secure public-key encryption scheme. We also obtain the first structure-preserving public-key encryption scheme featuring both tight security and public verifiability.

00:17 [Pub][ePrint]

Dinur and Shamir have described cube attacks at EUROCRYPT \'09 and they have shown how efficient they are on the stream cipher Trivium up to 767 rounds. These attacks have been extended to distinguishers but since this seminal work, no better results on the complexity of key recovery attacks on Trivium have been presented. It appears that the time complexity to compute cubes is expensive and the discovery of linear superpoly also requires the computation of many cubes. In this paper, we increase the number of attacked initialization rounds by improving the time complexity of computing cube and we show attacks that go beyond this bound. We were able to find linear superpoly up to 784 rounds, which leads to an attack requiring $2^{39}$ queries. Using quadratic superpoly, we were also able to provide another attack up to 799 rounds which complexity is $2^{40}$ queries and $2^{62}$ for the exhaustive search part. To achieve such results, we find a way to reduce the density of the polynomials, we look for quadratic relations and we extensively use the Moebius transform to speed up computations for various purposes.

00:17 [Pub][ePrint]

A handful of recent cryptographic proposals rely on the conjectured hardness of the following problem in the ring of integers of a cyclotomic number field: given a basis of an ideal that is guaranteed to have a \"rather short\" generator, find such a generator. In the past year, Bernstein and Campbell-Groves-Shepherd have sketched potential attacks against this problem. Most notably, the latter authors claimed a quantum polynomial-time algorithm (alternatively, replacing the quantum component with an algorithm of Biasse and Fieker would yield a classical subexponential-time algorithm). A key claim of Campbell et al. is that one step of their algorithm--namely, decoding the log-unit lattice of the ring to recover a short generator from an arbitrary one--is efficient (whereas the standard approach takes exponential time). However, very few convincing details were provided to substantiate this claim, and as a result it has met with some skepticism.

In this work, we remedy the situation by giving a rigorous theoretical and practical confirmation that the log-unit lattice is indeed efficiently decodable, in cyclotomics of prime-power index. The proof consists of two main technical contributions: the first is a geometrical analysis, using tools from analytic number theory, of the canonical generators of the group of cyclotomic units. The second shows that for a wide class of typical distributions of the short generator, a standard lattice-decoding algorithm can recover it, given any generator.

2015-04-06
18:41 [Job][New]

Innopolis University (Kazan, Russia), the first Russian university focused on information technology, is seeking highly qualified faculty members for the Department of Computer Science. Recruited faculty members will deliver undergraduate and graduate programs to high quality Russian students, who have strong preparation in math and science. Future faculty members will also be responsible for building and leading research groups. The initial appointment is a 5-year contract, which is renewed every 2 years on a rolling basis with expectation for tenure. Senior academics are invited to spend a sabbatical leave at Innopolis University on negotiable conditions.

Applicants of all ranks specializing in computer science, and particularly in information security systems, and game development and entertainment are encouraged to apply.

Successful candidates must have academic qualifications at doctoral level from an internationally recognized educational and research institution, excellent English communication skills (all instruction at IU is in English), and a proven research track record.

Innopolis University offers a competitive salary and an attractive benefits package including paid vacation, housing allowance (based on the rank and family size), relocation allowance, home leave travel (twice per year), paid health care coverage, educational allowance for dependent children, and Russian language classes allowance.

The start-up package will include funding for two PhD students and additional discretionary funds for research.

18:40 [Event][New]

Submission: 20 June 2015
From August 20 to August 22
Location: Jeju Island, Korea

18:39 [Event][New]

Submission: 8 June 2015
From October 12 to October 16
Location: Denver, USA

18:38 [Event][New]

Submission: 15 December 2015
From May 31 to June 2
Location: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

17:10 [News]

The IACR has selected 6 new members to be recognized as Fellows of the IACR. The 2015 Fellows are (in alphabetical order):

• Ernie Brickell, for founding the Journal of Cryptology, for industrial implementations supporting privacy, and for contributions to secret sharing, attestation, and the cryptanalysis of knapsack-based cryptosystems.
• Joe Kilian, for ingenious contributions to areas including primality testing, secure computation, oblivious transfer, interactive proofs, zero knowledge, and watermarking.
• Kaisa Nyberg, for fundamental contributions to the design and analysis of block ciphers, for contributions to mobile phone security, and for service to the IACR.
• Tatsuaki Okamoto, for theoretical and practical contributions to areas including encryption, signatures, identification, elliptic-curve cryptosystems, zero knowledge, and electronic cash, and for service to the IACR.
• Bart Preneel, for outstanding service to the IACR, for numerous research contributions, for sustained educational leadership, and for effectively leading the European cryptologic research community.
• Tal Rabin, for contributions to the theory of multiparty computation, encryption, and signatures, and for leadership on cryptographic research within industry.

In 2004, the IACR established the IACR Fellows Program to recognize outstanding IACR members for technical and professional contributions that:

• Advance the science, technology, and practice of cryptology and related fields;
• Promote the free exchange of ideas and information about cryptology and related fields;
• Develop and maintain the professional skill and integrity of individuals in the cryptologic community;
• Advance the standing of the cryptologic community in the wider scientific and technical world and promote fruitful relationships between the IACR and other scientific and technical organizations.
In general, two broad categories of accomplishment will be considered: technical contributions and distinguished service to the cryptologic community. Fellows are expected to be "model citizens" of the cryptologic community, and thus most of them will have demonstrated sustained and significant accomplishment in both categories, but a very small number may be chosen for unique and crucial accomplishment in one category only.

More information about the Fellows program, including the list of all Fellows, can be found at http://iacr.org/fellows/.

2015-04-04
20:40 [Event][New]

Submission: 1 June 2015
From September 21 to September 22
Location: Vienna, Austria

2015-04-03
16:34 [Job][New]

1. Security mechanisms in Internet of Things

Contact: Xin.Huang (at) xjtlu.edu.cn

2. Wireless localization

Contact: Dawei.Liu (at) xjtlu.edu.cn

The two PhD fundings start from 2015-09, please send your applications as soon as possible.

Requirements:

The candidate should have a first class or upper second class honours degree, or a master’s degree, in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or Security.

Degree:

The student will be awarded a PhD degree from the University of Liverpool (UK) upon successful completion of the program.

Funding:

The award covers tuition fees for three years (currently equivalent to RMB 80,000 per annum) and provides a monthly stipend of 3500 RMB as a contribution to living expenses.

How to Apply:

Interested applicants are advised to email the following documents to

Doctoralstudies (at) xjtlu.edu.cn (please put the project title and primary supervisor’s name in the subject line).

• CV

• Two reference letters

• Personal statement outlining your interest in the position

• IELTS score of above 6.5 or equivalent is required

• Verified school transcripts in both Chinese and English (for international students, only the English version is required)

• Verified certificates of education qualifications in both Chinese and English (for international students, only the English version is required)