Privacy-preserving data processing on the cloud. This project aims to address the current lack of privacy of user data processed by common cloud computing web servers, including email, business data, and confidential files. This project aims to develop new techniques in cryptography. The anticipated outcome is a suite of practical tools enabling common cloud computing processing operations such as search, statistical analysis, and multi-user access control, to be performed efficiently while pres ....Privacy-preserving data processing on the cloud. This project aims to address the current lack of privacy of user data processed by common cloud computing web servers, including email, business data, and confidential files. This project aims to develop new techniques in cryptography. The anticipated outcome is a suite of practical tools enabling common cloud computing processing operations such as search, statistical analysis, and multi-user access control, to be performed efficiently while preserving the data privacy. These tools should provide significant benefits to the privacy of cloud users, as well as financial and reputation benefits to the IT industry, by significantly reducing the likelihood of massive user data privacy breaches in the event of a cyber-hacking attack on the cloud server.Read moreRead less
Cryptographic Protocols: Proofs and Designs. Cryptographic protocols are the foundation for protection of the critical electronic communications infrastructure on which much of commerce and industry rely. They will increasingly be required in emerging technologies such as ad-hoc wireless networks and sensor networks. This project will provide the ability to design new and efficient protocols with a mathematical guarantee of security. The resulting practical protocols will benefit all users of el ....Cryptographic Protocols: Proofs and Designs. Cryptographic protocols are the foundation for protection of the critical electronic communications infrastructure on which much of commerce and industry rely. They will increasingly be required in emerging technologies such as ad-hoc wireless networks and sensor networks. This project will provide the ability to design new and efficient protocols with a mathematical guarantee of security. The resulting practical protocols will benefit all users of electronic communications who require security for their information. This includes the financial industries, government, commerce and domestic users.Read moreRead less
Secure Communications for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems. Control systems are crucial to the nation's critical infrastructure. They supervise and command the remote devices used in the energy distribution, water management, telecommunications, and transport industries. Historically, security has not been a concern in the design of control systems communications, which has resulted in their current vulnerable state. This project will establish the communications security requirements ....Secure Communications for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems. Control systems are crucial to the nation's critical infrastructure. They supervise and command the remote devices used in the energy distribution, water management, telecommunications, and transport industries. Historically, security has not been a concern in the design of control systems communications, which has resulted in their current vulnerable state. This project will establish the communications security requirements of control systems technologies and propose suitable secure communications schemes. New cryptographic protocols and analytic models will be developed to account for the criticality and operational peculiarities of control systems communications. These results are of significant potential value to Australia's critical infrastructure protection.Read moreRead less
Internet authentication protocols: theory and practice. Authentication is the foundation for secure electronic communication. It is the first step for many everyday online processes such as remote login or electronic banking. This project aims to make analysis of such protocols more realistic and more complete, allowing online communication to become more secure for both corporate users and individuals.
Cryptographic Protocols from Pairings: Proofs and Designs. Modern society has become critically dependent on information and communications infrastructures. At the same time, the development of e-commerce is being slowed by lack of confidence in its security. By providing increased assurance and enhanced cryptographic security protocols this research will improve the dependability of the nation's information and communications infrastructure, as well as encourage the growth of e-commerce. Throu ....Cryptographic Protocols from Pairings: Proofs and Designs. Modern society has become critically dependent on information and communications infrastructures. At the same time, the development of e-commerce is being slowed by lack of confidence in its security. By providing increased assurance and enhanced cryptographic security protocols this research will improve the dependability of the nation's information and communications infrastructure, as well as encourage the growth of e-commerce. Through the expertise and experience gained with this project, Australia's excellence in information security research will be reinforced. The training of PhD and Honours students will provide a much needed source of highly trained information security professionals.Read moreRead less
Enabling Anonymity and Privacy for Blockchain Technology in a Quantum World. Blockchain is a promising technology in the digital world today. However, existing approaches for enabling blockchain applications, particularly with privacy protection and anonymity, are vulnerable to quantum computer attacks. This project aims to enable novel cryptographic mechanisms together with their cryptographic libraries for protecting blockchain in the quantum world, hence, post-quantum secure blockchain. The e ....Enabling Anonymity and Privacy for Blockchain Technology in a Quantum World. Blockchain is a promising technology in the digital world today. However, existing approaches for enabling blockchain applications, particularly with privacy protection and anonymity, are vulnerable to quantum computer attacks. This project aims to enable novel cryptographic mechanisms together with their cryptographic libraries for protecting blockchain in the quantum world, hence, post-quantum secure blockchain. The expected outcomes of this project include innovative technologies, as well as secure and practical post-quantum protocols for protecting future blockchain applications. This will provide economic and social benefits to Australian industry through the enablement of advanced technologies which are developed in Australia.Read moreRead less
Post-Quantum Functional Encryption : Principles, Protocols and Practice. Modern cryptography has the power to revolutionise virtually every aspect of our online lives. Large-scale secure data sharing could become a breeze, with tools such as functional encryption (FE) to give us fine control over access rights by means of expressive languages, and there will be no more juggling of crypto keys. Finally, the known foundations of FE will crumble when even small-sized quantum computers become realit ....Post-Quantum Functional Encryption : Principles, Protocols and Practice. Modern cryptography has the power to revolutionise virtually every aspect of our online lives. Large-scale secure data sharing could become a breeze, with tools such as functional encryption (FE) to give us fine control over access rights by means of expressive languages, and there will be no more juggling of crypto keys. Finally, the known foundations of FE will crumble when even small-sized quantum computers become reality, perhaps next decade. This project aims to recreate and expand the power of FE from post-quantum (PQ) mathematical principles, immune to quantum attacks, building on recent discoveries of limited forms of PQ-FE from rock-solid crypto principles. It begs exploring, for the truly spectacular outcomes likely to ensue.Read moreRead less
Investigations Into New Public Key Systems. Public key cryptography is now mainstream technology and an essential tool in electronic business. In order to go beyond the basic security services of confidentiality and authentication, additional features are now desirable, such as verifiability of encryption, distributed key generation, and group-oriented encryption and signatures. At the same time the increasing demand for mobile business requires public key implementations with minimal computatio ....Investigations Into New Public Key Systems. Public key cryptography is now mainstream technology and an essential tool in electronic business. In order to go beyond the basic security services of confidentiality and authentication, additional features are now desirable, such as verifiability of encryption, distributed key generation, and group-oriented encryption and signatures. At the same time the increasing demand for mobile business requires public key implementations with minimal computational and storage demands. This project will study five recently proposed public key algorithms and assess their suitability for various secure applications. These results are of significant potential value in Australia's electronic commerce market.Read moreRead less
Efficient and Secure Word-Based Stream Ciphers for Wireless Communications. Wireless networks are increasingly being used for communication, and to manage and control Australia's critical infrastructure. However, current methods of securing wireless networks are flawed, putting the country's economy, environment, and citizens at risk. The most reliable method for protecting wireless communications requires secure and efficient encryption algorithms. However, flaws have been found in most algo ....Efficient and Secure Word-Based Stream Ciphers for Wireless Communications. Wireless networks are increasingly being used for communication, and to manage and control Australia's critical infrastructure. However, current methods of securing wireless networks are flawed, putting the country's economy, environment, and citizens at risk. The most reliable method for protecting wireless communications requires secure and efficient encryption algorithms. However, flaws have been found in most algorithms proposed to date. This project will examine existing algorithms and attacks to determine design criteria for secure encryption algorithms for use in a wireless environment. An algorithm which meets these criteria and can be implemented efficiently in hardware and software will be proposed.Read moreRead less
Ultimately Trusted Security through Human-Powered Cryptography. Cryptography offers wonderful tools for unbreakable data security, but only between computer nodes, leaving their human owners helpless. Encrypted tunnels terminate not at humans but at mobile phones and personal computers, exposing users' secrets to spyware from search-engine keyloggers to full-bore malware planted by crooks, hackers, and foreign spy agencies. This project aims to create a simple and strong cryptography, so that hu ....Ultimately Trusted Security through Human-Powered Cryptography. Cryptography offers wonderful tools for unbreakable data security, but only between computer nodes, leaving their human owners helpless. Encrypted tunnels terminate not at humans but at mobile phones and personal computers, exposing users' secrets to spyware from search-engine keyloggers to full-bore malware planted by crooks, hackers, and foreign spy agencies. This project aims to create a simple and strong cryptography, so that humans can, for the first time, take front seat in real security protocols. The technical challenge is to build public-key ciphers, operable manually from a mental key in seconds, and from there remake human-powered versions of many useful information security protocols.Read moreRead less