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
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
Algebraic Models of Stream Ciphers. The project investigates communication security in the mobile environment where both confidentiality and authenticity are of a prime concern. Stream ciphers are a natural choice in mobile environments as they provide an efficient cryptographic protection using a limited computing resources. We treat stream ciphers as algebraic objects whose properties fully determine their cryptographic strength. We first analyse existing stream ciphers showing their algebraic ....Algebraic Models of Stream Ciphers. The project investigates communication security in the mobile environment where both confidentiality and authenticity are of a prime concern. Stream ciphers are a natural choice in mobile environments as they provide an efficient cryptographic protection using a limited computing resources. We treat stream ciphers as algebraic objects whose properties fully determine their cryptographic strength. We first analyse existing stream ciphers showing their algebraic properties and later we derive a design methodology for provably secure stream ciphers. The project leads to new secure and efficient designs for stream ciphers that are the preferred cryptographic tools used in Australian industry.Read moreRead less
Algebraic Analysis of Cryptosystems. This project studies an (new) algebraic approach to cryptanalysis of modern block ciphers. The approach works for all cryptosystems that use either small S-boxes, or their algebraic structure can be described by a system of overdefined quadratic equations. The cryptosystems that are potentially breakable using this approach are Rijndael and Serpent - the two top finalists of the Advanced Encryption Standard contest. The project also explores how this approach ....Algebraic Analysis of Cryptosystems. This project studies an (new) algebraic approach to cryptanalysis of modern block ciphers. The approach works for all cryptosystems that use either small S-boxes, or their algebraic structure can be described by a system of overdefined quadratic equations. The cryptosystems that are potentially breakable using this approach are Rijndael and Serpent - the two top finalists of the Advanced Encryption Standard contest. The project also explores how this approach can be applied to design new and more powerful factoring algorithms. The project has an explosive potential to redefine the theory and practice of modern cryptography.Read moreRead less
Secure and Efficient Cryptographic Hashing. This project will enhance information security, which is absolutely crucial for rapidly growing e-commerce, e-government services and for national security (Priority 4 -Safeguarding Australia - Protection against Terrorism and Crime). The project will strengthen international collaboration by reciprocal exchange of researchers and postgraduate students leading to more attractive and productive research environment. At the same time, the project will he ....Secure and Efficient Cryptographic Hashing. This project will enhance information security, which is absolutely crucial for rapidly growing e-commerce, e-government services and for national security (Priority 4 -Safeguarding Australia - Protection against Terrorism and Crime). The project will strengthen international collaboration by reciprocal exchange of researchers and postgraduate students leading to more attractive and productive research environment. At the same time, the project will help to maintain high research profile of Australian researchers, to increase the capacity for consultancy and contract work, and provide a cutting-edge information technology for the Australian telecommunications industry, business and government (Priority 3 - Frontier Technologies). Read moreRead less
Number Theoretic Methods in Cryptography. It is well known that Number Theory, besides its intrinsic beauty, provides many powerful tools for modern Cryptography. The aim of the project is to formulate and solve new and important mathematical problems, which lie in the background of modern cryptography. They are also of independent value for pure mathematics because they very often stimulate new approaches to and new surprising points of view on classical results and methods. The main outcome w ....Number Theoretic Methods in Cryptography. It is well known that Number Theory, besides its intrinsic beauty, provides many powerful tools for modern Cryptography. The aim of the project is to formulate and solve new and important mathematical problems, which lie in the background of modern cryptography. They are also of independent value for pure mathematics because they very often stimulate new approaches to and new surprising points of view on classical results and methods. The main outcome will be advancing our theoretical knowledge about several major cryptosystems. The project will extend and enrich the area of applications of mathematics to cryptography and related areas.Read moreRead less
Secure and Efficient Electronic Auctions. For the first time in history electronic commerce promises the possibility of auctions to decide the correct market price for a widespread variety of everyday goods and services. Security and efficiency are critical factors in making this a reality, but almost all the many protocols for secure auctions proposed to date suffer from extreme computational requirements. This project will develop efficient and secure auction protocols using innovative approac ....Secure and Efficient Electronic Auctions. For the first time in history electronic commerce promises the possibility of auctions to decide the correct market price for a widespread variety of everyday goods and services. Security and efficiency are critical factors in making this a reality, but almost all the many protocols for secure auctions proposed to date suffer from extreme computational requirements. This project will develop efficient and secure auction protocols using innovative approaches based on advanced cryptographic techniques. In particular we will pioneer the exploration of secure microauctions suitable for negotiating the price of small value goods and utilities in almost real time.Read moreRead less
Mathematics of Cryptography. The Australian society and economy requires fast, reliable, and secure communication. First-generation security solutions are not capable of supporting the efficiency and scalability requirements of mass-market adoption of wireless and embedded consumer applications. New security infrastructures are emerging and must be carefully, but rapidly, defined. Thus developing new mathematically solid tools in this area is one of the most important and urgent tasks. Besides, ....Mathematics of Cryptography. The Australian society and economy requires fast, reliable, and secure communication. First-generation security solutions are not capable of supporting the efficiency and scalability requirements of mass-market adoption of wireless and embedded consumer applications. New security infrastructures are emerging and must be carefully, but rapidly, defined. Thus developing new mathematically solid tools in this area is one of the most important and urgent tasks. Besides, the intended work advances our knowledge of the theory and the quality of our culture. As such, it will promote the Australian science and will also have many practical applications in Cryptography, Computer Security and E-Commerce.Read moreRead less
Efficient Pre-Processing of Hard Problems: New Approaches, Basic Theory and Applications. Computers store even larger amounts of data about all aspects of human and industrial activity. However, they have not become significantly better at solving common problems in optimization and search. Traditional complexity theory indicates many of these problems require algorithms that are very unlikely to exist. The Parameterized Complexity approach allows us to obtain very efficient algorithms for a lar ....Efficient Pre-Processing of Hard Problems: New Approaches, Basic Theory and Applications. Computers store even larger amounts of data about all aspects of human and industrial activity. However, they have not become significantly better at solving common problems in optimization and search. Traditional complexity theory indicates many of these problems require algorithms that are very unlikely to exist. The Parameterized Complexity approach allows us to obtain very efficient algorithms for a large variety of problems, but the machinery required was diverse and complicated. This research will organize the machinery into a new approach that systematically finds good algorithms by applying simplifications around a parameter of the domain of the problem. As a result, efficient algorithms are obtained for many diverse areas.Read moreRead less
Privacy in Genetic Databases. With the recent advances in genetic and computer technology enormous databases containing genetic information have become available for research and other purposes. An example of such databases is the Icelandic Health Database containing health and genetic records about the total population of Iceland. This has raised many privacy and ethical questions both among health professionals and the general public. Many agree that genetic information bears more ethical and ....Privacy in Genetic Databases. With the recent advances in genetic and computer technology enormous databases containing genetic information have become available for research and other purposes. An example of such databases is the Icelandic Health Database containing health and genetic records about the total population of Iceland. This has raised many privacy and ethical questions both among health professionals and the general public. Many agree that genetic information bears more ethical and privacy concerns than other health databases. In this project we shall investigate privacy and ethical issues connected to genetic information and we develop techniques to prevent a disclosure of individual values through statistical analysis.Read moreRead less