Workshop on Applied Crypto & Hardware Security August 12-16, 2013
A Week of Applied Cryptography & Hardware Security
August 12-16, 2013
Cryptography is a not a new subject for the mathematics, computer science and electrical engineering academic and industrial research and development communities. The fruits of the work since the mid-1970s form the backbone of communication security, including e-commerce, logging into email servers and corporate VPNs, and many other activities we perform over the Internet or via cellular communication networks. The invention of cryptographic algorithms and protocols was essential for the security of our computers, laptops, smart phones and servers.
However, equally important are the hardware and software realizations of cryptographic algorithms and prodotocls for the platforms on which they run. There are significant challenges in high-speed, small-space (circuit size or code space) implementations of cryptographic algorithms. Some of these challenges, particularly speed and space issues, have been understood and partially met as early as soon as public-key cryptographic algorithms were invented, however, new challenges appeared as systems equipped with cryptography were deployed for use by the masses. The timing and power attack scenarios made us realize that a cryptographic algorithm implemented in software or hardware is a quite different thing from its mathematical description. While it may be nearly impossible to break a cryptographic algorithm in an acceptable time, since it requires computing resources that are far beyond our current ability both algorithmically and architecturally, it may be quite easy to obtain the very same key practically, by simply observing the timing or power data from a device performing a signature or decryption operation.
The purpose of this 5-day workshop to introduce and cover in detail all fundamental issues pertaining to applied cryptography and hardware security. The course is particularly designed for hardware and embedded software engineers, graduate students, and researchers. Each lecturer is an expert in his or her own field; the lecturers will be available for research discussions and answering questions during the coffee breaks, lunches, and dinners, and also after their lectures.
The ACHS workshop week is the prior week of the Crypto Conference (August 18-22) and the Cryptographic Hardware Embedded Systems Workshop (Aug 20-23), which are held in the beautiful campus of the University of California Santa Barbara, allowing the participants to attend Crypto and CHES, where highly advanced research results are presented. The ACHS will be the most suitable forum for beginners to gather and digest the necessary basic knowledge as well as for advanced researchers interested in learning the necessary background and the context of cutting-edge research in applied cryptography and hardware security.
Applied Cryptography
The lectures in applied cryptography covers fundamentals of cryptographic algorithms and protocols, theoretical security of cryptographic algorithms including cryptanalysis and quantum computing methods, hardware and embedded software realizations of cryptography, and side-channel attacks and countermeasures.
Hardware Security
The lectures in hardware security covers architectural and physical foundations of hardware security, including hardware design for security, secure boot, FPGA security, low-cost randomness and physically unclonable functions, and finally issues regarding tools, integration, and lifecycle threats, Trojan hardware and verification.