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
Security Applications of Combinatorial Puzzles. This project provides a basis for improving the implementation and maintenance of key management systems. The application of discrete mathematics to information security will help safeguard Australia, will provide opportunities for Australians to take a leading role in an important area and will develop a research network, bridging both theoretical and practical aspects of mathematics and computer science. The project will enhance Australia's inter ....Security Applications of Combinatorial Puzzles. This project provides a basis for improving the implementation and maintenance of key management systems. The application of discrete mathematics to information security will help safeguard Australia, will provide opportunities for Australians to take a leading role in an important area and will develop a research network, bridging both theoretical and practical aspects of mathematics and computer science. The project will enhance Australia's international reputation by establishing collaborations with well-respected international mathematicians and computer scientists. The proposal contains topics suitable for the training of new graduates, allowing them to make high quality original research contributions in a novel and important area. 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
Technical and Legal Models for Virtual Info-Sharing Networks (VISN) for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP). This project has substantial national benefit because it will result in the design of a virtual information sharing network (VISN) that will better protect Australia's critical infrastructure. It will provide a comprehensive legal/technical analysis of the requirements/characteristics necessary for the development of a VISN. The development of a secure environment for a VISN will i ....Technical and Legal Models for Virtual Info-Sharing Networks (VISN) for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP). This project has substantial national benefit because it will result in the design of a virtual information sharing network (VISN) that will better protect Australia's critical infrastructure. It will provide a comprehensive legal/technical analysis of the requirements/characteristics necessary for the development of a VISN. The development of a secure environment for a VISN will improve industry trust and confidence in participating in the sharing of sensitive information; especially the disclosure of potential vulnerabilities or ascertained potential threats. The project will improve information dissemination speeds and assist post information disclosure controls. Read moreRead less
Security for Mobile Agent Based Systems. Mobile agents are emerging to be a significant technology in networked computing and pose fundamental challenges in security, for which no suitable solutions exist today. This research project addresses the theory, architecture and design of secure mobile agent systems. It achieves key conceptual advances by proposing a comprehensive security mode and a novel computational trust model for mobile agents. It develops new schemes for dynamic privilege man ....Security for Mobile Agent Based Systems. Mobile agents are emerging to be a significant technology in networked computing and pose fundamental challenges in security, for which no suitable solutions exist today. This research project addresses the theory, architecture and design of secure mobile agent systems. It achieves key conceptual advances by proposing a comprehensive security mode and a novel computational trust model for mobile agents. It develops new schemes for dynamic privilege management and offers new insights into the open research problem of protection against malicious hosts. It considers a novel calculus to formally reason about security properties and demonstrates practical secure agent based Internet applications.Read moreRead less
Enhancing Privacy for Digital Communication. Protecting one's privacy in cyber world is a challenging task. Every contact to a Web server leaves a digital footprint that can be linked with other publicly available information to compile a profile of one's activities. Anonymous communication is a powerful tool for enhancing individuals' privacy and providing services such as electronic election where a person's vote must be unlinkable to him/her. However, anonymity may be misused by criminals to ....Enhancing Privacy for Digital Communication. Protecting one's privacy in cyber world is a challenging task. Every contact to a Web server leaves a digital footprint that can be linked with other publicly available information to compile a profile of one's activities. Anonymous communication is a powerful tool for enhancing individuals' privacy and providing services such as electronic election where a person's vote must be unlinkable to him/her. However, anonymity may be misused by criminals to hide their identities and engage in illegal activities. The aim of this project is to design and analyse privacy enhancing communication systems that balance individuals' privacy and accountability, and develop criteria and metrics to compare performance of these systems.Read moreRead less
Secure Multi-Party Computation. The outcomes of this project will enhance information protection which is crucial fore rapidly growing e-commerce service and strengthen national safeguard capability of our digital systems and infrastructure. It will contribute to maintain Australia's leading position in the telecommunication and information industries. It will contribute to the quality of our culture by protecting individual's privacy and providing security for sensitive data.
Approximate authentication systems for digital information. Assurance about the origin and integrity of digital content is crucial not only in high security applications but also in everyday life scenarios such as providing proof that an X-ray image presented as part of an insurance claim is authentic, or a news clip is not tampered with. The outcomes of this project will significantly enhance trustworthiness of multimedia information systems which are increasingly used in areas such as surveil ....Approximate authentication systems for digital information. Assurance about the origin and integrity of digital content is crucial not only in high security applications but also in everyday life scenarios such as providing proof that an X-ray image presented as part of an insurance claim is authentic, or a news clip is not tampered with. The outcomes of this project will significantly enhance trustworthiness of multimedia information systems which are increasingly used in areas such as surveillance (traffic control), health, digital content production and distribution, tourism and journalism. It will also result in the development of secure biometric authentication systems which are critical in securing cyber space.Read moreRead less
Security for Wireless Mobile Ad hoc Networks. Mobile ad hoc networks, a new emerging wireless networking paradigm, poses challenging problems in security, due to its dynamic nature and lack of centralised infrastructure, for which no adequate solutions exist today. This research addresses theory and design of secure mobile ad hoc networks. It achieves conceptual advances in terms of new security models for distributed location management, mobile authentication and multicasting; it proposes nove ....Security for Wireless Mobile Ad hoc Networks. Mobile ad hoc networks, a new emerging wireless networking paradigm, poses challenging problems in security, due to its dynamic nature and lack of centralised infrastructure, for which no adequate solutions exist today. This research addresses theory and design of secure mobile ad hoc networks. It achieves conceptual advances in terms of new security models for distributed location management, mobile authentication and multicasting; it proposes novel dynamic group key management and denial of service protection schemes, develops new security mechanisms for ad hoc routing, provides new insights into formal reasoning of security and demonstrates and evaluates practical secure wireless mobile applications.Read moreRead less