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
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
Timed Commitment Schemes to Smooth Internet Bottlenecks, Defend against Denial of Service Attacks, and Bypass Some Legal Problems of Enccryption. Bottlenecks on the Internet and Denial of Service attacks on a server are both caused by excessive demands made on a system. This proposal is to reduce the ill-effects of either by building on our previous theoretical work on strongboxes of combinatorial designs. In the case of bottlenecks, the demands are legitimate but badly timed, and our approach ....Timed Commitment Schemes to Smooth Internet Bottlenecks, Defend against Denial of Service Attacks, and Bypass Some Legal Problems of Enccryption. Bottlenecks on the Internet and Denial of Service attacks on a server are both caused by excessive demands made on a system. This proposal is to reduce the ill-effects of either by building on our previous theoretical work on strongboxes of combinatorial designs. In the case of bottlenecks, the demands are legitimate but badly timed, and our approach will redistribute the demands more evenly. In the case of Denial of Service attacks, the demands are malicious, and our approach will respond in such a way as to deplete the resources of the attacker.Read moreRead less