Sabancı University to Host a Renowned Expert on Side-Channel Attacks on October 22, 2024
Sabancı University will be hosting the enCRYPTON Workshop on Applied Cryptography: Exploring Side-Channel Attacks on Cryptographic Algorithms on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. The event will take place from 10:00 to 12:20 in room EDU 2137. The speakers are the leading expert in side-channel attack Prof. Elisabeth Oswald from the University of Birmingham and PhD student Tolun Tosun from Sabancı University.
Understanding Side-Channel Attacks
Side-channel attacks exploit the physical implementations of cryptographic algorithms, allowing attackers to gather information through channels such as execution time, power consumption, electromagnetic emissions, and even sound. Despite existing protective measures such as masking, randomization, noise injection, and hardware-level defenses, preventing information leakage entirely remains a challenge. This workshop aims to assess how such leaks occur, to demonstrate how they are exploited and to evaluate the effectiveness of protective techniques.
Keynote Speakers and Sessions
The workshop will feature two insightful talks:
- Prof. Elisabeth Oswald will open the workshop with a presentation on recent progress in assessing information leakage in cryptographic systems. Prof. Oswald, a leading figure in the field, is known for her pioneering work on side-channel attacks, particularly power analysis. Her talk will provide attendees with the latest developments and methodologies in evaluating the robustness of cryptographic implementations against side-channel threats.
- Tolun Tosun, a Ph.D. student at Sabancı University, will follow with a presentation on the impact of implementation artifacts on the security of cryptographic systems. Tosun's talk will include a demonstration of how these artifacts can lead to effective attacks on masked implementations of post-quantum cryptographic algorithms such as Crystals Kyber and Dilithium, which are vital in the context of post-quantum cryptography.
About the Speakers
Prof. Elisabeth Oswald is an Austrian cryptographer celebrated for her expertise in side-channel attacks and countermeasures. After earning her Ph.D. from Graz University of Technology, she continued her research in this field, becoming a Professor in Applied Cryptography. Her career spans positions at the University of Bristol and the University of Klagenfurt, and she is currently a professor at the University of Birmingham. She is also a co-author of the book Power Analysis Attacks: Revealing the Secrets of Smartcards.
Tolun Tosun completed his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science and Engineering at Sabancı University and has been a Ph.D. student since 2019. With a background in cryptographic engineering from his tenure at Analog Devices, Tosun focuses his research on applied cryptography, side-channel attacks and countermeasures, and efficient implementations of lattice-based cryptography.
The enCRYPTON Workshop is an excellent opportunity for students, researchers, and professionals in the field of cryptography to learn from leading experts about the latest developments in side-channel attacks, their evaluations and countermeasures. The event promises to deliver valuable insights into the challenges and solutions in safeguarding cryptographic implementations.