CIFRIS24 - an event by De Cifris

Venue: Banca d'Italia, Centro D. Menichella, Largo Guido Carli 1, Frascati (Roma)
Social dinner: September 25th, Satiricus, Via dei Corridori 58, Roma
September 25th, 26th, 27th 2024

ReAdPQC24 - Recent Advances in Post-Quantum Cryptography 2024

Organizers

Giulio Codogni (Tor Vergata University, Italy)
Roberto La Scala (University of Bari, Italy)
Edoardo Persichetti (Florida Atlantic University, USA)
Federico Pintore (University of Trento, Italy)

Description

Post-quantum cryptography, that is, the study of cryptographic schemes capable of withstanding attackers equipped with both classical and quantum computers, is an area of research that has experienced tremendous growth in recent years, also due to the initiation of a standardization effort by NIST, which has led to the selection of the first schemes to standardise. More recently, the focus has been on post-quantum digital signature schemes, which are the subject of the latest NIST competition. This workshop will provide an overview of the state of the art in post-quantum cryptography, along with the NIST competition, and focus on cutting-edge methods for designing and implementing post-quantum signatures.

Acknowledgements

This workshop was partially financially supported by the Italian MUR PRIN 2022 project POst quantum Identification and eNcryption primiTives: dEsign and Realization (POINTER) ID-2022M2JLF2.

Program

September 27th, workshop session
Main hall, 14:00 - 16:30

Keynote speaker: Thibauld Feneuil, CryptoExperts (France)

September 27th (afternoon) - Workshop Session
14:00 14:40	Thibauld Feneuil, CryptoExperts (France) Post-Quantum Signatures from Secure Multiparty Computation Abstract The MPC-in-the-Head (MPCitH) paradigm is a versatile framework to design zero-knowledge proofs and post-quantum signatures, by relying on secure multi-party computation (MPC) techniques. It has recently been improved in a series of works which makes it a practical and tunable tool. This paradigm has been utilized in 9 out of the 40 candidates selected for the first round of the recent NIST call for additional post-quantum signatures. In this talk, I will provide a general introduction to MPCitH, discuss the latest MPCitH techniques, and show how they can be used to build efficient post-quantum signatures.
14:40 15:05	Rocco Mora, CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security (Germany) The Regular Multivariate Quadratic problem Abstract In this talk, we introduce a new NP-complete variant of the multivariate quadratic problem. The computational challenge involves finding a solution to an algebraic system that meets the "regular" constraint, meaning that each block of the solution vector contains only one nonzero entry. Following this, we adapt and compare various techniques of cryptanalysis to study the asymptotic complexity of the average instance.
15:05 15:15	Coffee Break
15:15 15:40	Ryann Cartor, Clemson University (USA) MinRank Attacks in Multivariate Cryptography Abstract This talk focuses on the cryptanalysis of post-quantum cryptography schemes, particularly focusing on multivariate and rank-metric code-based cryptosystems. As quantum computing advances, these schemes have gained attention for their unique performance characteristics, but they are vulnerable to MinRank attacks, which have exposed critical security flaws. The MinRank problem, central to these attacks, has been effectively used to break several prominent cryptosystems. This presentation will examine two distinct MinRank-based attacks on the multivariate encryption scheme HFERP, offering new insights into cryptanalytic techniques and their implications for the future of post-quantum cryptography. The discussion highlights the necessity of continuous cryptanalysis and innovation in developing quantum-resistant cryptosystems.
15:40 16:05	Luciano Maino, University of Bristol (UK) Attack-based encryption using isogenies Abstract In this talk, we will describe how to turn an attack into a constructive tool. In particular, we will introduce FESTA, a public-key encryption mechanism derived from an attack on a specific isogeny problem. The practicality of FESTA relies on novel efficient algorithms to compute isogenies between abelian surfaces. We will give some intuition on such algorithms and finally discuss recent developments in isogeny-based cryptography.
16:05 16:30	Andrea Basso, IBM Zurich (Switzerland) SQIsign2D-West: The Fast, the Small, and the Safer Abstract SQIsign is the leading isogeny-based signature scheme: it is the only isogeny-based candidate in the NIST, and it offers small signatures, at the cost of long computation times. In this talk, we briefly survey the developments of SQIsign over the years, and we introduce SQIsign2D-West, a variant of SQIsign using two-dimensional isogeny representations. The new signature scheme offers remarkable performance (80 ms for signing, 4.5 ms for verification), compact signatures (66 bytes for a public key, 148 bytes for a signature), and strong security (by relying on a simple assumption). This represents an improvement over one-dimensional SQIsign in all metrics and better trade-offs than all SQIsign variants.