Category Archives: Cryptography

Spy master prays for the return of Alan Turing

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

5-Nov-2014

Contact: Jason Lim, Asst Manager cjlim@wspc.com.sg 646-65775 x247 World Scientific @worldscientific

It was almost unheard of to accuse US technology companies of becoming "the command and control networks of choice" for terrorists. Yet today, headlines announce that Robert Hannigan, new director of GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters, UK), has been doing just that. The "GCHQ chief accuses US tech giants of becoming terrorists' 'networks of choice" on his first week of taking office -- almost 18 months on since Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the National Security Agency (NSA) on May 20, 2013; the U.S. intelligence agency responsible for global monitoring, collection, decoding, translation and analysis of information and data for foreign intelligence.

According to the leaked documents unearthed by Snowden, the NSA intercepts the communications of over a billion people worldwide and tracks the movement of hundreds of millions of people using location data emitted by cellphones and emails. It has also created or maintained security vulnerabilities in most software and encryptions, leaving the majority of the Internet susceptible to cyber attacks from the NSA and other parties. Domestically, it contributes to mass surveillance in the United States by collecting and storing all phone records of all American citizens. Internationally, in addition to the various data sharing concerns that persist, research has pointed to the NSA's ability to surveil the domestic internet traffic of foreign countries through "boomerang routing".

Internet service providers and telcos have since begun deploying some cryptography techniques to stop spy agencies for poking their nose into our business. These technologies are so secure that even the boss of GCHQ is now praying for the return of Alan Turing to assist in breaking their codes.

Boris S Verkhovsky of New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA, might just have Hannigan's answer.

Prof. Verkhovsky looks into the subject of securing information sent through Internet by examining

In his book "Integer Algorithms in Cryptology and Information Assurance", published recently by World Scientific. Verkhovsky outlines various ways (algorithms and protocols) for secret and reliable communication, presented the "what" and "how" behind implementing the proposed cryptographic methodology (algorithms).

Prof. Boris Verkhovsky is a recipient of the USSR Ministry of Radio-Electronics Award; the Academy of Sciences of the USSR Award; the Alvin Johnson Award; and the Millennium Award and the Medal of Excellence. In this book, Prof Verkhovsky, addresses the issues of modern cryptography and cryptanalysis, which have been graining in popularity from national, industrial to personal security as more and more sensitive information is transmitted over open channels.

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Spy master prays for the return of Alan Turing

Think you’ve got what it takes to be the next Alan Turing? Play this game and find out if you’re a natural code-cracker

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The mathematical genius of Manchester icon Alan Turing is way beyond most of us but that doesn't mean we should lose all hope of proving we have what it takes to be an expert code breaker.

A new challenging online brain teaser, featuring cryptic clues, has been launched by mathematicians at the University of Manchester to coincide with the release of new film The Imitation Game.

Already tipped for Oscar success the film (starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley) tells the story of Alan Turing and how he cracked the German Enigma Code during World War Two, before moving to Manchester to continue his work before his untimely death at just 42.

The game, available to play online, is based around the true story of how in 1940 Alan Turing converted his savings into silver ingots and buried them in Bletchley Park.

Dr Alan Turing mathematician

Unfortunately for the mathematical genius he forgot their location and the ingots have never been found.

To celebrate the biopics release University of Manchester cryptographers have launched a one-off competition with Studio Canal for their annual online Alan Turing Cryptography Competition.

Dr Andrew Hazel from the School of Mathematics said, Having seen our annual online Alan Turing Cryptography Competition, StudioCanal contacted us to propose a one-off competition related to the release of The Imitation Game. We were delighted to take the opportunity to share our enthusiasm for mathematics and cryptography, and to highlight the close ties between the University, Alan Turing and Benedict Cumberbatch.

The fiendish brain teaser (trust us, it is difficult) gives the player three codes which once cracked can be used to locate one square on a map where Turings lost treasure is buried.

There is no time limit, and the challenge is to decipher the individual words the code is concealing.

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Think you've got what it takes to be the next Alan Turing? Play this game and find out if you're a natural code-cracker

Gilbert student set to graduate high school at age 11

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Ria Cheruvu is on the precipice of completing a major milestone in life, as shes very, very close to receiving her high school diploma. What makes her story a little less common than the average high school graduate is the time of life when shes graduating; the Arizona Connections Academy student is at an age when many students are picking up the basics of algebra.

Cheruvu is a 10-year-old girl not an overly uncommon one but not quite the norm either who expects to receive her diploma right around the time she turns 11. What happens immediately after that, however, remains up in the air.

There are a few long-term plans either already in the works for Cheruvu. At some point, she plans to attend college at Arizona State University, more than likely the schools Polytechnic campus located in Mesa not too far from her home in Gilbert. After that, in theory, are a few years in Cambridge, Mass., to pursue her post-secondary degree from Harvard.

What shes pursuing a career in neural cryptography, a complicated field dependent on principles of data security. A quick Google search for neural cryptography results in the appearance of a number of mathematical equations and algorithms, as well as an indication that much of the work in this field is done for theoretical purposes. Its rife with potential, and Cheruvu said neural cryptography would offer her a career with an opportunity to help people.

Anything after graduation though remains in the plane of potential and possibility. Cheruvu doesnt plan to attend college shortly after receiving that diploma; rather, she and her family intend to give her a little break in between so she doesnt get too burned out by life in the advanced stage. Not that shell stop studying and picking up knowledge anytime soon.

Im going to keep learning. Thats my main goal; I want to learn more and more about neural cryptography, she said. Im just going to keep on learning.

Plus, a little time off provides ample opportunity for Cheruvu to indulge in a few of her hobbies as well.

Its here where her blend of common and uncommon for her age comes into play. On the one hand, shes still a preteen girl as reflected by her taste in books like the I Am Number Four, Hunger Games trilogy and the book series Legend, all of which fit in the young adult genre. She also plays piano, paints and draws, writes poetry, golfs a bit and enjoys singing, none of which, again, arent overly surprising for a 10-year-old girl.

What makes her uncommon though is the depth of her interest in these activities. Playing piano doesnt entail replaying a piece of classical music; instead, shell compose her own music to perform. Shell also use her skills at mathematics and incorporate them into her golf game; golf, at its essence, is the incorporation of geometry into physical activity.

Everything is connected; everything Im learning is contributing to something, she said.

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Gilbert student set to graduate high school at age 11

Improving Cryptography with New Research

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Category: Science & Technology Posted: November 4, 2014 11:04AM Author: Guest_Jim_*

Data security is of great importance in the modern world, with so much private information being transmitted every day. Many modern cryptographic schemes rely on such complex operations that massive computational resources would be needed to crack them. Researchers at MIT and Maynooth University have recently found that some of these schemes also allow for another kind of security, which could be used to better protect the data.

While computational complexity protects data by requiring prodigious amounts of time and resources to crack, information-theoretic security protects against extracting any useful information, even with unlimited computational power. Information-theoretic schemes are some complicated though, that they are not practical to use. However, the researchers have found that existing cryptographic schemes do have some information-theoretic guarantees. The researchers found this by examining the probability spaces that pieces of plaintext would become certain ciphertexts. By keeping the probability of the different ciphertexts near each other, it becomes much harder to infer what the original plaintext may be.

What this translates to is that while an entire message may not be information-theoretic secured, portions of it could be. Potentially one could design the scheme to make sure select portions are, such as social security numbers, ages, or other particularly important pieces of information.

Source: MIT

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Improving Cryptography with New Research