directii cercetare

Research directionsSecurity Information Technology

Marius Iulian Mihailescu

University of Bucharest

[email protected]

June 30, 2011

Marius Iulian Mihailescu (UB) Research directions June 30, 2011 1 / 7

Primary Research Domains

1 Biometrics and RFID Systems. Cryptanalysis of Authentication Protocols;

2 Analysis and Design of Cryptographic Hash Functions, Block and Stream Ciphers

3 Investigate Hiding Information Steganography and Watermarking


Biometrics and RFID Systems. Cryptanalysis of Authentication Protocols

1 Main Research Problems for1 cryptanalysis of authentication protocols(ex. )2 communication interception between tag and reader3 assure security for biometrics template stored in database

2 Develop innovative digital identity solutions, combining1 secure, automatic user identification thanks to electronic fingerprint authentication2 reliable protection of the biometrics data through advanced cryptography technology3 To provide assurance for

1 the data used for the authentication, generated from the fingerprint, cannot be used torestore the original fingerprint sample

2 the individual will be able to create different ”pseudo-identities” for different applicationswith the same fingerprint, whilst ensuring that these different identities (and hence therelated personal data) cannot be linked to each other, and

3 the individual is enabled to revoke an identity for a given application in case it should not beused anymore


RFID and Biometrics Systems. Other research topics

1 Biometrics-Based Identifiers for Digital Identity Management1 Design algorithms which will reliably generate biometric identifiers from a users

biometric image which in turn is used for identity verification possibly in conjunctionwith cryptographic keys.

2 Generating and Sharing Biometrics Based on Session Keys for SecureCryptographic Applications

1 Propose a protocol to generate and share session keys which are valid for only onecommunication session.

2 The protocol achieves mutual authentication between the client and the server withoutthe need of trusted third party certificates.

3 The protocol facilitates easy online updating of templates. The stored templates arecancelable.

3 Privacy Preserving Multi-Factor Authentication with Biometrics

1 Create a two-phase authentication mechanism for federated identity managementsystems.

2 The first phase consists of a two-factor biometric authentication based on zeroknowledge proofs.


Analysis and Design of Cryptographic Hash Functions, Block and StreamCiphers

1 Formalize both the design and cryptanalysis of primitives for symmetriccryptography: block ciphers, hash functions, MACs, stream ciphers

2 Differential Cryptanalysis1 protect hash functions from DC2 sparse (truncated) differential characteristics needed

3 How not to get broken?1 High level scheme, confusion/diffusion elements2 Double or triple the number of rounds that are supposed to resist linear and differential

cryptanalysis

4 Ways to explore1 Lightweight cryptography2 More provable security for practical designs3 Efficient, large-block ciphers4 Finding the perfect key-schedule5 Intrinsically fault/leakage-resistant designs6 Designs resistant to reverse-engineering (white-box cryptography)


Investigate Hiding Information. Steganography and Watermarking

1 Detect files and registry entries associated with steganography andwatermarking applications

1 Create digital forensic analysis tool designed for digital forensic examinations, allowingthe examiner to scan suspect media or forensic images of suspect media

2 The identification of files is done by using CRC-32, MD5, SGA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256,SHA-384 and SHA-512 hash values stored in Steganography Application FingerprintDatabase (SAFDB)

3 Generate automated scanning of an entire file system, individual directories, orindividual files on suspect media for the presence of steganography applications fileartifacts.

4 Mount and scan forensic images of storage media in EnCase, ISO, RAW, SMART,SafeBack, Paraben Forensic Replicator, and Paraben Forensic Storage formats.

2 Detect steganography artifacts and signatures in real-time over a network1 Detect fingerprints of over 925 steganography applications2 Detect signatures of over 55 steganography applications3 Send real-time alerts to network security administrators4 Retain copies of suspect files for further analysis

3 Detect files containing steganography and extract the hidden information1 Identify files that have information appended beyond a file’s end-of-file marker and

analyze the files in a hex editor view to determine the nature of the hidden information2 Identify files that have information embedded using Least Significant Bit (LSB) image

encoding and extract and rearrange the LSbs for analysis in a hex editor view to detecthidden information

4 Extensive report generation in HTML, PDF format5 Automated logging of key events and information of potential evidentiary value


Thank for your attention
