Add BrightSurf on Google Email

Communication interception can be traced through meteor trails

Physicists at Kazan Federal University developed a refined simulation of joint reception areas for meteor radio reflections. The study reveals that unpredictable nature of meteors makes signal interception challenging, with practical possibilities disappearing at 30 km distances.

SourceKazan Federal University·JournalIEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation

Cryptographic protocol enables greater collaboration in drug discovery

MIT researchers developed a cryptographic system to securely analyze massive pharmacological datasets, enabling broad pooling of sensitive data for predictive drug discovery. The neural network identified novel interactions, including one with leukemia drug imatinib and an enzyme ErbB4, which could have clinical significance.

SourceMassachusetts Institute of Technology·JournalScience

Accelerating drug discovery by crowdsourcing confidential data

Researchers developed a secure multiparty computation protocol to facilitate collaboration among pharmaceutical companies and laboratories without revealing confidential data. The approach improved the ability of predictive models to identify new therapeutic candidates at an unprecedented scale and rate.

SourceAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)·JournalScience
Apple iPhone 17 Pro

Apple iPhone 17 Pro delivers top performance and advanced cameras for field documentation, data collection, and secure research communications.

Trailblazer in computational complexity theory to receive Knuth Priize

Johan Torkel Håstad of KTH Royal Institute of Technology is awarded the 2018 Donald E. Knuth Prize for his significant contributions to computer science, including optimization and cryptography. The prize recognizes his transformative techniques that have influenced subsequent work in these areas.

SourceAssociation for Computing Machinery

Holding law enforcement accountable for electronic surveillance

A new cryptographic system, AUDIT, is proposed to improve government surveillance accountability while maintaining confidentiality. The system uses a public ledger and cryptographic commitments to ensure transparency and accountability.

SourceMassachusetts Institute of Technology, CSAIL

An MSU-based researcher developed an algorithm to improve information security tools

A researcher at MSU developed an algorithm to improve information security tools by reducing the complexity of scalar multiplication in elliptical curve transformations. The new algorithm achieves a 5% reduction in precomputation stage complexity and a 4% reduction in main stage complexity.

SourceLomonosov Moscow State University·JournalApplied Mathematics and Computation

Email encryption standards hacked

Researchers demonstrated that two common email encryption standards are vulnerable to attacks, compromising secure communication. The S/MIME standard is not suitable for secure communication due to outdated cryptography, while OpenPGP can be configured securely but often isn't.

SourceRuhr-University Bochum

Towards sustainable blockchains

Researchers at IST Austria propose using disk space instead of computational power to secure blockchains, reducing energy consumption and promoting sustainability. The 'proofs of sequential work' approach has the potential to revolutionize blockchain design, offering a more eco-friendly alternative to traditional proof-of-work systems.

SourceInstitute of Science and Technology Austria
Aranet4 Home CO2 Monitor

Aranet4 Home CO2 Monitor tracks ventilation quality in labs, classrooms, and conference rooms with long battery life and clear e-ink readouts.

For nuclear weapons reduction, a way to verify without revealing

Researchers at MIT have developed a physics-based system to verify the destruction of nuclear warheads, using cryptographic keys in physical form. The new method uses neutron detection and resonance processes to identify authentic warheads, while concealing their designs.

SourceMassachusetts Institute of Technology·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Attacks on 4G LTE networks could send fake emergency alerts

Researchers from Purdue University have identified several new vulnerabilities in 4G LTE networks that could be exploited by hackers to forge the location of a mobile device and fabricate messages. The attacks, including authentication relay and denial of service attacks, were validated through experimentation on a real testbed.

SourcePurdue University

Energy-efficient encryption for the internet of things

MIT researchers have developed a new chip that consumes only 1/400 as much power as software execution of public-key encryption protocols, executing 500 times faster. The chip uses a general-purpose elliptic-curve design and features a dedicated inverter circuit to increase energy efficiency and reduce surface area.

SourceMassachusetts Institute of Technology

The ultimate defense against hackers may be just a few atoms thick

Researchers at NYU Tandon School of Engineering have introduced a new class of unclonable cybersecurity primitives made from low-cost nanomaterials with high structural randomness. These primitives can be used to securely encrypt and authenticate computer hardware and data physically, rather than through programming.

SourceNYU Tandon School of Engineering·JournalACS Nano
Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 46mm)

Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 46mm) tracks health metrics and safety alerts during long observing sessions, fieldwork, and remote expeditions.

'The dark side' of quantum computers

Quantum computers threaten to destroy current internet security methods as they can break RSA and ECC systems in days or hours. Researchers like Tanja Lange are working on alternative systems, including a $3.9 million EU-funded research consortium.

SourceEindhoven University of Technology·JournalNature

Genome analysis with near-complete privacy possible, say Stanford researchers

Using a cryptographic approach, Stanford researchers can identify disease-associated genes without revealing individual genetic information. The 'genome cloaking' technique enables researchers to analyze genomic data in aggregate and report on findings relevant to the study, protecting participants' privacy.

SourceStanford Medicine·JournalScience

System piggybacks on Bitcoin to prevent identity theft

Researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have developed a new system called Catena that uses Bitcoin's security machinery to defend against online identity theft and equivocation. The system requires the download of only about 40 megabytes of data, making it suitable for smartphones.

SourceMassachusetts Institute of Technology
SAMSUNG T9 Portable SSD 2TB

SAMSUNG T9 Portable SSD 2TB transfers large imagery and model outputs quickly between field laptops, lab workstations, and secure archives.

Best paper award for IST Austria Cryptographers and their collaborators

Researchers Joël Alwen and Krzysztof Pietrzak proved the existence of memory-hard functions, essential for securing password servers and decentralized cryptocurrencies. Their work enhances understanding of these functions and increases trust in using scrypt for password hashing.

SourceInstitute of Science and Technology Austria

New research horizons

Two UCSB faculty members, Stefano Tessaro and Andrea Young, have been selected as recipients of the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship for their outstanding contributions to cryptography and condensed matter physics. The fellowships will support their research efforts in building solid theoretical foundations for cryptogra...

SourceUniversity of California - Santa Barbara

World's most efficient AES crypto processing technology for IoT devices developed

Researchers at Tohoku University have developed a new technique for compressing Galois field arithmetic operations, resulting in the world's most efficient AES cryptographic processing circuit. This breakthrough enables the use of encryption technology in IoT devices with tight energy constraints, enhancing safety and security.

SourceTohoku University

Researchers devise secure, efficient anonymity network

A new anonymity scheme called Riffle provides strong security guarantees while using bandwidth efficiently. The system employs a mixnet with onion encryption and uses authentication encryption to verify the authenticity of messages, ensuring cryptographically secure communication as long as one server remains uncompromised.

SourceMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas, 2nd Edition

Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas, 2nd Edition is a durable star atlas for planning sessions, identifying targets, and teaching celestial navigation.

Cryptographic system lets users control access to their data

Researchers at MIT and Harvard University have developed a new cryptographic system called Sieve that allows users to store and manage their personal data securely. With Sieve, users can control which apps have access to their data and revoke access with ease.

SourceMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Two ERC Starting Grants and 1 ERC Consolidator Grant for IST Austria

Researchers at IST Austria have received ERC Starting Grants for their innovative projects in biochemistry and computer science, exploring the mechanisms of self-organizing properties of bacterial cells and developing new cryptographic schemes.

SourceInstitute of Science and Technology Austria

New untraceable messaging system comes with statistical guarantees

A new messaging system, Vuvuzela, provides strong mathematical guarantees of user anonymity while allowing for fast communication. The system uses three servers and encryption layers to confuse adversaries and prevent them from inferring communication patterns.

SourceMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Secure wireless key distribution verified within a real outdoor environment

Researchers verify secure Wireless Key Distribution in a real outdoor environment using concurrent service data transmission. The method achieves satisfactory statistical properties and satisfies criteria of randomness with a key generation rate of approximately 0.1 bits per second.

SourceKazan Federal University
Sony Alpha a7 IV (Body Only)

Sony Alpha a7 IV (Body Only) delivers reliable low-light performance and rugged build for astrophotography, lab documentation, and field expeditions.

Raising cryptography's standards

Researchers at MIT and Maynooth University developed a mathematical framework to calculate the minimum-security guarantees for any given encryption scheme. This allows information managers to make more informed decisions about how to protect data. The framework also applies to data privacy, enabling the modification or structuring of a...

SourceMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Computer scientists develop tool to make the Internet of Things safer

Computer scientists at UC San Diego have developed a tool to test security in hardware design, addressing the growing concern of device vulnerabilities. The tool can detect confidentiality and integrity breaches, such as timing channels and critical subsystem interference.

SourceUniversity of California - San Diego·JournalIEEE Micro

Collecting digital user data without invading privacy

A team of computer scientists from Saarland University has developed a software system called Privada, which enables website owners to collect user data while protecting individual privacy. The system uses multi-party computation and perturbation to ensure that only trends in the aggregated statistic are preserved.

SourceSaarland University

New system allows cloud customers to detect program-tampering

A new system enables cloud customers to quickly verify the proper execution of their software, protecting against malicious code and ensuring data privacy. The system uses a practical, succinct zero-knowledge proof that can fit in a single data packet.

SourceMassachusetts Institute of Technology
DJI Air 3 (RC-N2)

DJI Air 3 (RC-N2) captures 4K mapping passes and environmental surveys with dual cameras, long flight time, and omnidirectional obstacle sensing.

Thwarting the cleverest attackers

Researchers at MIT have developed a technique to mitigate side-channel attacks, which can steal computer secrets by analyzing time it takes for a computer to store data or measure its power consumption. This approach obscures computational details, making it difficult for attackers to infer information about the program.

SourceMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Cryptographic attack highlights the importance of bug-free software

A new attack was discovered that can bypass security provided by OpenSSL, a widely used cryptography toolkit. The attack targets a specific version of the software and requires a specific set of options to work, but highlights the need for formal verification and correctness in open source software.

SourceUniversity of Bristol

Computer scientist cracks mysterious 'Copiale Cipher'

A team of international researchers, led by computer scientist Kevin Knight, has finally broken the 75,000-character Copiale Cipher after centuries. The decoded message reveals rituals and political leanings of an 18th-century German secret society, shedding new light on its role in history.

SourceUniversity of Southern California

New anti-censorship scheme could make it impossible to block individual sites

Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a new anticensorship scheme called Telex, which uses public-key steganography to divert connections through participating ISPs. This system could shift the arms race regarding censorship in favor of free speech and access to information.

SourceUniversity of Michigan
Kestrel 3000 Pocket Weather Meter

Kestrel 3000 Pocket Weather Meter measures wind, temperature, and humidity in real time for site assessments, aviation checks, and safety briefings.

Major step ahead for cryptography

A new encryption scheme developed by Professor Nigel Smart allows for computations to be performed on encrypted data, enabling secure storage and access of sensitive information. This technology has the potential to revolutionize fields such as medical care research and electronic voting, while maintaining patient privacy.

SourceUniversity of Bristol

Math plus cryptography equals drama and conflict

The intersection of mathematics and cryptography has significant implications for security and research, with mathematicians like Neal Koblitz contributing to the field. Koblitz's work highlights the challenges of 'provable security' in cryptography, as well as the influence of the National Security Agency on research.

SourceAmerican Mathematical Society·JournalNotices of the American Mathematical Society

How to leak a secret and not get caught

WikiLeaks, an online service designed to allow anyone to post sensitive government documents without being traced, is set to launch. The site aims to protect whistle-blowers and journalists from jail sentences for emailing sensitive information; however, concerns remain about the misuse of its anonymity feature.

SourceNew Scientist·JournalThe New Scientist

Updated federal guide on cryptography available

The NIST Special Publication 800-21-1 provides guidelines for implementing cryptography in the federal government. The publication aims to improve IT security and facilitate FISMA compliance among federal agencies, ensuring protection of sensitive information and systems.

SourceNational Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Equatorial Mount

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Equatorial Mount provides precise tracking capacity for deep-sky imaging rigs during long astrophotography sessions.

Cryptography and coding for kids

Professors Vera Pless and Janet Beissinger create educational games to teach kids about cryptography and coding theory, making math accessible and fun. The project aims to help youngsters understand the importance of coding in business security and online safety.

SourceUniversity of Illinois Chicago

You don't need to stop procrastinating

Researchers found that calculations taking longer than 26 months on current hardware are not worth starting. Instead, delaying until a more powerful computer is available can save time and resources. This strategy allows for optimal use of limited budgets for computers.

SourceNew Scientist·JournalThe New Scientist

The Stronger The Key Used To Encode Files, The Easier It Is To Find

Researchers have discovered that screensaver keys can be vulnerable to hacking by scanning hard drives for random chunks of data. This could allow hackers to find and crack private signature keys, compromising encryption systems, particularly those on Web servers.

SourceNew Scientist·JournalThe New Scientist
AmScope B120C-5M Compound Microscope

AmScope B120C-5M Compound Microscope supports teaching labs and QA checks with LED illumination, mechanical stage, and included 5MP camera.