Time: Nov. 14, 2024, 9-10 pm (Hong Kong time) 9-10 am (EST)
Title: Secure and attack-resilient Release of Timed Information using Blockchains
Speaker: Prof. Balaji Palanisamy, Associate Professor in the School of Computing and Information at the University of Pittsburgh
Abstract: Rapid advancements in Internet and service technology have led to a proliferation of information exchange occurring in cyberspace. Timed data release refers to protecting and keeping data secure and undiscovered for a period of time until the mandated release time and the data is automatically released at that point. Examples of applications requiring timed release of data include secure auction systems (bidding information needs protection until all bids arrive), copyrights-aware data publishing (data is automatically released when the copyright expires) and secure voting mechanisms (votes are not allowed to be accessed until the end of the polling process). While there are numerous services that provide timed delivery of information, current implementations of timed data release are heavily centralized. These services require the users to trust the centralized servers and as a result, their security properties are limited to a single point of trust. More importantly, even in scenarios when the service providers are trustworthy, the services are still prone to unpredictable security breaches that are beyond the control of the service providers. In this talk, I will present our research on this topic that focuses on developing a special class of decentralized infrastructures using blockchain platforms to support timed release of data. I will discuss how our techniques provide a highly distributed solution for building decentralized timed releases of data using Blockchain-based smart contracts that provide guaranteed protection against adversarial attacks aimed at obtaining access to the data before the release time. Specifically, we will illustrate how our protocols guarantee provable resilience for timed data release against both rational and malicious adversaries. We will also review our techniques for enhancing the reliability of the timed data release and to support dynamic control of data in real-time. Finally, I will provide some insights into augmenting the timed data release techniques with mechanisms for decentralized timed transactions that enable scheduling of transaction functions without revealing the function inputs prior to the execution time.

Time: Nov. 4, 2024, 9-10 pm (Hong Kong time) 9-10 am (EST)
Title: Cryptographic Shuffling for Enhancing Relational Database Security
Speakers: Dr. Chin-Tser Huang, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of South Carolina
Dr. Tieming Geng, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Fayetteville State University
Abstract: Database security holds paramount importance as it safeguards an organization’s most valuable assets: data. In an age marked by escalating cyber threats, protecting sensitive information stored in databases is essential to preserve trust, prevent financial losses, and maintain legal compliance. In this talk, we introduce a cryptographic secure shuffling algorithm designed to enhance relational database security. Encryption algorithms have long served as a means of safeguarding sensitive and proprietary data. However, our shuffling algorithm offers distinct advantages over the encryption methods: Firstly, the shuffling algorithm preserves the original data form and introduces deception, reducing the time to detect the data leak. Secondly, shuffling can complement encryption, offering an additional layer of data protection. We also talk about the pathway on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the shuffling algorithm including the improvement on shuffling algorithm, and the adoption of hardware acceleration. The comprehensive security analyses have demonstrated the cryptographic robustness of the proposed shuffling algorithm with acceptable performance overhead.

Time: October 24, 2024, 9-10 pm (Hong Kong time) 9-10 am (EST)
Title: Secure Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) for Future Communication Systems
Speaker: Prof. Onur Günlü from Linköping University, Sweden
Abstract: Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), also known as joint communication and sensing, has emerged as a promising candidate for the next generation of mobile communication systems, aiming to unify the two key operations of future networks utilizing spectrum, namely sensing and communications. Key to ISAC’s success is the network’s ability to automatically react to changing environments thanks to the tight integration of communication and sensing. This integration introduces security challenges in addition to those in secure communications only. In particular, information leakage that occurs between the two functionalities could jeopardize the integrity of either or both operations. As both sensing and secrecy performance are measured with respect to the signal received at the sensed target, there exists a trade-off between the two. In this talk, I will establish inner and outer bounds on the fundamental limits of secure ISAC, which will be shown to be tight for degraded ISAC channels. The fundamental insights to be gained from my talk include the following: Unlike classical physical layer security (PLS) methods, secure ISAC systems can (i) Eliminate the need for the legitimate receiver to have a statistical advantage over the eavesdropper; (ii) Enable the sensing receiver to obtain information about the eavesdropper’s channel parameters; and (iii) Provide strong communication security with minimal rate penalty (i.e., secrecy can come for free). Moreover, I will illustrate that the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) is not a sufficient statistic anymore, which introduces new optimization problems for secure ISAC that demand further communication-theoretic analysis.