Summer Seminars in Cybersecurity

Speaker: Prof. Paolo Gasti

Affiliation: New York Institute of Technology, USA; Keyless.io

Date: April 30th, 2021

Time: 17.30 - 19.00

Location: Online, https://meet.google.com/rox-pajg-qku

Abstract: Common smartphone authentication mechanisms (e.g., PINs, graphical passwords, and fingerprint scans) are not designed to offer security post-login. Multi-modal continuous authentication addresses this issue by frequently and unobtrusively authenticating the user via behavioral biometric signals, such as touchscreen interaction and hand movements. Because smartphones can easily fall into the hands of the adversary, it is critical that the behavioral biometric information collected and processed on these devices is secured. This can be done by offloading encrypted template information to a remote server, and then performing authentication via privacy-preserving protocols.

Bio: Paolo Gasti is an associate professor of the New York Institute of Technology and co-founder of Keyless, a start-up created in Italy together with Prof. Giuseppe Ateniese and others. Before joining NYT in 2012, he obtained a PhD in computer science from University of Genoa in 2010, and then held postdoc positions at University of California, Irvine, USA. His research focuses on behavioral biometric authentication, applied cryptography, and network security. In particular, he works on privacy-preserving techniques for biometric authentication of smartphone users, privacy-preserving protocols for sharing sensitive information, and security in new Internet architectures.

Speaker: Prof. Dario Fiore

Affiliation: IMDEA Software Institute, Madrid, Spain

Date: June 23rd, 2021

Time: 11.00 - 13.00

Location: Online, https://uniroma1.zoom.us/j/82882140412?pwd=WjZUVkhNYy9sYnlPb21MQk9TbmI4Zz09

Abstract: Due to phenomena like the ubiquity of the Internet and cloud computing it is increasingly common to store and process data on third-party machines. In spite of its attractive aspects, this trend raises a number of security concerns, including: How to ensure that the results computed by third parties are correct (integrity) and no unauthorized information is leaked (privacy)?

The current way to deal with these problems is to trust third-party machines under legislation guarantees—an assumption that unfortunately is often contradicted. In contrast, in this talk I will discuss how to address these questions in the challenging scenario where third-party machines are untrusted. I will give an overview of the cryptographic problems related to computing securely on untrusted machines, their state of the art, and the challenges that are ahead of us towards their cost-effective application.

Bio: Dario Fiore is an Associate Research Professor at the IMDEA Software Institute in Madrid. Before joining IMDEA in 2013, he obtained a PhD in computer science from University of Catania in 2010, and then held postdoc positions at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems in Germany, the New York University in the United States, and the École Normale Supérieure of Paris in France. Dario’s research interests are on theoretical and practical aspects of cryptography, and its applications to security and privacy. He is a recipient of an ERC Consolidator Grant (2020), and he co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed research papers that have been published in flagship international conferences and journals in the areas of Cryptography and Security, and have attracted so far over 2500 citations.

Speaker: Prof. Ivan Visconti

Affiliation: University of Salerno, Italy

Date: July 14th, 2021

Time: 11.00 - 13.00

Location: Online, https://uniroma1.zoom.us/j/83775461425?pwd=M0ltYkc3M1lPalFzTEQyM1VWd1F2Zz09

Abstract: This talk will present blockchain technology with a specific focus on the cryptographic tools that are used to build a blockchain. Moreover, the talk will discuss issues due to the presence of confidential data.

Bio: Ivan Visconti is a full professor of Computer Science in the Computer and Electrical Engineering and Applied Mathematics Department of the University of Salerno. His research interests focus mainly on designing provably secure and privacy-preserving cryptographic protocols and securing blockchains and their applications. He has been from 2018 to 2021 the scientific local coordinator at the University of Salerno for the H2020 European project "PRIViLEDGE" (Privacy-Enhancing Cryptography in Distributed Ledgers). Currently, he is serving as Senior Area Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security journal. Several of his results have been published in the proceedings of IACR conferences.