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Blog for the University of Bristol cryptography research group; research and posts geared towards cryptology students

The International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) is a non-profit scientific organization whose purpose is to further research in cryptology and related fields. Cryptology is the science and practice of designing computation and communication systems which are secure in the presence of adversaries.

"The problem of securing biological research data is a difficult and complicated one. Our ability to secure data on computers is not robust enough to ensure the security of existing data sets. Lessons from cryptography illustrate that neither secrecy measures, such as deleting technical details, nor national solutions, such as export controls, will work. "

Security researchers have successfully broken one of the most secure encryption algorithms, 4096-bit RSA, by listening - yes, with a microphone - to a computer as it decrypts some encrypted data.

Online collaboration over the claimed proof "P versus NP" demonstrates the potential of the internet in the field of mathematical and intellectual research alike. The proof "P versus NP," if verified, would make obsolete modern cryptography, which works under the assumption that P does not equal NP.

Summary: California researchers report a breakthrough with the creation of a solid-state quantum processor that could ultimately have a bearing on future cryptographic techniques. Researchers in California have designed and built a quantum processor capable of factoring 15 into its primes - with major implications for computer security.

I thought this post was well written. It was short and concise but was well organized and polished. I also liked that it wasn't too informal. The pseudo-scientific explanations for the malformation were very interesting.

This blog incorporates both researched information and personal anecdote in a well-balanced, entertaining manner. The topic is new information to me, and I would assume most readers, and was presented compellingly. The photo was also a nice addition!

"Matt Blaze directs the Distributed Systems Lab at the University of Pennsylvania." This site links to his blog and research papers regarding topics of cryptography.

I thought the author of this post did a great job explaining the experiment and the point of his research. Additionally, he was able to clarify complex scientific words and processes, without spending too much time explaining every detail. The overall structure of the blog post is well done, as the author progresses from an explanation of the experiment, to the meaning of certain results, to the results themselves.

Researchers have applied the microdot principle described by Singh on page 6 to hide messages in DNA sequences.

The Babington plot, which was the undoing of Mary, Queen of Scots, was one of several conspiracies against Elizabeth I that were uncovered. The Ridolfi Plot In 1571 a plot was discovered involving Philip II of Spain, Pope Pius V and the Duke of Norfolk, as well as Mary's advisor, the Bishop of Ross, and Mary herself.

Essentially, this paper goes through the types of gait recognition software that currently exist as well as the reliability of this software. There are a lot of different elements that influence a persons gait (like terrain, shoes, fatigue, etc.), which effects how well the software works. It's a pretty heavy read but it's really interesting if you want to just jump to a certain section and read in depth. This technology is very much out there and in development, and it is definitely being improved upon. Also, even though this paper is a little bit older, it is still being cited in a lot of more recent research papers and I thought it would give a good enough grasp on the science for our purposes.

This article is particularly well written because of the amount of background research that was done. There were tests performed and their results were used in the article.

Quote: What you are looking at is one of the many undersea cables that carries inside it, to put it simply, the magic of the Internet. This particular cable, which runs aground on the coast of Florida, has been tapped by the NSA according to Paglen's research. Paglen, an artist who has been documenting the physical footprint of surveillance for years, got scuba-certified in order to go diving "at several locations off the coast of Florida," he says, to find and photograph the cables.

The Journal of Theoretical Physics and Cryptography is devoted to the rapid publication of fundamental research papers on all fields of theoretical physics and cryptography. All contributions shall be rigorously refereed and selecting on the basis of quality and originality of the work as well as the breadth of interest to readers.

This is the results of a Pew Research survey in May (of 2015) regarding Americans' opinions of the NSA, surveillance, national security, etc. This could be useful in the security vs. privacy paper, to look at the public opinion on these issues.

"Signage can be an important legal component in the use of video cameras in schools. As mentioned in the previous section, it is important that the presence of video cameras not lead a person to believe he or she will be rescued if attacked."

Interesting how this article talks about the gait analysis being used for catching terrorists, while in Little Brother, it was used to keep track of the high school students. The technology is not quite ready to be used, but seems to be much more reliable than the gait trackers in the book.

Georgia Tech Research Institute is making gait recognition technology a reality. "The ultimate goal is to detect, classify and identify humans at distances up to 500 feet away under day or night, all-weather conditions. Such capabilities will enhance the protection of U.S. forces and facilities from terrorist attacks."