Advanced Research in Cryptography

Press

Signal Finally Rolls Out Usernames, So You Can Keep Your Phone Number Private

“There’s a legitimate community of people who wanted to use Signal without giving other people their phone numbers, and they’re going to be very happy with this change. And then there’s a more hardcore set of people who don’t want to ever give their number to Signal. I think getting a big set of people serviced is the right direction, and working on satisfying all the other people is something for Signal to keep working on,” Matthew Green says.

Apple AirDrop leaks user data like a sieve. Chinese authorities say they’re scooping it up.

Matthew Green: “For a variety of mildly defensible reasons—which I will come back to in a moment, Apple does not use a secure PSI protocol to solve their AirDrop problem. Instead they did the thing that every software developer does when faced with the choice of doing complicated cryptography or ‘hacking something together in time for the next deadline’: they threw together their own solution using hash functions.”

This Clever New Idea Could Fix AirTag Stalking While Maximizing Privacy

“What I love about this problem is it seems like there are two competing requirements that can’t be reconciled,” Matthew Green says. “But in cryptography, we can get full privacy and then, magically, the puzzle pieces click into place, or a ‘chemical reaction’ happens, and we phase-transition to a point where suddenly it’s obvious that this is a stalker, not just a benign AirTag. It’s very powerful to be able to go between those two moments.”

Medical implant software systems and methods

ARC researcher Max Zinkus co-invents a patented system for upgrading medical implant firmware via an encrypted and authenticated communication channel.

An Update on Tornado Cash

Update on litigation between ARC researchers and the US Treasury Department’s OFAC.

Remarks on Chat Control

Matthew Green participates in a panel discussion at the European Internet Services Providers Association (EuroIPSA) on the EU Commission’s chat control content scanning proposal.

Apple’s unholy compromises in China

Fortune quotes Matthew Green and reports on an agreement between Apple and the Chinese government to not use hardware security modules.

Researchers Explain How Locked Android, iOS Phone Encryption Gets Bypassed

Gadgets360 reports on ARC research into mobile device security and privacy controls.

How Law Enforecemnt Gets Around Your Smartphone’s Encryption

Max Zinkus, Tushar Jois, and Matthew Green are interviewed by WIRED on their research into smartphone encryption.

WhatsApp Has Shared Your Data With Facebook for Years, Actually

While WhatsApp provides end-to-end encryption of message content, ARC researchers help contextualize how metadata may be used by Facebook to serve ads.

Susan Hohenberger wins Best Paper Award

Susan Hohenberger and her colleagues win best paper at CRYPTO 2020.

The Quest to Liberate $300,000 of Bitcoin From an Old Zip File

WIRED quotes Matthew Green on a story involving a legacy zip file encryption scheme.

Here’s when you can trust Zoom, and when you shouldn’t

Matthew Green offers context on issues with Zoom’s end-to-end encryption discovered by Citizen Lab.

So Wait, How Encrypted Are Zoom Meetings Really?

Politico quotes Matthew Green on Zoom’s encryption practices.

Zoom tries to address privacy, security concerns

WIRED quotes Matthew Green on Zoom’s end-to-end encryption claims.

Abhishek Jain receives NSF CAREER Award

Abhishek Jain is a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Early CAREER Award.

Does encryption help with privacy, or does it violate public safety?

Matthew Green is interviewed by Marketplace on requests by the Austalian, UK, and US governments to hold off end-to-end encryption plans on Facebook Messenger.

Google Will Replace Titan Security Key Over a Bluetooth Flaw

Matthew Green quoted in WIRED story on Bluetooth misconfiguration in security keys.

New Software Improves Speed and Accuracy of Cryptography

Susan Hohenberger is awarded an $800,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research.

Researchers Find Critical Backdoor in Swiss Online Voting System

Motherboard reports on a severe issue in a new Swiss internet voting system. Matthew Green, an assistant professor affiliated with ARC, is quoted.

ISI’s Matt Green Receives $100,000 Google Security and privacy Research Award

Matthew Green is awarded a $100,000 grant from Google in recognition of his significant contributions to the field of cybersecurity. Green was selected for the award via internal Google nominations and voting. The award will support general research into applied cryptography.

How to Protect Yourself From the Giant Marriott Hack

WIRED reports on a data breach affecting up to 500 million people with context from ARC researchers.

Apple to Close iPhone Secuirty Hole That Law Enforcement Uses to Crack

Matthew Green helps contextualize Grayshift devices that bypass iPhone passcode protections.

How Did the FBI Access Paul Manafort’s Encrypted Messages?

Matthew Green comments on how encrypted backups could be used by law enforcement and hackers.

Blockchain Takes the Stage at Flagship Cryptography Conference in Israel

Matthew Green presents invited talk on the history of cryptocurrencies at EUROCRYPT'18.

The Under Armour Hack Was Even Worse Than It Had To Be

ARC researchers help provide insight into the MyFitnessPal data breach.

US Border Patrol Hasn’t Validated E-Passport Data For Years

For over a decade, US Customs and Border Protection has been unable to verify the cryptographic signatures on e-Passports, because they never installed the right software. But digital signatures unforgeable only work if checked.

US Border Patrol Hasn’t Validated E-Passport Data For Years

“It’s just a total screwup. There’s no excuse…if you build a system where everything comes down to trusting the server, you might as well dispense with all the complexity and forget about end-to-end encryption,” says Matthew Green, who reviewed the researchers’ work.

The ‘Secure’ Wi-Fi Standard Has a Huge, Dangerous Flaw

ARC researchers offer insight into new WPA2 vulnerabilities discovered by researchers in Belgium.

‘Crypto Anchors’ Might Stop the Next Equifax-Style Megabreach

Matthew Green comments on the increased availability of hardware security modules.

Decade-old Efail flaws can leak plaintext of PGP- and S/MIME-encrypted emails

Ars Technica staff quote ARC researchers on a report on bugs in encrypted email programs.

Students figure out how to hack Apple’s messaging system

Gabriel Kaptchuk is interviewed by KPCC radio about ARC discovering cryptographic vulnerabilities in Apple’s iMessage.

Johns Hopkins researchers poke a hole in Apple’s encryption

Matthew Green is interviewed by Washington Post on ARC research identifying cryptographic vulnerabilities in iMessage.