New paper in a series of how to solve Elliptic Curve Discrete Log Problem (ECDLP) in characteristic 2 with sub-exponential complexity. More results on this topic are expected. Remark: it seems to me that the main assumption about degree falls and solvability which is at the heart of this paper, is simply entirely wrong. Recent developments: …
Another theft in a series: nearly 2 millions of dollars are missing from the BTER exchange. A specific transaction created by the thief can be found here. The theft took place on 14 Feb 2015. [added later] Another theft of some 250,000 USD has occurred at another Chinese exchange on 27 Jan 2015. Here some Internet posts …
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Dr Sue Black [UCL, saving the Bletchley Park activist] explains how much the true story of breaking Enigma during the WW2 is not at all what the movie shows us, and explains that though so many things in the movie are just totally historically inaccurate, it would be somewhat very difficult to tell the real story …
Continue reading ‘Imitation Game Movie – Is A Single Fact Related By This Movie Actually True?’ »
Nobody yet knows how 5 million of dollars in bitcoins were stolen from bitstamp (reported on 5 Jan 2015). One expert report by Ferrin can be found here, however it is not clear if anybody knows at all HOW these bitcoins have been stolen. The bitcoin address of the thief is also known. Possibly bitcoin …
Continue reading ‘Speculation About The New Theft – 5 Million Dollars Stolen’ »
It appears that at least 100,000 USD were recently stolen from Blockchain.info wallets. Then a lot more was stolen again as reported on 15 Dec. Let us try to get make sure that we understand these events properly. Historical Background Bad random events in the blockchain have been known since January 2013. We have written on this …
Continue reading ‘Now At Least 200,000 USD Stolen From Blockchain.Info Wallets’ »
In a recent paper, Ittay Eyal from Cornell University takes the block withholding attacks to the next level. Very interesting work. We are going to decrypt and clarify a few things regarding this paper and how it relates to other previously published works (in particular our paper). The Invention of Block Withholding The danger of a block …
Continue reading ‘Block Withholding Attacks – Recent Research’ »
Bad random events are still happening in the bitcoin blockchain, such events are observed on a regular basis. They are probably due to some yet unpatched software (cf. section Mitigation Points here). Here is the latest such event at the moment of writing, it has occurred on 29 November 2014, see here. Two different bitcoin …
Regin is a highly targetted malware designed to watch over just a handful of targets, with only around 100 infections uncovered since 2008, including the famous cryptographer Jean-Jacques Quisquater. It entails “a degree of technical competence rarely seen,” according to Symantec. Targeted Surveillance Known targets are government bodies, banks, small businesses and academics. Quisquater have been …
Continue reading ‘Regin Malware Watches Cryptographers Among Other High Profile Targets’ »
So many times we have learned about cryptography and security the hard way. One of the key problems is ignoring the advice and warnings, which are plainly written in the current crypto literature. This without the slightest ambiguity, so that there is very little doubt about what a reasonable and professional security practice is. The Story …
Continue reading ‘Controversy Around Bitcoin Elliptic Curve’ »