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Supervisor: Dr. Asim

 

Enhancing Security in Digital Communication Systems through Advanced Authenticated Encryption Mechanisms

 

Supervisor: Dr. Asim Ali Senior Assistant Professor

Campus/School/Dept: BUIC-E8/BSEAS/CS

Supervisory Record:      

  • PhD Produced: nil
  • PhD Enrolled: nil
  • MS/MPhil Produced: nil
  • MS/MPhil Enrolled: 02

 

Brief Description

Authenticated encryption (AE) is a critical cryptographic primitive designed to ensure both the confidentiality and authenticity of digital communications. It is widely applied in secure protocols, such as TLS, IPsec, and messaging systems, where protecting data from unauthorized access and ensuring its integrity is paramount. While standard AE algorithms like AES-GCM are effective, emerging challenges such as post-quantum threats, side-channel attacks, and performance overheads in constrained environments highlight the need for further exploration and innovation.

This research aims to address these challenges by developing novel AE schemes that balance strong security guarantees with practical efficiency, scalability, and adaptability to modern threats, including quantum computing advancements.

 

Research Objectives / Deliverable

Objectives:

  1. Analysis of Existing AE Mechanisms:

Perform a comprehensive review of existing AE standards (e.g., AES-GCM, ChaCha20-Poly1305) to identify their strengths, limitations, and vulnerabilities.

  1. Design Novel AE Schemes:

Propose new AE algorithms or protocols that address identified gaps, focusing on:

  1. Post-quantum resilience.
  2. Mitigation of side-channel attacks.
  3. Enhanced performance for resource-constrained environments.

Theoretical and Practical Validation:

  1. Evaluate the security of proposed schemes using formal methods and cryptographic proofs.
  2. Test implementations in real-world scenarios to measure performance metrics such as speed, energy consumption, and scalability.

 

Deliverables:

  1. A taxonomy of current authenticated encryption mechanisms, highlighting key strengths and vulnerabilities.
  2. A novel authenticated encryption algorithm with formal security proofs and implementation benchmarks.
  3. Published research papers in leading cryptography and information security journals.
  4. Open-source code and performance evaluation results for the developed AE schemes.
  5. A detailed framework for assessing AE mechanisms against classical and post-quantum threats.

 

Research Questions

  1. What are the critical limitations of existing authenticated encryption schemes, particularly in the context of emerging quantum threats and constrained environments?
  2. How can novel authenticated encryption algorithms be designed to achieve a balance between security, efficiency, and adaptability?
  3. What formal techniques and threat models can be employed to rigorously validate the security of proposed AE schemes?
  4. How do side-channel and fault injection attacks affect the implementation of authenticated encryption, and how can such vulnerabilities be mitigated?
  5. What are the trade-offs between performance, scalability, and security in AE schemes tailored for specific applications, such as IoT and edge computing?

 

Candidate’s Eligibility Profile:

  1. The applicant must have an MS/MPhil/Equivalent degree in electrical engineering with CGPA >0. Besides, applicants must have a strong background in mathematics, optimization theory and related fields.
  2. Experience with programming languages such as Fortran, C/C++, MATLAB, or Python is advantageous. Candidates should thrive in an international environment and have excellent communication skills to actively contribute to team research efforts.
  3. Proficiency in spoken and written English is essential. We value independence and responsibility while promoting teamwork and collaboration among colleagues.