Time: 9h00  Wednesday,  September 23, 2015

Location: Room 301, Building A5, Institute of Mathematics, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Ha Noi

Abstract: In 2013 the American computer specialist Edward Snowden illegally downloaded roughly 1,7 million top-secret documents of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).  It was the largest loss of secret information by any government of any country ever.  Among other revelations, the Snowden documents showed that the NSA had put a "back door" (secret entrance-way that only the NSA could use) into a commonly used cryptographic standard for generating random bits.  This random bit generator uses elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), and I will describe the mathematics of this "back door".  In addition, based on conversations with several people who are close to the controversy as well as my own analysis of the lessons to be learned, I will give an interpretation of the main issues for cryptographers and others who are professionally interested in protecting personal security and national security in their own country.