Iris scans to prove you’re human? Sam Altman’s World ID is going mainstream (Tinder, Zoom). Bart Preneel says the crypto is state‑of‑the‑art, but warns that centralization means serious #privacy risks if data is misused, hacked, or leaked.
www.demorgen.be/tech-wetensc... (paywall)
The #quantum era is coming. Is your #crypto ready? Join us in Rome on Sat May 9, for the Eurocrypt 2026–affiliated #PQCSA workshop on Post‑Quantum Cryptographic Protocols.
www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/events...
#postquantum
And lastly Songqiao Cui is presenting "Extending and accelerating inner product masking with fault detection via instruction set extension".
More info on: www.date-conference.com/programme
#date2026 #date
3 COSIC papers at DATE 2026 in Verona this week!
Quinten Norga will present "ML-DSA-OSH: An efficient, open-source hardware implementation of ML-DSA".
Benedikt Gierlichs is giving a talk on "A graph-theoretic framework for randomness optimization in first-order masked circuits".
The EU’s age‑verification app is presented as a tool to protect minors. In Knack, Bart Preneel warns it will apply to everyone: social media in Europe may only work for users who install the app - raising effectiveness and #privacy concerns.
www.knack.be/nieuws/techn...
Gazet van Antwerpen reports that the EU’s new age‑verification app aims to keep minors off social media while preserving #privacy. But Bart Preneel notes similar bans led to VPN spikes: "You can simply choose a country without age limits."
www.gva.be/economie/tec... (paywall)
Het Nieuwsblad reports that the EU’s new age‑verification app aims to keep minors off social media while preserving #privacy. But Bart Preneel notes similar bans led to VPN spikes: "You can simply choose a country without age limits."
www.nieuwsblad.be/binnenland/e... (paywall)
📹The COSIC Seminar on "Extending and Accelerating Inner Product Masking with Fault Detection via Instruction Set Extension" by Songqiao Cui (COSIC) is now available on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq9Z...
#PhotoDNA is promoted as a reliable tool for detecting illegal images, but KU Leuven research shows major flaws: large‑scale false positives and easy evasion. Automated mass scanning risks harming privacy without stopping abuse.
www.lecanardenchaine.fr/technologie-... (paywall)
[2/3] Bart Preneel on Radio 1: Comparing online age checks to showing ID in a shop misses a key point: offline, obvious adults aren’t checked. Online, everyone must prove they’re 16+. VPNs and shared phones make this easy to bypass. This is symbolic policy, not protection.
[1/3] Von der Leyen says EU age checking app is ready: "This app will allow users to prove their age when accessing online platforms, just as shops ask for proof of age from someone buying alcoholic drinks in a shop."
🚨 Growing concern over #Mythos, #Anthropic’s #AI that claims to uncover software vulnerabilities at scale without independent verification.
Bart Preneel: "If this is a real breakthrough, we are facing a gigantic problem."
www.standaard.be/media-en-cul... (paywall)
The final paper, FAQs, guidance for users, and our testing harness and code are all 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲: whisperpair.eu
We uncovered security & #privacy flaws in Google Fast Pair, showing that vulnerable accessories can be hijacked without consent - to inject audio, activate microphones, or enable tracking - affecting hundreds of millions of devices and exposing risks of convenience‑first design.
Our work on 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗿 (breaking Google Fast Pair) has been accepted at both the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P) 2026 and Black Hat Asia 2026.
#google #fastpair #bluetooth
Attending #eurocrypt in Rome this year? Consider joining the #PQCSA workshop on Post-Quantum Cryptographic Protocols on Saturday 9 May 2026: www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/events...
#postquantum #quantum
NYT suggests Adam Back could be Satoshi Nakamoto. He denies it. In GVA, Bart Preneel notes the clues are strong but not a smoking gun, and says being #Satoshi is no gift, turning someone into a high‑risk billionaire target. #bitcoin
www.gva.be/binnenland/i... (paywall)
NYT suggests Adam Back could be Satoshi Nakamoto. He denies it. In Nieuwsblad, Bart Preneel notes the clues are strong but not a smoking gun, and says being #Satoshi is no gift, turning someone into a high‑risk billionaire target. #bitcoin
www.nieuwsblad.be/binnenland/i... (paywall)
🎥The COSIC Seminar "Identity-Privacy Paradox: How to Identify Friend or Foe Without Self Disclosure?" by Ema Šujster (TU Delft) is now available on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cTO...
Welcome to Yevhen Perehuda, who is visiting Vincent Rijmen's team: "I chose COSIC because of its excellent reputation in cryptography and security research. I see this stay as a great opportunity to learn, improve my skills, and work in an inspiring academic environment."
#choosecosic
Welcome to Dongwon Lee, who is visiting Frederik Vercauteren's team at COSIC.
"I chose to join COSIC because it is a world-leading research group in cryptography with a strong reputation for innovative work."
#choosecosic
Who is behind the invention of #Bitcoin in 2008? "It’s possible they’ve now found the solution, but it remains speculation." Bart Preneel on Radio 1: www.vrt.be/vrtmax/luist...
Is a social media ban for under‑13s a good idea? "It’s very intrusive and largely ineffective. People will bypass controls. Focusing on age limits distracts from the real issue: social media can be toxic and addictive." (Bart Preneel in Knack)
www.knack.be/nieuws/belgi...
Congratulations to Betul Aşkın Özdemir for successfully defending her PhD thesis on "Multidimensional Linear Cryptanalysis of Block Cipher Structures" today! 🎓🎉
You can now view the final program and register for the #PQCSA workshop on Post-Quantum Cryptographic Protocols in Rome, Italy
on 9 May 2026 (Eurocrypt 2026 affiliated event) via: www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/events...
#postquantum #quantum #Eurocrypt
New blog post on the COSIC website: "What’s Privacy Actually Good For? Measuring It Through the Harms It Prevents" by Sri Harsha Gajavalli: www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/blog/w...
🎙️ Chat control on national radio:
COSIC researcher Diane Leblanc‑Albarel discusses #ChatControl on France Culture’s news.
▶️ Replay (from 7:58): www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
🔗 www.pseudodna.eu
#chatcontrol #photodna #pseudodna
Pierre Pébereau just joined COSIC as a postdoc in Fre Vercauteren's team: "I chose COSIC to work with excellent researchers on the analysis of post-quantum signature algorithms."
#choosecosic
Abstract. Privacy-preserving machine learning (PPML) has become increasingly important due to the need to protect sensitive data during training and inference. Secure multiparty computation (MPC) and homomorphic encryption (HE) have emerged as foundational technologies, enabling secure computation over private data. In this work, we provide a systematic comparative overview of MPC frameworks for PPML, focusing on protocols that introduce novel approaches rather than incremental improvements. Frameworks are analyzed based on computational and communication complexity, throughput, security guarantees, and applicability in small-party settings. Each underlying primitive in PPML is examined from an MPC perspective, highlighting its role and trade-offs. We also emphasize the diversity of secret-sharing schemes and associated interoperability challenges, proposing scheme conversions to facilitate efficient hybrid solutions. This Systematization of Knowledge guides researchers in identifying open problems and practitioners in selecting effective MPC-based frameworks for real-world PPML deployment.
Image showing part 2 of abstract.
SoK: Connecting the Dots in Privacy-Preserving ML - Systematization of MPC Protocols and Conversions Between Secret Sharing Schemes (Martin Zbudila, Ajith Suresh, Hossein Yalame, Omid Mirzamohammadi, Aysajan Abidin, Bart Preneel) ia.cr/2025/1679