carlos cid

I am a Reader in Information Security at the Information Security Group at Royal Holloway, University of London

academic interests

My main (current) academic interests:

• Symmetric Key Cryptology: block ciphers and stream ciphers
• Asymmetric Key Cryptology: multivariate cryptosystems and non-commutative cryptography
• Applications of Computational Algebra in Cryptology
• Economics of Information Security
• Information Security (various topics)

academic activities

• Teaching activities in 2011/2012:
  • module leader and lecturer in the Security Testing Theory and Practice (IY5610) module, in the MSc in Information Security course (Spring Term)
  • module leader and lecturer in the Advanced Cryptography (OPT8) module, in the Distance Learning MSc in Information Security course, the online version of our MSc programme
  • co-teaching the Advanced Cipher Systems (MT5462) module in the MSc in Mathematics of Cryptography and Communications course (Autumn Term)
• I am the Director of Graduate Studies (DoGS) of the Department of Mathematics and Information Security Group. This role essentially means that I am the main point of contact for and responsible for looking after the academic welfare of the postgraduate students in the department. I am also in charge of PhD admissions to both the department of Mathematics and the ISG. If you would like to obtain more information about joining our PhD programme, feel free to get in touch via email (but do visit first either the Maths Dept. PhD page or the ISG PhD page).

phd students

current students:

• Viet Pham (applications of game theory in information security)
• Robert Fitzpatrick (lightweight cryptography)
• Gordon Procter (symmetric cryptography)

former students:

• Martin Albrecht (2007-2010) — Thesis: Algorithmic Algebraic Techniques and their Application to Block Cipher Cryptanalysis
• Ciaran Mullan (2008-2011) — Thesis: Some Results in Group-Based Cryptography

other professional activities

• I am leader of the SymLab Virtual Lab Working Group 3 of ECRYPT II – Network of Excellence in Cryptology (ECRYPT II is the successor of ECRYPT, and has officially been launched in August 2008)
• I am member of the Editorial Board of Designs, Codes and Cryptography, a journal focusing mainly on the mathematical aspects of design theory, coding theory and cryptography
• I am member of the SANS/GIAC advisory board, and one of the advisors for the GIAC Gold security certification
• I often work as independent consultant in the areas of cryptology (e.g. algorithm evaluation), network and mobile communications security. For enquiries regarding possible jobs or for information about previous assignments, please contact me via the email

programme committee

• Latincrypt 2012 – 7-10 Oct 2012, Santiago, Chile

news

• We are currently looking for a post-doctoral research assistant to work on cryptographic research for the International Technical Alliance (ITA) project, on the development of efficient and provably-secure cryptographic solutions for processing data in ad-hoc networks. The ideal candidate should be able to start as soon as possible until February 2013. The post may be extended after February. Closing date for applications is the 12th of February 2012. See here, under “External Vacancies” for more information about the job opening.
• I was programme co-chair of the ECRYPT II Summer School on Design and Security of Cryptographic Algorithms and Devices, which took place in Albena (Bulgaria) from 29 May – 3 June 2011. The 5-day summer school was jointly organized by SYMLAB and VAMPIRE virtual labs.
• We hosted in late June 2010 at Royal Holloway the ECRYPT Workshop on Tools for Cryptanalysis 2010 and the Second International Conference on Symbolic Computation and Cryptography (SCC 2010).