Episode 5: Isogeny-based Cryptography for Dummies!

The NIST post-quantum competition has started a race for
post-quantum cryptography. As a result, we’ve seen a great deal of
research into alternative hard mathematical problems to use as a
basis for public-key cryptography schemes. Lattice-based
cryptography! Error-correcting code based cryptography! And of
course, isogeny-based cryptography, have all received enormous
renewed interest as a result. While the NIST post-quantum
competition recently announced that it’s favoring candidates
founded on lattice-based cryptography, it also encouraged further
research into isogeny-based cryptography. But what even is
isogeny-based cryptography? Is it as intimidating as it sounds? And
what’s keeping it behind on NIST’s list of post-quantum primitives?
Today, it’s my pleasure to be joined by isogeny-based cryptography
researchers Luca de Feo and Hart Montgomery, co-authors of a recent
publication titled “Cryptographic Group Actions and Applications”,
which Luca affectionately described as a “isogeny-based
cryptography for dummies” paper. We’ll be discussing isogeny-based
cryptography and more. Links and papers discussed in the show: *
Cryptographic Group Actions and Applications
(https://eprint.iacr.org/2020/1188) * CSIDH Intro
(https://csidh.isogeny.org/) Music composed by Toby Fox and
performed by Sean Schafianski
(https://seanschafianski.bandcamp.com/). Special Guests: Hart
Montgomery and Luca De Feo.