Robert H. Deng, Ph.D. (School of Information Systems, Singapore Management University, Singapore)
AXA Chair Professor of Cybersecurity

Title: Efficiently Deployable & Efficiently Searchable Encryption (EDESE) – Applications, Attacks, and Countermeasures
Abstract:
The volume of data stored in the public cloud is growing exponentially. With this growth, the risk of data breaches and the challenges of data protection grow just as rapidly. As more organizations opt for using encryption to protect their data in the cloud and in web services, the ability to efficiently search over encrypted data becomes increasingly important.

About Robert H. Deng
Robert Deng is AXA Chair Professor of Cybersecurity, Director of the Secure Mobile Centre, and Deputy Dean for Faculty & Research, School of Computing and Information Systems, Singapore Management University (SMU). His research interests are in the areas of data security and privacy, network security, and applied cryptography.
He received the Outstanding University Researcher Award from National University of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew Fellowship for Research Excellence from SMU, and Asia-Pacific Information Security Leadership Achievements Community Service Star from International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium. He serves/served on the editorial boards of ACM Transactions on Privacy and Security, IEEE Security & Privacy, IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, Journal of Computer Science and Technology, and Steering Committee Chair of the ACM Asia Conference on Computer and Communications Security. He is a Fellow of IEEE and Fellow of Academy of Engineering Singapore

Yang Xiang, Ph.D. (Swinburne University of Technology, Australia)
Professor

Title: Software Vulnerability Detection by Fuzzing and Deep Learning
Abstract:
In this talk, we introduce the current research and trend in the software vulnerability detection research. Then we will present a series of novel approaches to deal with the vulnerability issues, such as the fuzzing, deep learning, and the combined approach to improve the effectiveness of the detection. The focus of the fuzzing approach is on automatic black-box fuzzing especially for firmware; and the focus of the deep learning approach is to reduce the training samples and improve the detection rate.

About Yang Xiang
Professor Yang Xiang received his PhD in Computer Science from Deakin University, Australia. He is currently a full professor and the Dean of Digital Research, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. His research interests include cyber security, which covers network and system security, data analytics, distributed systems, and networking. He is also leading the Blockchain initiative at Swinburne. In the past 20 years, he has been working in the broad area of cyber security, such as software vulnerability detection, malware detection, network traffic classification, and DDoS defence. He has published more than 300 research papers in many international journals and conferences. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the SpringerBriefs on Cyber Security Systems and Networks. He serves as the Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, IEEE Internet of Things Journal, and ACM Computing Surveys. He served as the Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Computers and IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems. He is the Coordinator, Asia for IEEE Computer Society Technical Committee on Distributed Processing (TCDP). He is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Dr. Fuchun Guo (University of Wollongong, Australia)

Title: Research on Security of Digital Signatures: How it Works
Abstract:
Cryptography research is to explore secure mechanisms for either confidentiality or integrity. This kind of "final goal" is easy for understanding. However, when we look closer at research papers and their contributions, their goals or motivations seem different from this final goal. In this talk, I will use the research on security of digital signatures as an example and introduce how research papers in the literature argue their contributions toward this final goal.
About Fuchun Guo
Dr. Fuchun Guo received his PhD degree from University of Wollongong Australia in 2013 supervised by Yi Mu and Willy Susilo. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the School of Computing and Information Technology, University of Wollongong. His primary research interest is security reduction in modern cryptography.

Yannan Li, Ph.D. (University of Wollongong, Australia)

Title: Blockchain Security: Primitives and Protocols
Abstract:
It is widely accepted that blockchain is a disruptive technology that reshapes the way of doing business in finance due to its decentralization, transparency and immutability. Blockchain can serve as the backbone technique in various applications with its salient features. However, these blockchain-based systems may still suffer from security concerns. In this talk, we will discuss blockchain security, in terms of its underlying primitives and built-on protocols. To be more specific, we will talk about the privacy and regulation in blockchain-based cryptocurrencies, the security concerns in blockchain-based e-voting and the non-equivocation in blockchain systems. In each scenario, we will discuss the remaining problems of the existing works and present possible solutions.

About Yannan Li
Yannan Li received her PhD in the School of Computing and Information Technology, University of Wollongong, Australia. Her research interests include applied cryptography and cryptocurrencies. She have published over 30 papers in prestigious conferences and journals, including two ESI highly cited papers and two ESI hot papers. She have been regularly invited as a reviewer in many international and top journals, such as IEEE TDSC and IEEE TIFS.

Peng Jiang, Ph.D (School of Cyberspace Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China)

Title: Covert Communication: Past, Present and Future
Abstract:
Covert communication is defined as the exchange of information/data via a covert channel. It enables the covert information transmission against communication signal detection, such that no attackers can launch illegal behaviors without detecting the signal. Covert communication has been mandatory for the message transmission in many applications such as underwater acoustic and military communications.
In this talk, I will first review the traditional covert communication including the basic model and mechanisms. A core task in the covert communication is to design and deploy the covert channel which is usually built upon the network protocol. Such network-based covert channels have limitations on concealment, reliability and anti-traceability. Next, I will introduce present solutions for covert communication using blockchain, i.e., blockchain-based covert communication, which hides covert information into transactions and breaks through the above limitations. I will depict its system architecture and potential application scenarios, such as digital evidence preservation. Blockchain’s inherent features, like low throughput, flooding propagation, openness and transparency, incur new challenges and impede the construction of blockchain-based covert channels. For the covert channel building, I will present three key technologies: information embedding, transaction filtering, and transaction obfuscation. To better evaluate blockchain-based covert channel, I will present metrics of concealment, bandwidth, transmission delay, robustness and transmission cost. Finally, I will point out the possible privacy issues with perspectives of blockchain users and communicating parties, and provide the potential countermeasures. I will also show technical challenges on the blockchain-based covert communication and offer corresponding research directions in aspects of communication modes, channel building techniques, efficiency, evaluation methods etc.

About Peng Jiang
Peng Jiang (Member, IEEE) received the Ph.D. degree in information security from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China, in 2017. She is currently an Associate Professor with the School of Cyberspace Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing. She has authored or coauthored more than 30 papers in the area of cybersecurity. Her research interests include cryptography, information security, and blockchain. Her current research interests include cyber security, blockchain, and cryptography. She was a Program Committee Member in many international conferences.