Alexander W. Dent

Research Papers

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I am a Staff Engineer in Qualcomm's Product Security Initiative (QPSI). This is an internal consultancy group which serves Qualcomm's software and hardware engineers with security design and verification services. The job is very exciting: one day that I might be working to patch a vulnerability that has been published by a security researcher and the next day I might be working on an original design for a cryptography protocol to allow security data to be uploaded to a device in a factory. The job also has an immediate impact: the work that I do today will affect devices that hit the market within three months. We are hiring exceptional, enthusiastic and knowledgeable security engineers -- click here for more information.

Prior to joining Qualcomm, I was a lecturer and reader in information security in the Information Security Group at Royal Holloway, University of London. My primary research interest is in the area of mathematical cryptography and, in particular, the design an analysis of public-key algorithms and protocols. My work almost exclusively uses the provable security paradigm. The provable security paradigm aims to mathematcially prove that the security of a complex scheme depends only the difficulty of solving some well-defined mathematical problem. This allow an implementor to use a scheme with the confidence that, as long as the scheme is used correctly, the only way in which the scheme could be broken is by a direct attack on the underlying mathematical problem, which has typically be shown to be difficult to solve via empirical evidence.

I also have research interests in combinatorial design theory and the theory of information security management.
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2 Books
4 Book chapters
9 Journal papers
21 Conference papers
4 Unpublished papers


~ 2014 ~

40 J. Birkett and A. W. Dent. Security Models and Proof Strategies for Plaintext Aware Encryption. Journal of Cryptology, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 99-120, 2014. [pdf]


~ 2012 ~

39 A. W. Dent. Aggregate Signcryption. Cryptology ePprint Archive: Report 2012/200, 2012. [pdf]


~ 2011 ~

38 M. Abdalla, J. Birkett, D. Catalano, A. W. Dent, J. Malone-Lee, G. Neven, J. C. N. Schuldt and N. P. Smart. Wildcarded Identity-Based Encryption. Journal of Cryptology, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 42-82, 2011. [pdf]


~ 2010 ~

37 A. W. Dent and Y. Zheng. Practical Signcryption. Springer-Verlag, 2010.
36 A. W. Dent. Key Establishment Using Signcryption Techniques. In, A. W. Dent and Y. Zheng, editors, Practical Signcryption, Springer-Verlag, pp. 214-240, 2010.
35 A. W. Dent and J. Malone-Lee. Signcryption Schemes Based on the RSA Problem. In, A. W. Dent and Y. Zheng, editors, Practical Signcryption, Springer-Verlag, pp. 99-120, 2010.
34 A. W. Dent. Choosing Key Sizes for Cryptography. Information Security Technical Report, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 21-27, 2010. [pdf]
33 A. W. Dent, M. Fischlin, M. Manulis, M. Stam and D. Schroeder. Confidential Signatures and Deterministic Signcryption. In, P. Q. Nguyen and D. Pointcheval, editors, Public Key Cryptography -- PKC 2010, LNCS 6056, Springer-Verlag, pp. 462-479, 2010. [pdf]
32 K. D. Boklan, A. W. Dent and C. A. Seaman. Broadcast Encryption with Multiple Trust Authorities. In, M. Abdalla and S. L. M. Barreto, editors, Progress in Cryptology -- Latincrypt 2010, LNCS 6212, Springer-Verlag, pp. 1-19, 2010. [pdf][slides]


~ 2009 ~

31 A. W. Dent. A Brief Introduction to Certificateless Encryption Schemes and Their Infrastructures. In, F. Martinelli and B. Preneel, editors, Public Key Infrastructures -- EuroPKI 2009, LNCS 6391, Springer-Verlag, pp. 1-16, 2009. [pdf][slides]


~ 2008 ~

30 A. W. Dent. Point-Weight Designs with Design Conditions on t-Points. Discrete Mathematics, vol. 308, no. 1, pp. 2080-2093, 2008. [pdf]
29 A. W. Dent. A Survey of Certificateless Encryption Schemes and Security Models. International Journal of Information Security, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 349-377, 2008. [pdf]
28 A. Rupp, G. Leander, E. Bangerter, A. W. Dent and A.-R. Sadeghi. Sufficient Conditions for Intractability Over Black-Box Groups: Generic Lower Bounds for Generalised DH and DL Problems. In, J. Pieprzyk, editors, Advances in Cryptology -- Asiacrypt 2008, LNCS 5350, Springer-Verlag, pp. 489-505, 2008. [pdf]
27 A. W. Dent. A Brief History of Provably-Secure Encryption. In, S. Vaudenay, editors, Progress in Cryptology -- Africacrypt 2008, LNCS 5023, Springer-Verlag, pp. 357-370, 2008. [pdf][slides]
26 J. Birkett and A. W. Dent. Relations Among Notions of Plaintext Awareness. In, R. Cramer, editors, Public Key Cryptography -- PKC 2008, LNCS 4939, Springer-Verlag, pp. 47-64, 2008. [pdf]
25 A. W. Dent, B. Libert and K. G. Paterson. Certificateless Encryption Schemes Strongly Secure in the Standard Model. In, R. Cramer, editors, Public Key Cryptography -- PKC 2008, LNCS 4939, Springer-Verlag, pp. 344-359, 2008. [pdf][slides]


~ 2007 ~

24 M. Abdalla, A. W. Dent, J. Malone-Lee, G. Neven, D. H. Phan and N. P. Smart. Identity-Based Traitor Tracing. In, T. Okamoto and X. Wang, editors, Public Key Cryptography -- PKC 2007, LNCS 4450, Springer-Verlag, pp. 458-476, 2007. [pdf]
23 T. E. Bjorstad, A. W. Dent and N. P. Smart. Efficient KEMs with Partial Message Recovery. In, S. D. Galbraith, editors, 11th IMA Conference on Coding and Cryptography, LNCS 4887, Springer-Verlag, pp. 233-256, 2007. [pdf]
22 A. W. Dent and Q. Tang. Revisting the Security Model for Timed-Release Encryption with Pre-Open Capability. In, J. A. Garay, A. K. Lenstra, M. Mambo and R. Peralta, editors, Information Security -- ISC 2007, LNCS 4779, Springer-Verlag, pp. 158-174, 2007. [pdf]
21 J. Birkett, A. W. Dent, G. Neven and J. C. N. Schuldt. Efficient Chosen-Ciphertext Secure Identity-Based Encryption with Wildcards. In, J. Pieprzyk, H. Ghodosi and E. Dawson, editors, Information Security and Privacy -- ACISP 2007, LNCS 4586, Springer-Verlag, pp. 274-292, 2007. [pdf]


~ 2006 ~

20 P. J. Cameron and A. W. Dent. Orbit-homogeneity in Permutation Groups. Bulletin of London Mathematical Society, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 587-596, 2006. [pdf]
19 A. W. Dent. Fundamental Problems in Provable Security and Cryptography. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Series A, vol. 364, no. 1, pp. 3215-3230, 2006. [pdf]
18 A. W. Dent. The Cramer-Shoup Encryption Scheme is Plaintext Aware in the Standard Model. In, S. Vaudenay, editors, Advances in Cryptology -- Eurocrypt 2006, LNCS 4004, Springer-Verlag, pp. 289-307, 2006. [pdf][slides]
17 A. W. Dent and S. Galbraith. Hidden Pairings and Trapdoor DDH Groups. In, F. Hess, S. Pauli and M. E. Pohst, editors, Algorithmic Number Thoery -- ANTS VII, LNCS 4076, Springer-Verlag, pp. 436-451, 2006. [pdf][slides]
16 M. Abdalla, D. Catalano, A. W. Dent, J. Malone-Lee and N. P. Smart. Identity-Based Encryption Gone Wild. In, M. Bugliesi, B. Preneel, V. Sassone and I. Wegener, editors, Automata, Languages and Programming (Volume 2) -- ICALP 2006, LNCS 4052, Springer-Verlag, pp. 300-311, 2006. [pdf]
15 T. E. Bjorstad and A. W. Dent. Building Better Signcryption Schemes with Tag-KEMs. In, M. Yung, Y. Dodis, A. Kiayias and T. Malkin, editors, Public Key Cryptography -- PKC 2006, LNCS 3958, Springer-Verlag, pp. 491-507, 2006. [pdf][slides]
14 A. W. Dent. A Note On Game-Hopping Proofs. Cryptology ePprint Archive: Report 2006/260, 2006. [pdf]
13 A. W. Dent. The Hardness of the DHK Problem in the Generic Group Model. Cryptology ePprint Archive: Report 2006/156, 2006. [pdf]


~ 2005 ~

12 A. W. Dent and C. J. Mitchell. Users Guide to Cryptography and Standards. Artech House, 2005.
11 A. W. Dent. Proofs of Security for ECIES. In, I. F. Blake, G. Seroussi and N. P. Smart, editors, Advances in Elliptic Curve Cryptography, Oxford University Press, pp. 41-66, 2005.
10 A. W. Dent and G. Price. Certificate Management Using Distributed Trusted Third Parties. In, C. J. Mitchell, editors, Trusted Computing, IEE Press, pp. 251-270, 2005.
9 A. W. Dent. Flaws in an E-Mail Protocol of Sun, Hsieh and Hwang. IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 718-719, 2005. [pdf]
8 A. W. Dent and J. Malone-Lee. The Physically Observable Security of Signature Schemes. In, N. P. Smart, editors, 10th IMA Conference in Coding and Cryptography, LNCS 3796, Springer-Verlag, pp. 220-232, 2005. [pdf][slides]
7 A. W. Dent. Hybrid Signcryption Schemes with Outsider Security. In, J. Zhou, J. Lopez, R. H. Deng and F. Bao, editors, Information Security -- ISC 2005, LNCS 3650, Springer-Verlag, pp. 203-217, 2005. [pdf][slides]
6 A. W. Dent. Hybrid Signcryption Schemes with Insider Security. In, C. Boyd and J. M. Gonzalez Nieto, editors, Information Security and Privacy -- ACISP 2005, LNCS 3574, Springer-Verlag, pp. 253-266, 2005. [pdf][slides]


~ 2004 ~

5 A. W. Dent and A. Tomlinson. Regional Blackouts: Protection of Content on 3G Networks. In 5th IEE Conference on 3G Mobile Communication Technologies, IEE Press, pp. 442-446, 2004. [pdf][slides]


~ 2003 ~

4 A. W. Dent. A Designer's Guide to KEMs. In, K. G. Paterson, editors, 9th IMA Conference in Coding and Cryptography, LNCS 2898, Springer-Verlag, pp. 133-151, 2003. [pdf][slides]


~ 2002 ~

3 A. W. Dent. An Implementation Attack Against the EPOC-2 Public-Key Cryptosystem. Electronics Letters, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 412-413, 2002. [pdf]
2 A. W. Dent. Adapting the Weaknesses of the Random Oracle Model to the Generic Group Model. In, Y. Zheng, editors, Advances in Cryptology -- Asiacrypt 2002, LNCS 2501, Springer-Verlag, pp. 100-109, 2002. [pdf][slides]


~ 2001 ~

1 A. W. Dent. On The Theory of Point-Weight Designs. Ph.D. Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2001. [pdf]