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In today's interconnected world, safeguarding digital data's confidentiality and security is crucial. Cryptography and steganography are two primary methods used for information security. While these methods have diverse applications, there is ongoing exploration into the potential benefits of merging them. This review focuses on journal articles from 2010 onwards and conference papers from 2018 onwards that integrate steganography and cryptography in practical applications. The results are gathered through different databases like Scopus, IEEE, and Web of Science. Our approach involves gaining insights into real-world applications explored in the existing literature and categorizing them based on domains and technological areas. Furthermore, we comprehensively analyze the advantages and limitations associated with these implementations, examining them from three evaluation perspectives: security, performance, and user experience. This categorization offers guidance for future research in unexplored areas, while the evaluation perspectives provide essential considerations for analyzing real-world implementations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper explores the evolution of voting systems, assessing vulnerabilities in traditional methods and investigating blockchain technology as a solution. Traditional voting systems encounter challenges concerning security, transparency, and accessibility, prompting a transition towards blockchain-based online voting. Blockchain, originating from cryptocurrencies, decentralizes control, thereby enhancing transparency, integrity, and security in elections. Real-world case studies from Estonia and West Virginia offer insights into implementation and successes. Ethical considerations, including privacy and consent, alongside societal impacts like inclusivity and democratization, are scrutinized. The proposed blockchain-based voting system prioritizes decentralization, tamper resistance, and interoperability. Security measures incorporate cryptographic techniques and multi-factor authentication. Transparency is assured through a publicly accessible blockchain ledger, facilitating an auditable voting process. The paper addresses challenges like voter accessibility and election anonymity, proposing mitigation strategies. Future directions entail integrating blockchain with AI and machine learning for interoperability and standardization. Collaboration among policymakers, technologists, and researchers is pivotal for advocating secure, transparent, and accessible blockchain-based voting systems, with the goal of fostering globally participatory elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, it is difficult to imagine a powerful algorithm of cryptography that can continue cryptanalyzing and attacking without the use of unconventional techniques. Although some of the substitution algorithms are old, such as Vigenere, Alberti, and Trithemius ciphers, they are considered powerful and cannot be broken. In this paper we produce the novelty algorithm, by using of biological computation as an unconventional search tool combined with an uninhibited analysis method is the vertical probabilistic model, that makes attacking and analyzing these ciphers possible and very easy to transform the problem from a complex to a linear one, which is a novelty achievement. The letters of the encoded message are processed in the form of segments of equal length, to report the available hardware components. Each letter codon represents a region of the memory strand, and the letters calculated for it are symbolized within the probabilistic model so that each pair has a triple encoding: the first is given as a memory strand encoding and the others are its complement in the sticker encoding; These encodings differ from one region to another. The solution space is calculated and then the parallel search process begins. Some memory complexities are excluded even though they are within the solution paths formed, because the natural language does not contain its sequences. The precision of the solution and the time consuming of access to it depend on the length of the processed text, and the precision of the solution is often inversely proportional to the speed of access to it. As an average of the time spent to reach the solution, a text with a length of 200 cipher characters needs approximately 15 minutes to give 98% of the correct components of the specific hardware. The aim of the paper is to transform OTP substitution analysis from a NP problem to a O(nm) problem, which makes it easier to find solutions to it easily with the available capabilities and to develop methods that are harnessed to attack difficult and powerful ciphers that differ in class and type from the OTP polyalphabetic substitution ciphers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Audio cryptography is the practice of encrypting audio data to prevent illegal access to and listening to it. This paper presents an innovative technique of audio cryptography based on the Python computer language. To ensure secrecy and integrity, the suggested system encrypts and decrypts audio signals using advanced cryptographic techniques. A crucial component of AES, the cryptographic key is dynamically created to improve security. Python's broad library support and ease of use make it an ideal platform for implementing the AES algorithm, which ensures dependable and effective audio data encryption. The system utilizes Python's cryptography library for seamless integration and ease of implementation. Simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of the AES algorithm in securely encrypting and decrypting audio data with reduced noise compared to traditional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, a robust steganographic algorithm that achieves errorless robustness against JPEG recompression has been proposed. The method employs a lattice embedding scheme and utilizes the syndrome-trellis code (STC) for practical embedding. However, we have noticed that errorless robust embedding with STC may encounter failures due to modifications on wet coefficients, especially when a high quality factor is used by the compression channel. To solve this problem, we have discovered that using steganographic polar code (SPC) for embedding has better performance in avoiding modifications on wet coefficients. In this paper, we conduct theoretical analysis to prove the better performance of SPC in wet paper embedding. We establish the condition of avoiding modifications on wet coefficients, followed by presenting a recursive calculation method for determining the distribution of columns in the generator matrix of SPC. The findings reveal that SPC can avoid modifications on wet coefficients under a larger number of wet coefficients compared with STC, and therefore we propose a better errorless robust embedding method employing SPC. The experimental results demonstrate that under close security performance, the proposed method achieves a higher success rate compared with embedding with STC. Specifically, when the quality factor of the compressor is 95 and the payload size is 0.4 bpnzac, our method achieves a success rate of 99.85%, surpassing the 91.95% success rate of the embedding with STC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, several research topics are presented that provide productive avenues of exploration for students in an undergraduate cryptography course. The topics are intended for a variety of skill levels and interests. In some cases, a student might be inspired to try to solve the proposed problem or write computer code. Other topics might motivate them to learn new mathematics or algorithms, or research a historical event or person. In all cases, a short description of the topic is given along with several references that can be used as a starting point for student research. The author also describes some challenges and recommendations when teaching a course where a project is a main component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lattice of integers is the collection of all linear combinations of a set of vectors for which all entries of the vectors are integers and all coefficients in the linear combinations are also integers. Lattice reduction refers to the problem of finding a set of vectors in a given lattice such that the collection of all integer linear combinations of this subset is still the entire original lattice and so that the Euclidean norms of the subset are reduced. The present paper proposes simple, efficient iterations for lattice reduction which are guaranteed to reduce the Euclidean norms of the basis vectors (the vectors in the subset) monotonically during every iteration. Each iteration selects the basis vector for which projecting off (with integer coefficients) the components of the other basis vectors along the selected vector minimizes the Euclidean norms of the reduced basis vectors. Each iteration projects off the components along the selected basis vector and efficiently updates all information required for the next iteration to select its best basis vector and perform the associated projections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Priced oblivious transfer (POT) is a cryptographic protocol designed for privacy-preserving e-commerce of digital content. It involves two parties: the merchant, who provides a set of priced items as input, and a customer, who acquires one of them. After the protocol has run, the customer obtains the item they chose, while the merchant cannot determine which one. Moreover, the protocol guarantees that the customer gets the content only if they have paid the price established by the merchant. In a recent paper, the authors proposed a POT system where the payments employed e-coin transactions. The strong point of the proposal was the absence of zero-knowledge proofs required in preceding systems to guarantee the correctness of payments. In this paper, we propose a novel e-coin-based POT system with a fast item retrieval procedure whose running time does not depend on the number of items for sale. This is an improvement over the aforementioned existing proposal whose execution time becomes prohibitively long when the catalog is extensive. The use of zero-knowledge proofs is neither required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As communication capabilities of mobile devices continue to advance, ensuring reliability and security has become increasingly crucial. The aerial tracking system presented in this paper provides a useful solution for tracking and tracing objects in various scenarios. To ensure reliability and security, the system incorporates appropriate mechanisms, including Lightweight Cryptography, to prioritize confidentiality and integrity. The Android component of the system has two modes of operation: Tracker Mode, running on a smartphone mounted on a drone (RPA), and Client Mode, running on mobile devices on the ground. In Client Mode, users transmit their positioning and trajectory information via Bluetooth Low Energy beacon mode, which is then relayed to the server backend via the 4G/5G network once the RPA enters an area with coverage. The system provides a reliable and secure solution for situations where tracking and tracing are essential, such as the supervision and control of public areas with capacity control or tracking and localizing people in isolated environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of wireless communication technology, positioning technology, and modern smart devices, Internet of Vehicles (IoVs) smart vehicles have brought great convenience to human production and life. Meanwhile, privacy and security issues are becoming extremely serious, with serious consequences if sensitive data such as vehicle location and trip patterns are leaked. This paper focuses on the demands for vehicular network security, especially privacy protection and existing privacy-protection techniques, including common cryptography methods and cryptography-based advanced technologies. At the same time, this paper also analyzes the advantages and challenges of these technologies in protecting privacy and network security in the Internet of Vehicles, such as the challenges of computational resource requirements and security efficiency in the implementation process, as well as the complexity of realizing effective privacy protection in the interactions among different entities. Finally, this paper envisions the development of privacy-preserving application scenarios and the prospects for crypotography-based privacy-preserving technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the permutation properties of the class of trinomials of the form f(x) = x4q+1 + λ1xq+4 + λ2x2q+3 ∈ Fq²[x] where λ1, λ2 ∈ Fq and they are not simultaneously zero. We find all necessary and sufficient conditions on λ1 and λ2 such that f(x) permutes Fq², where q is odd and q = 22k+1, k ∈ N. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a novel approach to enhancing multi-level security using steganography, a method of concealing information within non-secret data. This paper introduces an innovative approach to multi-level security enhancement using steganography, the art of concealing information within non-obvious data. Our proposed method uniquely combines Dynamic Least Significant Bit (DLSB) steganography with Wavelet Obtained Weights (WOW) steganographic algorithms, forging a sophisticated and adaptable system for secret data embedding. In our enhanced approach, we start by embedding text into an image using an optimized version of DLSB steganography. This refined technique adapts intelligently to the image's local contrast, thereby preserving its visual quality and ensuring the integrity of the embedded information. Subsequently, the payload image is merged with a cover image through the WOW algorithm. This step optimally selects pixels for data embedding, creating a steganographic image that is virtually indistinguishable from the original. The novelty of our work lies in the seamless integration of these two advanced steganographic techniques, which significantly elevates the security and invisibility aspects beyond the current state-of-the-art methods in digital steganography. For validation, we utilized a pretrained MobileNet model to differentiate between original and stego images. This model plays a crucial role in demonstrating the indetectability of our method, achieving an impressive accuracy of 85% in distinguishing stego images from their originals. Our rigorous testing across various metrics — including Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Structural Similarity Index Measure (SSIM), Bit Error Rate (BER), and Mean Squared Error (MSE) — showcases the effectiveness of our approach. The results indicate a robust performance, marking a significant advancement in secure digital communication. In this paper, we focus primarily on the detailed presentation of our results and the significant contributions of our current research, setting a strong foundation for future exploration in increasing robustness against steganalysis and improving the statistical invisibility of the steganography process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, many image encryption algorithms have been proposed. Part of them failed to pass the cryptanalysis test and were found to be unsecure. Some others were more secure and could resist the known cryptanalysis methods. Many of those recent schemes followed a well-known model that consists of encrypting the image's pixels using a variety of techniques and methods. Many algorithms were claimed to be secure and performant to be used in real applications. This paper investigates this claim by performing a comparative analysis between a chaotic algorithm recently proposed and the standard general purpose AES cryptosystem in a web application context. The experimental tests conducted on both algorithms in this paper proved that the pixel-wise algorithms are not suitable for this kind of applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the realm of smart communication systems, where the ubiquity of 5G/6G networks and IoT applications demands robust data confidentiality, the cryptographic integrity of block and stream cipher mechanisms plays a pivotal role. This paper focuses on the enhancement of cryptographic strength in these systems through an innovative approach to generating substitution boxes (S-boxes), which are integral in achieving confusion and diffusion properties in substitution–permutation networks. These properties are critical in thwarting statistical, differential, linear, and other forms of cryptanalysis, and are equally vital in pseudorandom number generation and cryptographic hashing algorithms. The paper addresses the challenge of rapidly producing random S-boxes with desired cryptographic attributes, a task notably arduous given the complexity of existing generation algorithms. We delve into the hill climbing algorithm, exploring various cost functions and their impact on computational complexity for generating S-boxes with a target nonlinearity of 104. Our contribution lies in proposing a new cost function that markedly reduces the generation complexity, bringing down the iteration count to under 50,000 for achieving the desired S-box. This advancement is particularly significant in the context of smart communication environments, where the balance between security and performance is paramount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the global data strategy deepens and data elements accelerate integrating and flowing more rapidly, the demand for data security and privacy protection has become increasingly prominent. Confidential computing emerges as a crucial security technology to solve security and privacy problem, and it is also a hot subject of in contemporary security technologies. Leveraging collaborative security in both hardware and software, it builds a trusted execution environment to ensure confidentiality and integrity protection for data in use. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the development process of confidential computing, summarizing its current research status and issues, which focuses on the security requirements for data security and privacy protection. Furthermore, it deeply analyses the common technical features of confidential computing, and proposes a trusted confidential computing architecture based on collaborative hardware and software trust. Then, it elaborates on the research status and issues of confidential computing from four aspects: hardware security, architecture and key technologies, applications, and standards and evaluation. Finally, this paper provides a synthesis and outlook for the future development of confidential computing. In summary, confidential computing is currently in a rapidly developing stage and will play an important role in cyber security in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the rapid advancements in network technology, blockchain is being employed for distributed data storage. In the Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, different participants manage multiple blockchains located in different trust domains, which has resulted in the extensive development of cross-domain authentication techniques. However, the emergence of many attackers equipped with quantum computers has the potential to launch quantum computing attacks against cross-domain authentication schemes based on traditional cryptography, posing a significant security threat. In response to the aforementioned challenges, our paper demonstrates a post-quantum crossdomain identity authentication scheme to negotiate the session key used in the cross-chain asset exchange process. Firstly, our paper designs the hiding and recovery process of user identity index based on lattice cryptography and introduces the identity-based signature from lattice to construct a post-quantum cross-domain authentication scheme. Secondly, our paper utilizes the hashed time-locked contract to achieves the cross-chain asset exchange of blockchain nodes in different trust domains. Furthermore, the security analysis reduces the security of the identity index and signature to Learning With Errors (LWE) and Short Integer Solution (SIS) assumption, respectively, indicating that our scheme has post-quantum security. Last but not least, through comparison analysis, we display that our scheme is efficient compared with the cross-domain authentication scheme based on traditional cryptography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial introduces the special issue, Resources for Undergraduate Cryptology. We begin by describing possible roles for cryptology in the undergraduate mathematics curriculum together with a brief overview of the subject. We conclude with a brief preview of each paper included in this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various organizations store data online rather than on physical servers. As the number of user's data stored in cloud servers increases, the attack rate to access data from cloud servers also increases. Different researchers worked on different algorithms to protect cloud data from replay attacks. None of the papers used a technique that simultaneously detects a full-message and partial-message replay attack. This study presents the development of a TKN (Text, Key and Name) cryptographic algorithm aimed at protecting data from replay attacks. The program employs distinct ways to encrypt plain text [P], a user-defined Key [K], and a Secret Code [N]. The novelty of the TKN cryptographic algorithm is that the bit value of each text is linked to another value with the help of the proposed algorithm, and the length of the cipher text obtained is twice the length of the original text. In the scenario that an attacker executes a replay attack on the cloud server, engages in cryptanalysis, or manipulates any data, it will result in automated modification of all associated values inside the backend. This mechanism has the benefit of enhancing the detectability of replay attacks. Nevertheless, the attacker cannot access data not included in any of the papers, regardless of how effective the attack strategy is. At the end of paper, the proposed algorithm's novelty will be compared with different algorithms, and it will be discussed how far the proposed algorithm is better than all other algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning is widely used in various industries. At CRYPTO 2019, researchers used deep learning to analyze the block cipher for the first time and constructed a differential neural network distinguisher to meet a certain accuracy. In this paper, a mixture differential neural network distinguisher using ResNet is proposed to further improve the accuracy by exploring the mixture differential properties. Experiments are conducted on SIMON32/64, and the accuracy of the 8-round mixture differential neural network distinguisher is improved from 74.7% to 92.3%, compared with that of the previous differential neural network distinguisher. The prediction accuracy of the differential neural network distinguisher is susceptible to the choice of the specified input differentials, whereas the mixture differential neural network distinguisher is less affected by the input difference and has greater robustness. Furthermore, by combining the probabilistic expansion of rounds and the neutral bit, the obtained mixture differential neural network distinguisher is extended to 11 rounds, which can realize the 12-round actual key recovery attack on SIMON32/64. With an appropriate increase in the time complexity and data complexity, the key recovery accuracy of the mixture differential neural network distinguisher can be improved to 55% as compared to 52% of the differential neural network distinguisher. The mixture differential neural network distinguisher proposed in this paper can also be applied to other lightweight block ciphers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mainstream research on information theory within the field of living systems involves the application of analytical tools to understand a broad range of life processes. This paper is dedicated to an opposite problem: it explores the information theory and communication engineering methods that have counterparts in the data transmission process by way of DNA structures and neural fibers. Considering the requirements of modern multimedia, transmission methods chosen by nature may be different, suboptimal, or even far from optimal. However, nature is known for rational resource usage, so its methods have a significant advantage: they are proven to be sustainable. Perhaps understanding the engineering aspects of methods of nature can inspire a design of alternative green, stable, and low-cost transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video steganography has the potential to be used to convey illegal information, and video steganalysis is a vital tool to detect the presence of this illicit act. Currently, all the motion vector (MV)‐based video steganalysis algorithms extract feature sets directly from the MVs, but ignoring the embedding operation may perturb the statistical distribution of other video encoding elements, such as the skipped macroblocks (no direct MVs). This paper proposes a novel 11‐dimensional feature set to detect MV‐based video steganography based on the above observation. The proposed feature is extracted based on the skipped macroblocks by recompression calibration. Specifically, the feature consists of two components. The first is the probability distribution of motion vector prediction (MVP) difference, and the second is the probability distribution of partition state transfer. Extensive experiments on different conditions demonstrate that the proposed feature set achieves good detection accuracy, especially in lower embedding capacities. In addition, the loss of detection performance caused by recompression calibration using mismatched quantization parameters (QP) is within the acceptable range, so the proposed method can be used in practical scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryptology is a part of mathematics as encryption and decryption. The purpose of encryption is to make information incomprehensible when it is in the hands of unauthorized people. The receiver can decrypt the message that encrypted by the sender with helping of the key. The important point is that the key cannot be decrypted by other people. One Time Pad method solves this problem. The key is used only once each encryption in this method. So, the key becomes harder to guess. If the key is solved by unauthorized people, the message cannot be solved. Because of with each decryption, many meaningful messages are obtained. Every cyclic shift in a cyclic code constructs a new key and in each encryption is used the new key. Many keys are generated thanks to cyclic codes. In this paper, we improve the new encryption scheme by using the cyclic codes with One Time Pad method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) or Data Encryption Standard (DES) are standard block cipher techniques mostly used for text or numbers but not preferred for multimedia data. Many researchers presented their work for grayscale image cryptography. However, little work has been reported for RGB image cryptography. This paper presents DieRoll, an encryption technique for color images. The key generation provides a novel approach with various stages of dividing and scrambling followed by using a fair die to transpose, reintegrate and form a new key. This newly generated key is used to encrypt RGB images. The implementation and performance evaluation of DieRoll is also given. The paper compares DieRoll encryption techniques with other techniques found in the literature. Quantitative and visual evaluation is also presented to analyze the resistance against modern threats. In the end attack analysis is given to support the claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet a network of interconnected systems which is used to transmit different kinds of sensitive data is made secure by encrypting this data during transmission and protecting it against any kind of violation. This paper presents a symmetric data encryption algorithm developed in Python to encrypt images, making the transmission secure. The major computations performed in the algorithm are Mix Columns, Key dependent ex-or operation with upper and lower triangular sections of the matrix, Shift Rows, and Customized Sub Bytes transformation which provides diffusion and confusion. Results of various analysis performed on the algorithm prove its authenticity, confidentiality, and integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fast advance and evolution of technology in Internet of Things (IoT) is a double-edged sword, striking with new performant solutions and backfiring with a lot of unanswered questions. Due to cheap manufacturing costs and large-scale production, sensors, actuators and even microcontrollers are not designed with security on the first place. Also, the IoT market is a new one and that means that it is still unregulated and there isn’t a well-defined set of standards to control and manage better these problems. The IoT ascent has impacted many industries, but probably the most changes were made to the Supply Chain Management (SCM) industry. The forementioned question of cheap devices that need to be manufactured with a minimum of costs, very fast and ready to be deployed, is digging a big security hole in this kind of ecosystems. This paper aims to discuss the challenges involved in hardening de security in embedded devices, protecting the data and the communication channels between an IoT node and an IoT gateway and finally, assuring the persistence of data and its security after is stored. All these matters are addressed with privacy and security in design. Because SCM is a multiparty ecosystem that involves many different actors each with its tasks and data handling components, it is important to assure the fact that they will not interfere, tamper, or profit in a bad manner of each other. One solution for this problem is decentralization that comes with strings attached. Finally, and on short, this paper will try to describe a security model based on decentralization in a SCM flow, addressing its threats and how they can be overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, reversible logic gates have garnered significant interest because of their potential to decrease energy consumption and meet the growing need for low-power computing systems. Unlike conventional logic gates, reversible logic gates ensure that no information loss happens during computation, allowing for the reversal of the entire computation process. This unique characteristic opens up new avenues for developing energy-efficient digital circuits. This review paper serves as a vital contribution to the field by addressing a noticeable gap in the existing literature regarding reversible logic gates. The study not only comprehensively analyzes the array of reversible logic gates available but also underscores their practical applications and significance. It encompasses a wide variety of reversible logic gates, including Toffoli gates, Fredkin gates, and newer innovations. It is found that Toffoli gates outperformed in terms of gate count and quantum cost reduction, making them a preferred choice for quantum circuit optimization. Additionally, Fredkin gates showed exceptional performance in specific applications, like data swapping and quantum state control. The digital circuits like adders, multiplexers, ALU etc. are successfully designed using reversible gates like HNG, DKG etc. The significant gap this study fills lies in the need for a consolidated and in-depth analysis of the state-of-the-art reversible logic gates and their real-world utility. While prior research has discussed these gates individually, this paper takes a novel approach by offering a holistic assessment of their performance, quantum cost, gate count, and practical applications, thereby presenting a comprehensive resource for researchers, engineers, and designers in the field. This innovative contribution plays a pivotal role in shaping the progress of energy-efficient and quantum computing systems as well as in optimizing VLSI chip designs for various applications, with a particular emphasis on enhancing cryptographic and data processing capabilities. The findings of this review aim to stimulate further research and development in reversible computing, contributing to the advancement of energy-efficient and information-preserving computing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conditional Privacy Preserving Authentication (CPPA) schemes are an effective way of securing communications in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), as well as ensuring user privacy and accountability. Cryptanalysis plays a crucial role in pointing out the vulnerabilities in existing schemes to enable the development of more resilient ones. In 2019, Zhang proposed a CPPA scheme for VANET security (PA-CRT), based on identity batch verification (IBV) and Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT). In this paper, we cryptanalyze Zhang's scheme and point out its vulnerability to impersonation and repudiation attacks. In 2023, Zhang's scheme was cryptanalyzed by Tao; however, we point out flaws in Tao's cryptanalysis due to invalid assumptions; hence, we propose countermeasures to Tao's attacks. Furthermore, in 2021, Xiong proposed a Certificateless Aggregate Signature (CLAS) scheme which is also cryptanalyzed in this paper. Finally, we analyze the causes and countermeasures by pointing out the vulnerabilities in each scheme that enabled us to launch successful attacks and proposing changes that would fortify these schemes against similar attacks in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context and background: The blockchain technology is as a new technology in vogue that is virtually getting a swift application in most important art world transactions. This is due to its public distributed, transparent, accountable, traceable and safe, ledger database, also is the advantage to secure a successful transaction without a third party. As the world keeps growing in the knowledge and the adoption of the technology, it is very important to practically explore the opportunities in this technology to combat the security and copyright problems facing land ownership transactions in the Cadastre system. Goal and Objectives: The goal of this paper is to practically access the possibility of engaging the blockchain technology in land administration and ownership systems while the objective is to convert legal instrument(s) into cryptographic readable data. Methodology: This was done by minting survey plans template into Non-Fungible Token. Two blockchains (Solana and CORE blockchains) were considered to show the possibility of adopting the technology in land administration and ownership systems. The selection was based on their flexibility, Scalability and the potentials to solve the trilemma blockchain problems. A survey plan template called DEMO (no real) was created for this purpose. Transactions on the FONE network Art NFT marketplace built on Solana blockchain was examined while an art NFT of survey plan template was minted on the Youngparrot NFT marketplace built on CORE blockchain. Results: The transactions were completed and the survey plan was successfully minted on the Core blockchain. the minting and transaction records are available and can be traced on the public blockchain ledger. Due to this advantage, this paper urges the consideration to take advantage of the possibilities and positivity of the technology in Land Administration sector and land ownership system and also provides steps to achieving its successful adoption. In addition, this is not a financial advice but a research work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a technological paradigm that has gained significant momentum the last decade and, among other features, enables the development of intelligent and interoperable device networks. In this respect, it has triggered the creation and evolution of vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs), which are initially implemented in order to guarantee the safety of drivers and the avoidance of traffic accidents. The drawback is that this fast evolution comes with serious concerns in terms of the privacy of users, while the population of attackers or entities that try to eavesdrop and intercept information has significantly increased. This imposes a serious risk for drivers moving across a Smart City. The research presented in this paper aims to evaluate privacy protection mechanisms in VANET environments, based on the efficiency and security level they ensure, considering the fact that VANETs provide limited resources to users/drivers. Moreover, the usage of elliptic curve cryptography in reduced resources environments is discussed. Finally, this paper compares the performance of three cryptographic algorithms, elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), hyperelliptic curve cryptography genus 2 (HECC-2) and HECC genus 3 (HECC-3), employed for an efficient authentication and safe message transmission mechanism in VANETs, aimed at reaching conclusions related to the implementation of each cryptographic scheme in this specific application area. The evaluation results indicate that ECC supersedes HECC-2 and HECC-3 in most metrics. However, HECC-2 and HECC-3 demonstrate better responses than ECC does in selected energy metrics. Overall, it is observed that HECC algorithms are not yet mature enough to compete with ECC. This is due to the fact that the research community has not sufficiently progressed toward the optimization of HECC, and moreover, HECC builds on quite complex mathematics. There are indications, however, that once HECC curves are indeed optimized, HECC will outperform ECC in speed as well as in other metrics, sinceHECC-2 and HECC-3 use a significantly smaller key size with the same level of security as that of ECC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this exploration, our paper delves into the intricate implementation of robust authentication and transaction management within educational blockchain systems. Our project showcases a commitment to privacy and integrity, safeguarding interactions through advanced cryptographic techniques. The multifaceted capabilities of blockchain technology are showcased through the seamless maintenance of student records, the facilitation of secure voting processes, and the optimization of token transfers, collectively contributing to an ecosystem characterized by enhanced security, transparency, and efficiency. Our study uncovers insights into blockchain's transformative potential in education, redefining paradigms by introducing security measures and transparency to student-admin interactions. We highlight the successful implementation of blockchainbased authentication and transaction management systems, leading to enhanced educational processes. Additionally, we briefly outline our research design and methodology, emphasizing the rigorous approach to exploring blockchain applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Bronze Age, the inhabitants of regions of Crete, mainland Greece, and Cyprus inscribed their languages using, among other scripts, a writing system called Linear A. These symbols, mainly characterized by combinations of lines, have, since their discovery, remained a mystery. Not only is the corpus very small, but it is challenging to link Minoan, the language behind Linear A, to any known language. Most decipherment attempts involve using the phonetic values of Linear B, a grammatological offspring of Linear A, to 'read' Linear A. However, this yields meaningless words. Recently, novel approaches to deciphering the script have emerged which involve a computational component. In this paper, two such approaches are combined to account for the biases involved in provisionally assigning Linear B phonetic values to Linear A and to shed more light on the possible connections of Linear A with other scripts and languages from the region. Additionally, the limitations inherent in such approaches are discussed. Firstly, a feature-based similarity measure is used to compare Linear A with the Carian Alphabet and the Cypriot Syllabary. A few Linear A symbols are matched with symbols from the Carian Alphabet and the Cypriot Syllabary. Finally, using the derived phonetic values, Linear A is compared with Ancient Egyptian, Luwian, Hittite, Proto-Celtic, and Uralic using a consonantal approach. Some possible word matches are identified from each language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most popular cryptographic scheme in the post-quantum field, lattices have received extensive attention and research. Not only do they provide quantum-resistant security, they also enable the construction of complex applications. Currently, lattice cryptography schemes based on different difficult problems have been applied in different fields. The threshold secret sharing (TSS) scheme is an important field of cryptography and has important application value and development prospects in key protection, secure multi-party computation, privacy protection, etc. However, with the rapid development of quantum computing, many existing cryptography-underlying technologies are facing huge difficulties and challenges. Therefore, post-quantum TSS has important research significance and value for the future development of cryptography. In this paper, we summarize the existing secret sharing schemes based on lattice-hard problems and the relevant applications of these schemes in the post-quantum realm. We classify existing lattice-based TSS according to different functions and introduce typical solutions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review paper on lattice-based TSS schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper delves into the realm of steganography, focusing on the evolution of techniques employed to conceal data within digital images. Beginning with an exploration of the motivations behind information security and the role of cryptography, the paper introduces adaptive steganography as a discreet means of incorporating private data into a cover medium. The discussion then shifts to the three key factors in image steganography - resilience, capacity, and imperceptibility - forming the foundation of effective data hiding. The spatial and frequency domain methods are compared, with specific emphasis on the classical Least Significant Bit insertion and more advanced adaptive steganography techniques. The paper further introduces edge-based steganography, highlighting the advantage of manipulating edge areas for increased imperceptibility. Moving beyond definitions and types, the paper provides a comprehensive analysis of notable research works in the field, elucidating their objectives, methodologies, results, strengths, and limitations. The conclusion reflects on the dynamic landscape of steganography, acknowledging both achievements and areas for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Rubik's Cube mechanism (RCM) is a kind of reconfigurable mechanism with multiple characteristics such as multiple configurations, variable topology, strong coupling, and reconfigurability. Crossover research on the RCM with mathematics, chemistry, cryptography, and other disciplines has led to important breakthroughs and progress. It is obvious that the invention and creation of a new RCM can provide important ideological inspiration and theoretical guidance for the accelerated iterative updating of Rubik's Cube products and the expansion of their applications. This paper investigates the type synthesis method for a regular hexagonal prism (RHP) RCM (RHPRCM). Through analysis of the reconfigurable movement process of the RCM, two mechanism factors are abstracted, a type synthesis process for the RHPRCM is proposed, a symmetry layout method for the RCM's revolute axis based on the RHP space polyhedron is proposed, and an analysis method for the intersection of the revolute pair contact surfaces (RPCSs) based on the adjacency matrix is proposed. Taking a revolute axis passing through the center of an RHP and having only one RPCS for each revolute axis as an example, an RHPRCM with different topological structures is synthesized. The relevant research in this paper can provide methodological guidance for the synthesis of other spatial RCMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public key Cryptography which is associated with pair of public and private keys is an important requirement for electronic commence in the history of cryptography. Since public key is shared it should be digitally stored in the software in the form of public key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates Elliptic Curve Cryptography plays major role in cloud computing due to the exceptional property of smaller key size. ECC has wide range of applications in Secure Socket Layers (SSL) of cloud computing. The main disadvantage of ECC is the cipher space is two times the message. The present paper explains an innovative elliptic curve cryptosystem that reduces the cipher space, equal to the original message. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the advent of Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies have gained substantial popularity, and crypto wallets have evolved into the predominant tool for safeguarding and managing cryptographic keys to access cryptocurrency funds. Deterministic wallets are proposed as an advanced wallet mechanism to provide benefits such as low-maintenance, easy backup and recovery, and support for functionalities required by cryptocurrencies. Alkeilani Alkadri et al. (ACM CCS'20) presented the first post-quantum secure deterministic wallet scheme, but it exhibits a gap to bridge before achieving practical applicability, as reflected in both their concrete parameters size and computational efficiency. In this paper, we propose an efficient post-quantum secure deterministic wallet scheme. In particular, we present a new construction method for deterministic wallets, prove the security in the quantum random oracle model, and provide an efficient instantiation. The comparison result, with the work of Alkeilani Alkadri et al. (ACM CCS'20), shows our work has a comprehensive improvement on efficiency, e.g., the pk size is ≈ 40.7 times shorter, sk is ≈ 9.2 times shorter, and the signing time is ≈ 3.1 times faster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current landscape where quantum algorithms pose a significant threat to conventional digital signature algorithms, code-based digital signature algorithms have emerged as the primary focus of ongoing research in post-quantum cryptography. Digital signatures play a pivotal role in ensuring non-repudiation and authentication, making them an indispensable cryptographic technique. The vulnerability of most digital signature algorithms to quantum attacks have prompted a significant surge in research on code-based digital signature algorithms, which have emerged as a prominent field within post-quantum cryptography. There are generally three distinct approaches to constructing code-based digital signature algorithms: (1) Developing an algorithm that follows the inverse process of the code-based public-key encryption algorithm; (2) Utilizing zero-knowledge identification algorithms in conjunction with the Fiat–Shamir paradigm to formulate a signature algorithm; (3) Constructing a specialized subset of the syndrome space as the foundation for the digital signature algorithm. Chameleon Signature is a non-interactive signature that operates on the hash and signature paradigm, exhibiting comparable efficiency to conventional schemes. Its distinct advantage lies in the fact that the owner of the public key does not necessarily require access to the corresponding secret key within the Chameleon hash algorithm. Notably, Chameleon signatures possess an inherent characteristic of non-transferability, with their validity ascertainable solely by designated recipients. This paper introduces the first Chameleon hash function based on both KKS and HFE schemes, showcasing its superiority over traditional schemes through rank metrics and big fields for enhanced security. The deployment of Chameleon hash functions within hash-and-sign signature schemes introduces a nuanced layer of security and verification flexibility. This study elucidates the implications of integrating Chameleon hash functions into the recipient's public key infrastructure, highlighting the dual capability it affords authorized parties for secure and adaptable verification processes, alongside mechanisms for the detection of unauthorized alterations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reversible codes have a range of wide applications in cryptography, data storage, and communication systems. In this paper, we investigated reversible codes under the Rosenbloom-Tsfasman metric (RT-metric). First, some properties of reversible codes in the RT-metric were described. An essential condition for a reversible code to be a maximum distance separable code (MDS code, in short) in the RT-metric was established. A necessary condition for a binary self-dual code to be reversible was proven and the same was generalized for q-ary self-dual reversible codes. Several constructions for reversible RT-metric codes were provided in terms of their generator matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]