14 May 2009

Second cryptanalysis prize

We announce the second prize for the most interesting cryptanalysis of Keccak. The results must be publicly available on an URL that is sent to keccak -at- noekeon -dot- org before June 30, 2009 at 23:59 GMT+2. We reserve the right to extend this deadline in the absence of interesting results.

This time, the prize is a Bialetti coffee machine of fine Italian design, plus a set of some of the best Italian coffee.

Like for the previous prize, who wins will be decided by consensus in the Keccak team, based internally on a system of points. Some hints:

  • Innovative ideas get more points than incremental results or applying standard techniques;
  • For attacks with innovations that are comparable, the earlier ones get more points;
  • Cryptanalysis or attack techniques applicable to a wider range of valid parameters r, c get more points (see the specifications for the definition of valid parameters);
    • Larger Keccak-f width gets more points;
    • Larger capacity gets more points;
  • Attacks on reduced-round versions are allowed but more rounds get more points.

We hope analyzing Keccak is a fun and interesting challenge, and we appreciate any submitted work!