Pietrzak Group
Cryptography
Cryptography, the science of information security, is often relegated to the realm of spies and secret agents. However, we all rely on cryptography on a daily basis, for example when using internet banking or a wireless car key.
The cryptography group at ISTA works on theoretical and practical aspects of cryptography, including:
Crypto for light-weight devices. The team works towards provably secure cryptographic schemes for light-weight devices such as RFID tags, which are too constrained to run existing cryptographic schemes.
Leakage-resilient cryptography. This project aims to construct schemes that are provably secure against “side-channel attacks”. These are attacks in which an attacker exploits information leaked during computation from a cryptographic device like a smart card.
Sustainable Cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is the first successful digital currency. Its popularity comes from the fact that it is decentralized, so no central authority controls it. To achieve security despite decentralization, a huge amount of computing power is constantly wasted towards generating “proofs of work”. This is economically and ecologically problematic. The Pietrzak group works towards more sustainable cryptocurrencies.
Group Leader
Administrative Support
Team
Current Projects
Leakage-resilient cryptography | Cryptosystems for light-weight devices | Computational entropy | Memory-hard functions | Cryptocurrencies
Publications
Brzuska C, Ünal A, Woo IKY. 2025. Evasive LWE assumptions: Definitions, classes, and counterexamples. 30th International Conference on the Theory and Application of Cryptology and Information Security. ASIACRYPT: Conference on the Theory and Application of Cryptology and Information Security, LNCS, vol. 15487, 418–449. View
Ebrahimi E, Yadav A. 2024. Strongly secure universal thresholdizer. 30th International Conference on the Theory and Application of Cryptology and Information Security. ASIACRYPT: Conference on the Theory and Application of Cryptology and Information Security vol. 15486, 207–239. View
Anastos M, Auerbach B, Baig MA, Cueto Noval M, Kwan MA, Pascual Perez G, Pietrzak KZ. 2024. The cost of maintaining keys in dynamic groups with applications to multicast encryption and group messaging. 22nd International Conference on Theory of Cryptography. TCC: Theory of Cryptography, LNCS, vol. 15364, 413–443. View
Pascual Perez G. 2024. On the efficiency and security of secure group messaging. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. View
Alwen JF, Auerbach B, Cueto Noval M, Klein K, Pascual Perez G, Pietrzak KZ. 2024. DeCAF: Decentralizable CGKA with fast healing. Security and Cryptography for Networks: 14th International Conference. SCN: Security and Cryptography for Networks, LNCS, vol. 14974, 294–313. View
ReX-Link: Krzysztof Pietrzak
Career
Since 2016 Professor, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
2011 – 2016 Assistant Professor, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
2005 – 2011 Scientific Staff Member, Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2006 Postdoc, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
2005 PhD, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Selected Distinctions
2015 ERC Consolidator Grant
2010 ERC Starting Grant
Additional Information
Download CV
Open Pietrzak group website
Physics & Beyond at ISTA
