Security conference canceled because experts can't crack the code

A super-secure election of the International Cryptography Association was forced to be canceled after one of the three resulting decryption keys was accidentally lost, leaving experts at a loss.

The International Association for Cryptographic Research (IACR) had to cancel the election due to a problem with the encryption key. Photo: Gt .

The International Association of Cryptographic Researchers (IACR) has had to cancel its annual leadership election after one of the three secret keys used to unlock the vote count was lost, making the system unable to decrypt.

According to the announcement on November 15, the election was held using a highly secure electronic voting system. The results could only be unlocked with three decryption keys held by three election commissioners. However, one of them was lost, making the entire results inaccessible.

The IACR said it was forced to cancel the election and re-run it. “Unfortunately, we experienced serious technical difficulties that prevented us from completing the vote count. We apologize for the disruption,” the association wrote in a memo to members.

To avoid a repeat of the incident, IACR will adjust its process. Instead of requiring all three keys as before, the system will apply a “2/3 threshold,” meaning only two keys are needed to unlock the results. The association will also issue clear written guidance to the trustees responsible for key management.

IACR, headquartered in Bellevue (USA), is a leading research organization in the field of cryptography and information security, gathering thousands of members around the world . From October 17 to November 16, the association held elections for many leadership positions, including the president, through the Helios electronic voting system. This is a platform designed to be transparent, verifiable and tamper-proof.

Helios encrypts each vote and allows voters to check their ballots. However, to decrypt the totals, the system requires three secret keys held by three different commissioners. This year, two provided their keys on time, but the third, cryptographer Moti Yung, did not return his key, according to the IACR's public election information page.

In an apology, IACR said the error was “a human error, stemming from the system’s strict cryptographic requirements.” The lost private key cannot be recovered, and all results are lost as well.

Mr. Yung resigned as the decryption commissioner during this year's election. The new election will be held from November 21 to December 20.

Professor Ronald Rivest, a cryptography expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said the re-election was costly but necessary. “It’s unfortunate that this happened. The lesson is you don’t want these kinds of errors in a real system,” he said.

Source: https://znews.vn/hoi-nghi-bao-mat-phai-huy-vi-chuyen-gia-khong-giai-duoc-ma-khoa-post1605094.html