CIISE Distinguished Seminar: Cryptography and Society

Dr. Carlisle Adams,
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Feb. 20 (1:30 pm)
Location: EV3.309

Abstract

Cryptography is a unique (or at least very rare) field in that it has a highly academic, theoretical, and mathematical side, but is so practical and real-world that increasingly we can hardly imagine any aspect of our society functioning without it. In fact, this real-world flavour to cryptography has led to a kind of symbiotic relationship between cryptography and society in which, to some extent, cryptography needs society in order to innovate, and society needs cryptography in order to operate. This talk will illustrate this symbiotic relationship with a number of examples, including some very recent work.

Biography

Carlisle Adams is a Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at University of Ottawa. Prior to his academic appointment in 2003, he worked for 13 years in industry (Nortel, Entrust) in the design and standardization of a variety of cryptographic and security technologies for the Internet. His research and technical contributions include the CAST family of symmetric encryption algorithms, secure protocols for authentication and management in Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) environments, and a comprehensive architecture and policy language for access control in electronic networks. Dr. Adams is co-author of Understanding PKI: Concepts, Standards, and Deployment Considerations, Second Edition (Addison-Wesley, 2003).

Dr. Adams' research interests include all aspects of applied cryptography and security. Particular areas of interest include the design and analysis of symmetric encryption algorithms, the design of large-scale infrastructures for authentication and access control, and the creation of effective techniques to preserve and enhance privacy on the Internet.