Department of Information Security

The Department of Information Security is a subdivision of the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics MSU. The Department was established in 2013 to educate students as well as to develop various mathematical methods of information security. The Head of the Department is Igor Sokolov, Member of the Russian Academy of Science (RAS).

Staff members:

• Grusho Alexander, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Cryptography, Professor, Dr.Sc.
• Karpunin Grigory, Associate Professor, PhD
• Primenko Eduard, Associate Professor, PhD
• Cherepnev Mikhail, Associate Professor, PhD
• Chizhov Ivan, Associate Professor, PhD
• Gilyasov Ruslan, Researcher

Research :

Cryptography and information security is the main area of research of the Department. The research is focused on theoretical information security, cryptology, symmetric cryptography (block and stream ciphers), hashing, cryptographic protocols, applications of coding theory to cryptography, cryptographic applications of number theory, cryptographic applications of non-Archimedean dynamics, access control, side channel attacks, steganography.

The Laboratory of Mathematical Problems of Computer Security is a research subdivision of the Department. The Department also collaborates with the Institute of Information Security Issues (MSU).

Our most important contributions are:

1. Analysis of asymmetric cryptosystems (especially of McEliece, McEliece-Sidelnikov cryptosystems).
2. Analysis of cryptographic hash-functions (in particular, of MD4).
3. Affinity and balance properties of Boolean functions.
4. New attacks on filtering generators.
5. New algorithms to solve systems of non-linear Boolean equations.
6. The non-Archimedean theory of automata functions and T-function-based ciphers.

Teaching:

The Department of Information Security teaches Bachelor, Master, and PhD students who have chosen information security as their future profession. Our graduates are getting fundamental knowledge in algebra, complexity theory, coding theory, automata theory, symbolic and non-Archimedean dynamics as well as in applications of these mathematical disciplines to various areas of modern cryptology and information security.

Lecture courses:

1. Theoretical foundations of information security.
2. Mathematical foundations of cryptology.
3. Software and hardware of information security.
4. Complexity of cryptographic algorithms.
5. Cryptographic protocols.
6. Elements of cryptanalysis.
7. Cryptographic properties of discrete functions.
8. Mathematical models of pseudorandom generators.
9. Network security.
10. Message authentication codes and cryptographic hash-functions.
11. Introduction to mathematical cryptology.

Seminars:

1. Problems of modern cryptology.
2. Cryptographic hash-functions.
3. Mathematical methods of cryptanalysis.
4. Theoretical cryptography.