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Written on 13.06.25 (last change on 13.06.25) by Erik Pallas

Dear Students,

Here are some further details on the report you are required to submit.

In your report, you summarise the research paper you presented.
Additionally, you pick two of the other research papers presented in the seminar, summarise them shortly, and explain in your… Read more

Dear Students,

Here are some further details on the report you are required to submit.

In your report, you summarise the research paper you presented.
Additionally, you pick two of the other research papers presented in the seminar, summarise them shortly, and explain in your report how they relate to your research paper.
Your report has to be 4 to 5 pages long.
A potential report structure could be as follows: Abstract - Introduction - Summaries of the papers - Discussion Section - Conclusions/Limitations/Future Work.
Your report has to follow a two-column template, available for example here.
We strongly suggest that you use LaTeX to typeset your paper. Knowing LaTeX will strongly benefit you when writing any future seminar papers and your Bachelor’s thesis. If you are new to LaTeX, we suggest using Overleaf; as UdS students, you can get a free premium account (click here for more information). Overleaf also provides a nice LaTeX tutorial.
Your report has to be submitted as a PDF by July 15th, 2025, 23:59:59 via the CMS. We will provide submission instructions in July.

Best of luck with your writing!

Erik & Aurora

Room Change June 3rd

Written on 27.05.25 (last change on 27.05.25) by Erik Pallas

Dear students,

since our usual room is blocked next week due to an event at CISPA, our session on June 3^rdwill take place at E 1.1, SR 106. See you there!

Reminder: LSF Registration

Written on 12.05.25 by Erik Pallas

Dear students,

please remember to register in LSF for our seminar by tomorrow, May 13^th. Otherwise, we unfortunately cannot grade your submissions and you won't be able to receive credit points for this course.

Papers for May 13th

Written on 07.05.25 by Aurora Naska

Hi all,

The meeting next week (May 13th) will be in person at Cispa Room 0.01 for the presentations of the next papers (5, 6, 8):

5. Formal Analysis of Session-Handling in Secure Messaging: Lifting Security from Sessions to Conversations
6. Deniable Key Exchanges for Secure… Read more

Hi all,

The meeting next week (May 13th) will be in person at Cispa Room 0.01 for the presentations of the next papers (5, 6, 8):

5. Formal Analysis of Session-Handling in Secure Messaging: Lifting Security from Sessions to Conversations
6. Deniable Key Exchanges for Secure Messaging
8. On Ends-to-Ends Encryption: Asynchronous Group Messaging with Strong Security Guarantees

Assigned Topics

Written on 22.04.25 by Aurora Naska

Dear Students,

We distributed the topics you will be presenting in the seminar. Our next meeting is on May 6th with practice presentations of topics 1,2, and 3.

Remember to register in the LSF by May 13th.

Uploaded Slides and Papers

Written on 15.04.25 (last change on 15.04.25) by Aurora Naska

Hi everyone,

We have uploaded the kickoff slides and papers (1-10). You will find them under the Materials section.

You should now also be able to modify your paper preferences until Sunday, April 20th 23:59.

Show all

Secure Messaging

Millions of users now enjoy the benefits of modern secure messaging apps. In recent years, these platforms have introduced much stronger security features than ever before, leveraging technologies like the Signal protocol library (used by WhatsApp, Signal, and Facebook’s Secret Conversations) and other advanced solutions.

This seminar will explore the theoretical foundations behind the design of these protocols, drawing from a selection of relevant research papers in this active and rapidly evolving field. Topics will include the novel security properties of these protocols, the subtle edge cases and security challenges in group messaging, and recent studies suggesting that the actual security achieved may be less than anticipated.

While most of the papers are technical and feature security models and proofs, understanding the proofs will not be required for the presentations. During the proseminar, our primary focus will be on presenting and discussing scientific work. Students will have the opportunity to engage in discussions, ask questions, and receive feedback from their peers and instructors. A background in cryptography or protocol analysis can be helpful but is not essential.

* Kickoff Meeting will be on the second week of the semester April 15 2025, 10:00 AM at CISPA (E 9.1), Room 0.01.

Requirements: Preferably students should have completed the core Security, Cybersecurity I or II lectures.

Places: 10