Adi Shamir, a Founding Father of Public-Key Cryptography, to Keynote Black Hat Europe 2014

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Black Hat, the world's leading family of information security events, announces that Adi Shamir, Borman Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Weizmann Institute of Science and co-inventor of the RSA algorithm, will keynote Black Hat Europe 2014. Known as a visionary for his numerous contributions to the fields of cryptography and computer science, Adi Shamir will provide attendees with an insider's view into his historical work as well as a look into where we are going as an industry. Returning for its 14^th year, Black Hat Europe will welcome the world's brightest information security professionals and researchers to reveal vulnerabilities that impact everything from the latest mobile and consumer devices to critical international infrastructure. This year's show will run October 14-17 at the Amsterdam RAI. For more information and to save €200 on your Briefings Pass by October 9, please visit http://www.blackhat.com/eu-14.

With the explosive growth of connected devices and wireless communication, the importance and significance of Adi Shamir's work is unquestionable – he is without a doubt one of the most influential experts in the history of computer science and cryptography.

"We are thrilled to welcome a true visionary to keynote Black Hat Europe going into our fourteenth year," explained Steve Wylie, Black Hat General Manager. "His impact on the field of cryptography has forever changed the way we see privacy in our everyday--and increasingly digitally-connected--interactions."

Adi Shamir is currently the Paul and Marlene Borman Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Here his main area of research is cryptography, or as he says modestly, the making and breaking of codes. Most recently he and his students and colleagues have been busy developing practical cryptographic paradigms and new cryptanalytic attacks, as well as protective techniques against side channel attacks such as power analysis.

Among his many achievements, Adi Shamir is widely recognized for co-inventing the RSA algorithm (along with Ronald L. Rivest and Leonard M. Adleman), bringing the "S" to the acronym "RSA." In 2002, he and his two colleagues were awarded the A.M. Turing Award, the highest honor in computer science, for their "ingenious contribution for making public-key cryptography useful in practice." Today, millions of people use RSA encryption to secure e-mail and other digital transactions.

Adi Shamir holds more than a dozen patents related to cryptography and computer science with numerous award-winning inventions and contributions. In addition to his work with the RSA algorithm, he is a co-inventor of the Feige–Fiat–Shamir identification scheme (along with Uriel Feige and Amos Fiat) and is credited for creating the Shamir secret sharing scheme. Shamir is also known for the breaking of the Merkle-Hellman knapsack cryptosystem, visual cryptography, and the TWIRL and TWINKLE factoring devices. He has also made several notable contributions to computer science outside of cryptography, such as finding the first linear time algorithm for 2-satisfiability and showing the equivalence of the complexity classes PSPACE and IP. Adi Shamir's list of accolades is long, and the overall value of his work on the industry is priceless.

Adi Shamir will take the keynote stage at Black Hat Europe on October 16, presenting his latest research and developments with a talk titled, "Side Channel Attacks - Past, Present, and Future."

Black Hat Student Scholarships:
Today (September 12, 2014) is the final day for qualified students to submit essays for a chance of receiving a complimentary Academic Pass to Black Hat Europe. The Black Hat Student Scholarship Program is a way to introduce the next generation of security professionals to the Black Hat community. For more information and requirements, visit: https://www.blackhat.com/eu-14/student-scholarship-program.html.

Sponsors of Black Hat Europe 2014 include: Diamond Sponsors: Juniper Networks and RSA and Platinum Sponsor: Palo Alto Networks.

Future Black Hat Dates and Events

• Black Hat Europe 2014, Amsterdam RAI Convention Center, Amsterdam, NL, Oct. 14-17, 2014
• Black Hat Regional Summit, Transamerica Expo Center, Sao Paulo, Brazil, November 25-26, 2014
• Black Hat Trainings, Bolger Center, Potomac, MD, December 8-11, 2014
• Black Hat Asia 2015, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, March 24-27, 2015
• Black Hat USA 2015, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada, August 1-6, 2015

About Black Hat
For more than 17 years, Black Hat has provided attendees with the very latest in information security research, development, and trends. These high-profile global events and trainings are driven by the needs of the security community, striving to bring together the best minds in the industry. Black Hat inspires professionals at all career levels, encouraging growth and collaboration among academia, world-class researchers, and leaders in the public and private sectors. Black Hat Briefings and Trainings are held annually in the United States, Europe and Asia, and are produced by UBM Tech. More information is available at: http://www.blackhat.com. 

About UBM Tech
UBM Tech is a global media business that brings together the world's technology communities through live events, online properties and custom services. UBM Tech's community-focused approach provides its users and clients with expertly curated research, education, training, community advocacy, user-generated content and peer-to-peer engagement opportunities that serve the Electronics, Security, Enterprise IT and Communications, Network Infrastructure and Applications, Game and App Developers, and Tech Marketing communities. UBM Tech's brands include Black Hat, DesignCon, EE Times, Enterprise Connect, Game Developers Conference (GDC), HDI, InformationWeek, and Interop. Create, a UBM Tech full range marketing services division, includes custom events, content marketing solutions, community development and demand generation programs based on its content and technology market expertise. UBM Tech is a part of UBM (UBM.L), a global provider of media and information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion. For more information, go to http://tech.ubm.com.

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