Please note that advertised projects are sample projects and prospective applicants are not required to apply to one of the advertised projects, but are welcome to discuss broader research interests with the academic named in the advert - and/or to apply with their own research proposal.
The Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security for the Everyday at Royal Holloway University of London seeks to recruit a PhD student to work on secure coded caching.
Coded caching is a technique to reduce network traffic congestion at peak hours by storing some content at users' local cache memories. The goal is to design the cache content placement and the broadcast delivery mechanism to reduce transmission rate. In much of the literature secure coded caching deals with a wiretapper on the broadcast channel attempting to discover either content or users' requests. Much of the solutions proposed are variations of the one-time pad, providing information theoretic security. This project will explore a few directions of research:
Firstly, while there is general agreement on the aims of coded caching, examination of the literature on secure coded caching reveals a lack of system-wide analysis, and a lack of consistent approach in network modelling. The first aim of this project will therefore be to establish a clear and comprehensive network model for secure coded caching with well-defined security requirements.
With a clear network model we may then consider different models of security, identifying trade-offs in unconditionally secure setting, developing formal cryptographic definitions in a provably secure setting, and constructing schemes in these models.
The Information Security Group (ISG) at Royal Holloway has a strong track record in mathematics and cryptographic research, including combinatorics and its application to information security, as well as algorithm design and security analysis.
Successful applicants should have a background in mathematics/computer science, with a focus on discrete mathematics and combinatorics. Familiarity and interest in cryptography, and information security in general, would be a definite advantage. This will be a joint project with Professor Maura Paterson of Birkbeck College. Please contact Dr Siaw-Lynn Ng ([Email Address Removed]) or Dr Elizabeth Quaglia ([Email Address Removed]) for further information.
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