Cybersecurity research scholarship awarded for 2020

CryptoWorks21 participant and Masters student in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization Philip Hodges has been awarded the RBC Graduate Scholarship valued at $20,000 over three terms.

The scholarship is awarded to a graduate student conducting research in topics aligned with quantum-safe cryptography and who demonstrates excellence in academics, publications, and a lay abstract of a research proposal.

Hodges is writing a thesis that will explore the ways in which powerful cryptographic adversaries can subvert our secure cryptosystems. Building on previous work in kleptography, the study of stealing keys, his work will examine the security of schemes that have been modified to leak secret information. Hodges hopes that his work will bring attention to the ways in which adversaries can work outside of conventional security models to steal our confidential information.

Hodges believes the CryptoWorks21 program is an ideal way to gain a broad exposure to the many facets of integrating applied mathematical results into real-world implementations. Many of the professional and technical skills included in the Cryptoworks21 training are critical in bringing a cryptographic product from an idea to a standard.

Hodges intends on using the skills he is developing as part of the CryptoWorks21 program and has acquired throughout his studies at the University of Waterloo to start a career in cybersecurity. He hopes to contribute his cryptography expertise to help improve information security for everyone.