Paul Kocher
Encyclopedia
Paul Carl Kocher is an American
cryptographer and cryptography
consultant
, currently the president and chief scientist of Cryptography Research, Inc.
Among his most significant achievements are the development of timing attack
s that can break implementations of RSA, DSA
and fixed-exponent Diffie-Hellman that operate in non-constant time, as well as the co-development of power analysis
and differential power analysis. He also contributed to the design of Deep Crack, a DES
brute-force key search machine. He was one of the architects of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 3.0 protocol, a cryptographic protocol for secure communications on the Internet
.
Kocher grew up in Oregon
. He received a bachelor's degree in biology
from Stanford University
in 1991, where he worked part-time with Martin Hellman
.
Kocher was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering
in 2009 for his contributions to cryptography and Internet security.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cryptographer and cryptography
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
consultant
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
, currently the president and chief scientist of Cryptography Research, Inc.
Cryptography Research
Cryptography Research, Inc.. is a San Francisco based cryptography company specializing in applied cryptographic engineering, including technologies for building tamper-resistant semiconductors. It was purchased on June 6, 2011 by Rambus for more than $250M in cash and stock. The company licenses...
Among his most significant achievements are the development of timing attack
Timing attack
In cryptography, a timing attack is a side channel attack in which the attacker attempts to compromise a cryptosystem by analyzing the time taken to execute cryptographic algorithms...
s that can break implementations of RSA, DSA
Digital Signature Algorithm
The Digital Signature Algorithm is a United States Federal Government standard or FIPS for digital signatures. It was proposed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in August 1991 for use in their Digital Signature Standard , specified in FIPS 186, adopted in 1993. A minor...
and fixed-exponent Diffie-Hellman that operate in non-constant time, as well as the co-development of power analysis
Power analysis
In cryptography, power analysis is a form of side channel attack in which the attacker studies the power consumption of a cryptographic hardware device...
and differential power analysis. He also contributed to the design of Deep Crack, a DES
Data Encryption Standard
The Data Encryption Standard is a block cipher that uses shared secret encryption. It was selected by the National Bureau of Standards as an official Federal Information Processing Standard for the United States in 1976 and which has subsequently enjoyed widespread use internationally. It is...
brute-force key search machine. He was one of the architects of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 3.0 protocol, a cryptographic protocol for secure communications on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
Kocher grew up in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. He received a bachelor's degree in biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1991, where he worked part-time with Martin Hellman
Martin Hellman
Martin Edward Hellman is an American cryptologist, and is best known for his invention of public key cryptography in cooperation with Whitfield Diffie and Ralph Merkle...
.
Kocher was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
in 2009 for his contributions to cryptography and Internet security.