Decentralized Cryptographic Currencies and Blockchains

10/09/2017

Invitation to the Media

Technion’s Cyber ​​Security Research Center will hold a conference next week on:

“Decentralized Cryptographic Currencies and Blockchains”

Sunday-Thursday, September 10-14, 2017, Churchill Auditorium

The Hiroshi Fujiwara Cyber ​​Security Research Center at Technion will hold a conference next week on one of the hottest technological topics in the world today: “Decentralized Cryptographic Currencies and Blockchains,” which will feature a number of leading experts in the field including:

  • Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, an open-source platform based on blockchains. Ethereum skyrocketed by 2,800% in 2017, reaching an all-time high.
  • Zooko Wilcox, founder of Zcash, a system that maintains user privacy in cryptocurrencies. The project began with a study initiated by Prof. Ben-Sasson of Technion, with the cooperation of colleagues from MIT, Berkeley, Tel Aviv, and John Hopkins universities.
  • Kathryn Haun, a federal prosecutor from the United States, who has exposed both criminals who used cryptocurrencies to fund crimes worth millions on the “Silk Road” website, and FBI detectives who misappropriated the cryptocurrencies confiscated from the same site.
  • Peter Van Valkenburg, an attorney and expert on cryptocurrencies who testified on the matter to the US Congress.
  • Prof. Joseph Bonneau of the University of New York
  • Prof. Rafael Pass of Cornell University
  • Prof. Zohar Aviv of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Prof. Eli Ben-Sasson of Technion, who developed the scientific-technological platform behind Zcash

The conference organizers are Prof. Eli Biham, head of the Fujiwara Cyber ​​Security Research Center, and Prof. Eli Ben-Sasson, a faculty member at Technion’s Computer Science Department who specializes in the subject.

The conference, to be held at Technion’s Hiroshi Fujiwara Cyber ​​Security Research Center, is part of a series of cybersecurity and computer conferences held by the Center. Cryptocurrencies are an invention of the last few decades. They are designed to replace tangible currency platforms (bills and coins) as well as virtual platforms such as wire transfers. The first cryptocurrency was the Bitcoin.

The conference will also deal with blockchains, the technological concept on which are based cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Zcash; the regulation of virtual currencies; and more.

The conference is intended for students, researchers, and industry professionals, and is already arousing great interest among members of the virtual currency community in Israel.

The Hiroshi Fujiwara Cyber Security Research Center at Technion focuses on cyber security research such as software and hardware protection, operating systems and cloud information protection as well as communication to and from the cloud, protection of IoT (Internet of Things) systems, verification of software and hardware, computer vision, security of autonomous systems, machine learning for security, cryptology and  cryptanalysis, security and privacy of medical and aeronautical systems, and many other subjects. The Center is a leader in its field in Israel and manages research grants for researchers, funds graduate and doctoral students, and is a magnet for research in the field.

For the full conference program click here

For more information: Doron Shaham, Technion Spokesperson, 050-310-9088