Call for Papers

General Information

Having been established in 1999, the Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (CHES) conference is the premier venue for research on both design and analysis of cryptographic hardware and software implementations. As an area conference of the International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR), CHES bridges the cryptographic research and engineering communities, and attracts participants from academia, industry, government and beyond. CHES 2021 will take place virtually on 13-17 September 2021.

The scope of CHES is intentionally diverse, meaning we solicit submission of papers on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

Cryptographic implementations

Hardware architectures
Cryptographic processors and co-processors
True and pseudorandom number generators
Physical unclonable functions (PUFs)
Efficient software implementations

Attacks against implementations, and countermeasures

Side-channel attacks and countermeasures
Micro-architectural side-channel attacks
Fault attacks and countermeasures
Hardware tampering and tamper-resistance
White-box cryptography and code obfuscation
Hardware and software reverse engineering

Tools and methodologies

Computer-aided cryptographic engineering
High-assurance crypto
Verification methods and tools for secure design
Domain-specific languages for cryptographic systems
Metrics for the security of embedded systems
Secure programming techniques
FPGA design security

Interactions between cryptographic theory and implementation issues

New and emerging cryptographic algorithms and protocols targeting embedded devices
Special-purpose hardware for cryptanalysis
Leakage resilient cryptography

Applications

Cryptography and security for the Internet of Things (RFID, sensor networks, smart devices, smart meters, etc.)
Hardware IP protection and anti-counterfeiting
Reconfigurable hardware for cryptography
Smartcard processors, systems and applications
Security for cyberphysical systems (home automation, medical implants, industrial--control systems, etc.)
Automotive security
Secure storage devices (memories, disks, etc.)
Technologies and hardware for content protection
Trusted computing platforms

Hybrid Publication Model

As of 2018, CHES has moved to an open-access journal/conference hybrid model. Following the success of similar initiatives at analogous events such as FSE, this decision was made (by the CHES steering committee) as a means of improving review and publication quality while retaining the highly successful, community-focused event. A comprehensive set of FAQs relating to the model can be found via the TCHES website. In summary:

Submitted papers will undergo a journal-style review process, with accepted papers published by Ruhr University Bochum in an issue of the journal IACR Transactions on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (TCHES). Since it has Gold Open Access status, all TCHES papers are immediately and freely available.
The annual CHES conference consists of presentations for each paper published in the associated issues of TCHES, plus invited talks and a range of additional and social activities.
TCHES has four submission deadlines per year; all papers accepted for publication in TCHES between 15 July of year n–1 and 15 July of year n will be presented at CHES of year n.

Program Committee

Program Co-Chairs

ches2021programchairs@iacr.org

General Co-Chairs

ches2021@iacr.org