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Low-Rank Masking for Single-Server Matrix Multiplication

Researchers prove rank-r additive masks for outsourced matrix multiplication achieve maximal-correlation secrecy of at most q^-r, with a matching lower bound.

An arXiv paper analyzes statistical privacy for outsourcing matrix multiplication over a finite field to a single server using additive masks of rank at most r. Uniform rank-ball masks and products of independent uniform factors yield maximal-correlation secrecy bounded by q^{-r}, with encoding and decoding costing O(n^2 r) field operations. The authors prove an asymptotically matching lower bound for r=o(n), showing these samplers are optimal among input-independent additive masks even with secret invertible transformations. They also show every such mask requires delta approaching 1 in entry-level (epsilon, delta)-differential privacy for fixed field size.

arXiv cs.CR · 16h agoResearch

Proximity Gaps for Gabidulin Codes and Applications

Researchers prove proximity-gap bounds for rank-metric and Gabidulin codes, enabling the first polynomial commitment scheme framework based on rank-metric error-correcting codes.

The paper proves every linear rank-metric code admits a proximity gap for deltas up to (d-1)/(3n) with error at most q^(e+1)/q^m, and improves the gap to (d-1)/(2n) for Gabidulin codes with error at most 10q^(n-1)/q^m, matching bounds for Reed-Solomon codes. A constructed infinite family of constant-rate Gabidulin codes shows the (d-1)/(2n) bound is tight, and a counterexample establishes a lower bound on the error at the d/(3n) gap. Applications include an IOPP for interleaved Gabidulin codes adapted from the Ligero IOPP and a q-linearized polynomial commitment scheme adapted from Ligero-based PCS, reportedly the first PCS framework based on rank-metric codes.

arXiv cs.CR · 8d agoResearch

GAUGE: A Formal Framework for Measuring Cryptographic Security under Heterogeneous Adversary Cost Models

GAUGE frames cryptographic security as profiles over adversary cost models, certifying a ranking reversal between ML-KEM-512 and AES-128 from a 4–5% memory pricing shift.

GAUGE represents cryptographic security as a function over admissible adversary cost models (a security profile), proves profiles are piecewise-linear and concave, and establishes a rating trilemma when two profiles cross. A polynomial-time linear-programming procedure certifies whether the ranking of two schemes is robust, reverses under admissible models, or is genuinely incomparable. Applied to NIST post-quantum standards, the framework certifies a ML-KEM-512 versus AES-128 ranking reversal from a 4–5% shift in memory pricing and measures lattice-sieving cost drift of 9.79 bits per year over eight years. A hybrid X25519 + ML-KEM-768 handshake reduces combined-break probability twenty-fold at a 2.3 kilobyte cost.

arXiv cs.CR · 1d agoResearch

Quantifying IIoT Sensor Node Criticality by Fusing its Data Criticality and Security Vulnerability

Researchers propose a Dempster–Shafer framework fusing IIoT sensor data criticality with CVSS 4.0/3.1 vulnerability scores to rank node criticality.

The paper introduces a framework that evaluates Industrial IoT sensor node criticality by fusing data criticality and cybersecurity vulnerability scores using Dempster–Shafer (D-S) theory. It was validated on a dataset from red wine production and is claimed to generalize to other industrial settings with minimal modification. Results show criticality rankings derived from CVSS 4.0 scores differ significantly from those derived from CVSS 3.1, underscoring how vulnerability scoring methodology affects security prioritization.

arXiv cs.CR · 8d agoResearch

Predicting Privacy Leakage from Weight Spectral Density

Study shows WeightWatcher spectral metrics like stable rank correlate with membership inference vulnerability, enabling cheaper ML privacy auditing.

The paper tests whether spectral metrics from the heavy-tailed self-regularisation framework can proxy membership inference attack (MIA) vulnerability without training expensive shadow models. On image and tabular classification tasks, stable rank correlates positively with overall MIA success, while Log alpha-Norm correlates negatively at the low false-positive regime. These correlations are stronger than those obtained from the generalisation gap, suggesting weight spectra capture leakage information overfitting measures miss. The authors propose spectral analysis as a scalable direction for privacy auditing.

arXiv cs.CR · 6d agoResearch

A Global Readiness and Sovereignty Capability Model for Post-Quantum Cryptography Migration

Researchers propose a Readiness-Sovereignty Capability Model scoring 57 countries on post-quantum cryptography readiness and sovereignty.

The RSCM model decomposes cryptographic sovereignty into indigenous capacity, indigenous post-quantum control, and external dependency, with a gate requiring demonstrated creation in at least one core layer. Applied to 57 documented cryptographic actors, 20 countries clear the maker gate (15 full-stack, 5 research makers), 11 hold strong general capacity without post-quantum control, and 25 are dependent. Readiness correlates with independent cyber indices up to rank correlation 0.70, while post-quantum creation shows no significant correlation with commitment (0.22).

arXiv cs.CR · 21h agoResearch

Google’s New Search Redirects Make It Harder to Check Where Links Lead Before Clicking

Malwarebytes reports Google's new encoded google.com/goto?url= redirects break hover-preview link checking, weakening a common phishing defense.

Google now routes some search results through opaque google.com/goto?url= redirects using custom encoding, so browser link previews no longer reveal the true destination, only the claimed label above the result. Malwarebytes found the final destination is visible only in the redirect response's Location header, complicating hover-based safety checks as well as scraping, archiving, and audit tools. The change arrives amid malvertising, search-result poisoning, and fake installer campaigns like the recent Node.js infostealer lure. Google says it deploys measures against evolving abuse but did not explain the change.

Cyber Security News · 1d agoResearch

Recent Trends in Internet Threats: Common Industries Impersonated in Phishing Attacks, Web Skimmer Analysis and More

Unit 42 analyzed 67 million malicious URLs and domains in H2 2022, a 52% increase, highlighting phishing impersonation and web skimmer trends.

Unit 42 observed more than 67 million unique malicious URLs, domains and IPs between July and December 2022, a 52% increase over the first half of the year. Malicious JavaScript detections grew 99.3%, with over 4 million malicious JS samples hosted on 4.8 million URLs. Over 85% of hosting infrastructure was concentrated in eight countries, led by the United States, Brazil and China. The report also analyzes industries spoofed in phishing pages and includes a web skimmer case study on a Tranco top 1 million website.

Palo Alto Unit 42 · Aug 17, 2026Research

s-MDM: Generative Virtualization of Multi-Device Hardware Variations for Portable DL-SCA

Researchers present s-MDM, a generative framework synthesizing virtual device profiles to improve cross-device portability of deep learning side-channel analysis.

The poster introduces the Synthetic Multiple Device Model (s-MDM), a zero-target-trace generative framework addressing performance degradation of deep learning side-channel analysis on unseen hardware. It combines a structured cVAE generator, Walsh-Hadamard leakage anchors, continuous style modulation, and decoupled leakage-style-domain critics to synthesize virtual source-device profiles offline. Benchmarked on 32-bit AES_PTv2 traces, s-MDM achieves consistently low key rank on layout- and acquisition-shifted Pinata targets where physical baselines are unstable.

arXiv cs.CR · 17h agoResearch

Normal Alignment: Improved Cryptanalytic Sign Recovery on Hard-Label Networks

Researchers propose Normal Alignment, improving cryptanalytic sign recovery for hard-label neural networks and enabling polynomial-time full model extraction.

The paper improves on Carlini et al.'s EUROCRYPT 2025 cryptanalytic extraction of hard-label (S1) DNNs, whose Future Toggle sign-recovery method offered only marginal advantage over random guessing and triggered exponential-time enumeration on errors. Normal Alignment infers neuron signs via expected length differences between projected normals of adjacent decision facets at dual points, delivering higher voting accuracy and low-confidence errors. Combined with the SOE extension, it achieves exact polynomial-time full sign recovery: CIFAR-10 (192-64x8-10) and MNIST (64-96x3-32-10) models are fully recovered where the prior method required 2^52 or 2^82 sign guesses.

arXiv cs.CR · 17h agoResearch

Witness Encryption via Prime-Order Generic Groups

Unconditional witness encryption construction for NP in the generic-group model, plus first superconstant NP-hardness result for homogeneous MinRank.

A cryptography paper unconditionally constructs witness encryption for NP in the classical generic-group model using an ordinary cyclic group of prime order. For SAT instances of size n, encryption and decryption run in poly(n) time with correctness error 2^-n^Ω(1), while generic adversaries making n^Θ(log n) queries achieve at most n^-Θ(log n) distinguishing advantage. It also proves the first superconstant-factor NP-hardness of approximation for homogeneous MinRank under randomized reductions.

arXiv cs.CR · 1d agoResearch

Sociotechnical Aspects of Tor Relay Rejection

User study and simulations of Tor's relay end-of-life rejection policy find operators favor it; network churn affects anonymity more than EoL exclusions.

The study examines the Tor Project's 2019 end-of-life policy that rejects outdated relays, which constitute a notable fraction of consensus weight. A user study of 26 relay operators found they generally view the policy favorably despite limited awareness, though operational practices occasionally exclude newly installed relays. Historical-data-driven simulations show the policy gives adversaries only marginal advantage, with network churn exerting a more pronounced effect on user anonymity. Analysis of four exclusion rounds shows a minority of rejected relays typically account for over 50% of the security provided by all excluded relays, informing EoL policy recommendations.

arXiv cs.CR · 3d agoResearch

A Graph-Based Approach for Mapping Kernel-Level Telemetry to MITRE ATT&CK

Trace2ATT&CK maps eBPF kernel telemetry to MITRE ATT&CK via provenance graphs and RAG with local open-weights LLMs, validated on 347 Atomic Red Team tests.

Trace2ATT&CK collects kernel-level events via eBPF, correlates attacker commands into a provenance graph, and derives compact graph representations suitable for LLM-based reasoning, mapping behavior to MITRE ATT&CK techniques with ranked candidates and rationales. Mapping uses both pure LLM prompting and retrieval-augmented generation grounded in the ATT&CK knowledge base. It was evaluated on 347 Linux Atomic Red Team tests using locally deployed open-weights LLMs. RAG consistently improved ATT&CK mapping over pure prompting, and provenance graphs substantially outperformed raw telemetry, without compromising data confidentiality.

arXiv cs.CR · 5d agoResearch

A First-Principles Evaluation of Graph-Based Network Intrusion Detection Systems

GIDS-Eval framework reveals evaluation gaps in graph-based network intrusion detection; two crafted edges fully evade three detector-dataset pairs.

Researchers introduce GIDS-Eval, a framework decomposing graph-based network intrusion detection systems into six interchangeable stages to enable controlled comparisons. Surveying nine GIDS and reimplementing five, they find two crafted edges achieve full evasion against three of eight detector-dataset pairs, snapshot windows alone cause a mean 38.3% relative swing in average precision, and none of 18 replayed detector-dataset pairs can alert as events arrive. Their encoder-free GIDS-Lite control ranks first by AP on two of four datasets at up to 575x lower runtime.

arXiv cs.CR · 6d agoResearch1

SpyCloud 2026 Identity Threat Report Finds Non-Human Identities Are Now the Leading Path into the Enterprise

SpyCloud survey of 750 security leaders finds compromised non-human identities are the top enterprise entry point, yet only 36% monitor them.

The 2026 Identity Threat Report surveyed 750 cybersecurity leaders at organizations with 500+ employees across North America and Europe. Compromised non-human identities (31%) were the most cited primary attacker entry point, nearly double phishing (17%), while only 36% of organizations monitor AI agents, service accounts and API keys. 68% of respondents reported identity-based events, averaging eight each, and 91% use AI tools but only 56% have formal governance over their privileges.

GBHackers · 7d agoResearch 2 sources

PrivEscalate: Measuring and Augmenting the Threat of LLM-Automated Linux Privilege Escalation

Researchers release PrivEscalate, a 531-scenario benchmark showing LLM agents' Linux privilege-escalation success varies by vulnerability class, plus PrivEscAgent, a domain-specialized agent that boosts success.

The paper introduces PrivEscalate, an open-source benchmark of 531 Dockerized Linux privilege-escalation scenarios spanning 14 sub-categories, plus 329 parameterized variants measuring sensitivity to environmental distractors. Evaluating six LLMs across three agent architectures shows capability is heterogeneous across vulnerability classes, sensitive to perturbation, and architecture-dependent. The authors also present PrivEscAgent, a wrapper adding deterministic enumeration, category matching, and step planning that outperforms prior privesc-agent baselines without modifying the underlying LLM. The benchmark is released to support LLM agent evaluation, defensive tool validation, and red-team training.

arXiv cs.CR · 8d agoResearch1

Why The Vulnerability Backlog Is About To Get Worse

Recorded Future analysis says AI-driven vulnerability discovery and faster weaponization will grow the triage backlog while shrinking defenders' response windows.

Disclosed vulnerabilities rose from roughly 21,000 in 2021 to nearly 50,000 in 2025, while Recorded Future assessed only 446 as actively exploited in 2025. VulnCheck found nearly 29% of 2025 KEV entries were exploited on or before CVE publication. The authors argue AI-assisted discovery and automated exploit development will multiply credible reports, cut disclosure-to-exploit time toward minutes, and force re-evaluation of medium-severity flaws as exploit-chain components.

Recorded Future · 22d agoResearch

TLD Tracker: Exploring Newly Released Top

Unit 42 tracked 19 newly released top-level domains and found large-scale phishing, unwanted program distribution, and cybersquatting tied to TLD launch dates.

Researchers analyzed 19 new generic TLDs, including .zip, .bot, .ing, and .meme, released or approaching general availability over roughly 18 months. Data from passive DNS, registry zone files, newly registered domain feeds, and the Tranco top-1M list showed phishing campaigns, potentially unwanted program distribution, and domain squatting on these TLDs. Abuse correlated with each TLD's rollout phases, indicating attackers monitor general availability dates to register and weaponize domains. The IANA root database now lists over 1,000 generic TLDs.

Palo Alto Unit 42 · Aug 17, 2026Research