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mysan.de/international - World-Renowned Cryptographer Arjen Lenstra Joins Bell Labs Adds Valuable Talent to Lucent Technologies' Network Security Research MURRAY HILL, N.J., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU) today announced that Arjen Lenstra, a world-renowned expert in evaluating, designing and developing the cryptographic algorithms and protocols that protect sensitive information as it is communicated electronically, has joined Bell Labs' Computing Sciences Research Center. Prior to joining Bell Labs, Lenstra was vice president of Information Security Services at Citigroup. Lenstra specializes in the security of systems that are widely used in e-commerce applications, such as key size selection, an important factor in how electronic transactions are secured, and the evaluation of cryptosystems such as RSA and ElGamal, encryption systems used in e-commerce protocols. "Arjen is a significant addition to an already world-class group of researchers at Bell Labs who are developing the algorithms, architectures and systems necessary to ensure the security and reliability of networks," said Jeff Jaffe, president, Bell Labs Research and Advanced Technologies. "His expertise will have a profound impact not just on Lucent's business, but on the business of our customers as well. We're thrilled to have him on board." Lenstra focuses on how academic cryptologic research and computational number theory impact practical security applications and practices. This is important because the vast majority of the crypto work happening today in research labs and universities around the world, while important and useful, is often too costly for practical implementation. Lenstra believes that bridging the gap between what's theoretically possible and what's practical is a major research challenge; it is the area he will concentrate on at Bell Labs. "I joined Bell Labs because I wanted to go back to designing algorithms and tackling hard problems in computational number theory in a way that will make a difference to people outside of academia," said Lenstra. "What I found compelling about the Labs was that everyone I spoke with here knew exactly how the research they were doing helped the company or its customers in some meaningful way." "Arjen's network security expertise will further enhance Bell Labs' capability in this critical area and will enable Lucent to continue improving the security of the solutions we offer to our customers," said Linda Bramblett, director of Lucent Worldwide Services' Security Practice. "We are pleased that Arjen recognized the company's commitment to stay at the forefront of developing the next generation of security solutions and services, and that he will be part of the Bell Labs team helping us do just that." One recent example of Lenstra's expertise came after a recent cryptography conference where it was shown that some widely used hash functions -- cryptographic "fingerprints" used in network protocols in such industries as banking to create secure digital signatures -- are weaker than expected, leaving online transactions potentially vulnerable to attack. Lenstra assessed these theories and demonstrated that their real-life impact was minimal. This kind of analysis helps Lucent's customers avoid needless spending by evaluating the actual risk of developments advertised as "cryptographic disasters" to assess whether they have any significant real- life impact. Lenstra's formal training is in computational number theory, a field concerned with finding and implementing efficient computer algorithms for solving various problems rooted in number theory. Lenstra was a key contributor to the team that successfully factored RSA-155, a 512-bit number, which at the time was the default key size used to secure e-commerce transactions on the Internet. This was a significant accomplishment because the RSA public-key cryptosystem relies on the inability to factor such a number, and Lenstra's team was able to do so in less than seven months, suggesting this approach was not as secure as had been believed. Lenstra invented a number of widely used algorithms, cryptographic systems and software packages including FreeLIP, software used for efficient development and implementation of cryptographic protocols. In addition, Lenstra co-authored the influential paper "Selecting Cryptographic Key Sizes," which offered guidelines for determining key sizes for cryptosystems based on a set of explicitly formulated hypotheses and data points about the cryptosystems. Lenstra has a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics, a master's degree in mathematics, and a doctorate in mathematics and computer science from the University of Amsterdam. He has spent his career working, teaching or consulting at a number of well-known institutions including Bell Communications Research, Digital Equipment Corporation, IBM, Technical University in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and the University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. Lenstra comes to Bell Labs after spending eight years at Citigroup, where he advised the company on the practical application of cryptographic and related security schemes including secure portable communication systems, wireless application protocols, digital signature algorithms, escrow schemes, electronic monetary systems and special purpose hardware devices. Lenstra also developed an information security risk assessment methodology for the company, and he was responsible for the cryptographic design of Sprocket, a digital content delivery system that was patented by Citibank. About Bell Labs Bell Labs, the R&D division of Lucent Technologies, is the leading source of new communications technologies. It has generated more than 30,000 patents since 1925 and has played a pivotal role in inventing or perfecting key communications technologies, including transistors, digital networking and signal processing, lasers and fiber-optic communications systems, communications satellites, cellular telephony, electronic switching of calls, touch-tone dialing, and modems. Bell Labs scientists have received eleven Nobel Prizes in Physics, nine U.S. National Medals of Science and eight U.S. National Medals of Technology(R). For more information about Bell Labs, visit its Web site at www.bell-labs.com. About Lucent Technologies Lucent Technologies designs and delivers the systems, services and software that drive next-generation communications networks. Backed by Bell Labs research and development, Lucent uses its strengths in mobility, optical, software, data and voice networking technologies, as well as services, to create new revenue-generating opportunities for its customers, while enabling them to quickly deploy and better manage their networks. Lucent's customer base includes communications service providers, governments and enterprises worldwide. For more information on Lucent Technologies, which has headquarters in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, visit http://www.lucent.com/ . Quelle: Lucent Technologies -- ----------------- R. A. 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