Wednesday
Room 1
17:40 - 18:40
(UTC+01)
Talk (60 min)
Asymmetric Encryption: A Deep Dive
We all rely on asymmetric encryption every day, both as developers and consumers. It's what keeps our web traffic safe, what lets us sign our git commits, and what powers almost every single authentication flow.
Most of us will know the names of the most commonly used asymmetric encryption algorithms, RSA and ECDSA. But how many of us know how they actually work? What are their drawbacks and limitations, and where are they vulnerable?
Join me for a mathematical deep dive into one of the most fundamental underpinnings of our security infrastructure, journeying from the inception of these algorithms and their algebraic foundations to their modern day usage. We'll talk about why ECDSA has superseded RSA, why it's still not good enough in a post-quantum world, and what's next for asymmetric encryption.
Eli Holderness
Eli has been in tech since being released back into the wild from studying maths at university 7 years ago. They've spent their time working in industries ranging from telecoms to biotech to analog circuit design, continually getting nerd-sniped along the way. These days, they're a freelancer who speaks at conferences, runs workshops, and learns whatever they want. In their spare time, they like to play video games, knit and sew, and hang out with their cat.