Cryptography in Financial Transactions: Current Practice and Future Directions

Abstract:

In this talk I will briefly describe the history of cryptography and explain how it became an area of scientific research, served by a strong community both in academia and in the industry.

Next I will cover two case studies.

The first is related to banking cards and payment terminals and the second to Internet banking. In both cases, I will show how cryptographic tools crafted within the research community in the past thirty years entered the picture and how cryptographers were able to provide stronger and stronger levels of security.

While applications are now stable in the first area, there is more to come in the second.