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Prof Britta Hale
photo by Julie Gloppe Solem

Britta Hale

Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science—Naval Postgraduate School

Contact:
Department of Computer Science
Code CS Naval Postgraduate School
Monterey, California 93943
britta (dot) hale (at) nps (dot) edu
Tlf: +1 831 656 3316
Office: GE332
Research Interests
  • Applied Cryptography
  • Post-Quantum Security
  • Multi-Device Security
  • Security "Self-Healing" and Post Compromise Guarantees

Director NPS Applied Cryptography Engineering (ACE) Lab

Program Director: Implementing Technological Change Program

Board of Directors: International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR)

Member: Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC)

Member: Consortium for Intelligent Systems Education and Research (CISER)

Member: Cyber Academic Group (CAG)

Contributor: MLS Working Group, Internet Engineering Task Force (MLS, IETF)

  • PhD in Telematics, Research field: Cryptography, 2017
    Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
    Dissertation: Low-Latency Key Exchange and Secure Channels
    Research Fellow

  • Masters of Science in the Mathematics of Cryptography and Communications, 2012
    Royal Holloway University of London, UK
    Dissertation: Digital Signatures in Network Coding: Linear Subspaces and Bilinear Pairing Stratagems
    Degree Awarded With Distinction
    International Excellence Scholarship

Selected Acceptances and Publications
  • B. Hayden, M. Sweeney, B. Hale. Securing Software Updates under Receiver Radio Frequency Geolocation Risk.IEEE MILCOM, 2022.
  • D. L. Van Bossuyt, B. Hale, R. M. Arlitt, N. Papakonstantinou. Multi-Mission Engineering With Zero Trust: A Modeling Methodology and Application to Contested Offshore Wind Farms. In Proceedings of the ASME 2022 IDETC. 2022 Systems Engineering, Information, and Knowledge Management (SEIKM) Technical Committee Best Paper Award
  • C. H. Lee, D. L. Van Bossuyt, B. Hale. A Systems Analysis of Energy Usage and Effectiveness of a Counter-Unmanned Aerial System Using a Cyber-Attack Approach. In Proceedings of MDPI Drones Journal, 2022.
  • E. Dietz, B. Hale, D. Davis. Utilizing the Messaging Layer Security Protocol in a Lossy Communications Aerial Swarm. In Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2022.
  • V. Kanth and B. Hale. Blockchain-based Authenticated Stego-Channels: A Security Framework and Construction. In Proceedings of BLOCKCHAIN 2022.
  • B. Hale, N. Bindel, D. L. Van Bossuyt. Quantum Computers – The Need for a New Cryptographic Strategy. Book chapter in Handbook for management of threats, security and defense, resilience and optimal strategies. To appear, Springer 2023.
  • B. Hale and C. Komlo. On End-to-End Encryption. In IACR ePrint 2022.
  • B. Dowling and B. Hale. Secure Messaging Authentication against Active Man-in-the-Middle Attacks. In RWC 2022.
  • C. S. Tan, D.L. Van Bossuyt, B. Hale. System Analysis of Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems Kill Chain in an Operational Environment. In Proceedings of MDPI Systems Engineering Journal 2021.
  • C. Cremers, B. Hale, K. Kohbrok. The Complexities of Healing in Secure Group Messaging: Why Cross-Group Effects Matter. In Proceedings of USENIX 2021.
  • B. Dowling and B. Hale. Secure Messaging Authentication against Active Man-in-the-Middle Attacks. In Proceedings of IEEE EuroS&P 2021.
  • B. Hale, D. J. Van Bossuyt, N. Papakonstantinou, and O’Halloran. A Zero-Trust Methodology for Security of Complex Systems With Machine Learning Components. In Proceedings of the ASME 2021 IDETC/CIE2021.
  • M. Sjoholmsierchio, B. Hale, D. Lukaszewski, and G. Xie. Strengthening SDN Security: Protocol Dialecting and Downgrade Attacks. In IEEE NetSoft. 2021.
  • N. Papakonstantinou, D. J. Van Bossuyt, J. Linnosmaa, B. Hale, B. and O’Halloran. A Zero Trust Hybrid Security and Safety Risk Analysis Method. In Proceedings of the Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering (JCISE) 2021.
  • D. Brutzman, T. Norbraten, J. Culbert, and B. Hale. Blockchain Mergence for Distributed Ledgers Supporting Fleet Logistics and Maintenance. In Acquisition Research Symposium 2021.
  • M. Troncoso and B. Hale. The Bluetooth CYBORG: Analysis of the Full Human-Machine Passkey Entry AKE Protocol. In NDSS 2021.
  • M. Sjoholmsierchio, B. Hale, D. Lukaszewski, and G. Xie. Strengthening SDN Security: Protocol Dialecting and Downgrade Attacks. In arXiv ePrint. 2020.
  • B. Dowling and B. Hale. There Can Be No Compromise: The Necessity of Ratcheted Authentication in Secure Messaging. In IACR ePrint. 2020.
  • N. Papakonstantinou, D. J. Van Bossuyt, J. Linnosmaa, B. Hale, B. and O’Halloran. Towards a Zero Trust Hybrid Security and Safety Risk Analysis Method. In Proceedings of the ASME 2020 IDETC/CIE2020.
  • B. Hale. User-Mediated Authentication Protocols and Unforgeability in Key Collision. International Journal of Information Security (IJIS), 2020.
  • C. Cremers, B. Hale, and K. Kohbrok. Revisiting Post-Compromise Security Guarantees in Group Messaging. IACR Cryptology ePrint 2019.
  • B. Hale. User-Mediated Authentication Protocols and Unforgeability in Key Collision. In Proc. ProvSec 2018.
  • C. Boyd and B. Hale. Secure Channels and Termination: The Last Word on TLS. In Proc. Latincrypt 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 11368. Springer.
  • B. Hale. Expanding ACCE: Robust Secure Channel Establishment. In Proc. NISK 2017.
  • C. Rikardsen, B. Hale, and S.F. Mjølsnes. User Understanding and Perspectives on End-to-End Encrypted Instant Messaging Apps. In Proc. NISK 2017.
  • F. Günther, B. Hale, T. Jager, and S. Lauer. 0-RTT Key Exchange with Full Forward Secrecy. In Proc. EUROCRYPT’17, volume 10212 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2017.
  • B. Hale, T. Jager, S. Lauer, and J. Schwenk. Simple Security Definitions for and Constructions of 0-RTT Key Exchange. In Proc. Applied Cryptography and Network Security (ACNS) 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10355. Springer, 2017.
  • C. Boyd, B. Hale, S.F. Mjølsnes and D. Stebila. From Stateless to Stateful: Generic Authentication and Authenticated Encryption Constructions with Application to TLS. In Proc. RSA Conference on Topics of Cryptology (CT-RSA) 2016 volume 9610 pages 55–71. Springer, 2016.
  • B. Hale, C. Carr, and D. Gligoroski. CARIBE: Cascaded IBE for Maximum Flexibility and User-side Control. In MyCrypt 2016.
  • B. Hale and C. Boyd. Computationally Analyzing the ISO 9798-2.4 Authentication Protocol. In Proc. SSR’14, volume 8893 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 236–255. Springer-Verlag, 2016.
Book Chapters
  • B. Hale, N. Bindel, D. L. Van Bossuyt. Quantum Computers – The Need for a New Cryptographic Strategy. Handbook for Management of Threats, Security and Defense, Resilience and Optimal Strategies. Accepted / to appear, Springer 2023.
  • D.L. Van Bossuyt, N. Papakonstantinou, B. Hale, J. Salonen. Model Based Resilience Engineering for Design and Assessment of Mission Critical Systems Containing AI ComponentsArtificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity: Theory and Applications. Accepted / to appear, Springer, 2023.
Selected Invited Talks
  • Hybridizing Post-Quantum Digital Signatures. Intel, Oregon, 2022.
  • Uncrewed:C2 Security and Offence. Battelle, Ohio, 2022.
  • Deniability, Untraceability, and New Opportunities for Old Ideas. Secure Key Exchange and Channel Protocols (SKECH), Bertinoro, Italy, 2022.
  • Cryptography for Defense. FFI, Lillestrøm, Norway, 2022.
  • Hybridizing Post-Quantum Digital Signatures. NTNU, Trondheim, Norway, 2022.
  • An Investigation of Post-Quantum Hybrids. Simula UiB, Bergen, Norway, 2022.
  • Panelist. Ukraine-Russia Conflict: A Panel Discussion. NPS, 2022.
  • Hybrid Post-Quantum Digital Signature Development. Intel, 2022.
  • Secure Messaging Protocols – Then, Now, and Next. Selected Areas of Cryptography (SAC) Summer School, Online, 2021.
  • Panelist. Monterey Bay Drone, Automation and Robotics Technology (DART) Symposium, Online, 2021.
  • Energy Systems and Cybersecurity. Advanced Regional Energy Symposium, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2021.
  • Asynchronous Group Messaging Security. Industry Network Technology Council Webinar, 2020.
  • PSKs and Their Use in MLS. IETF MLS Working Group, 2020.
  • The Reality of Secure Messaging: Users, Entity Authentication, and a World after Compromise. Stanford, 2019.
  • User authentication within groups. IETF-105, Montréal, Canada, 2019.
  • People! Protocol analysis to include the weakest link. MSR, Redmond, Washington, USA, 2019.
  • Customizing Public Key Encryption: Thinking beyond PKI. NPS, Monterey, California, USA, 2019.
  • Regaining a Competitive Edge in Cyber Security. Big Ideas Exchange, Monterey, California, USA, 2018.
  • Cryptography in a Brave New World. NPS, Monterey, California, USA, 2018.
  • Frustrasjoner og løsninger om sakte sikkerhetsoppsett [Ultra-Efficiency with Security]. SINTEF Ledersamling, Trondheim, Norway, 2018.
  • Sikkerhet i en digital verden med hackere hakk i hæl [Security in a Digital World with Hackers at the Heels]. Forsker Grand Prix, Trondheim, Norway, 2017.
  • Secure Channels. TLS 1.3: Design, Implementation & Verification Workshop, Paris, France, 2017.
  • Deep Web and Dark Web. Samfundsmøte, Trondheim, Norway, 2017.
  • The Signal Protocol. CryptoParties, Trondheim, Norway, 2017.
  • Secure Channels and Termination: The Last Word on TLS. Bertinoro, Italy, 2017.
  • A Hierarchy of Authentication and Authenticated Encryption Constructions with Application to TLS TU Darmstadt, Germany, 2016.
  • A Perfect Memory: Key Compromise in an Efficiency-centric World . Crypto vs. Mass Surveillance Workshop, Trondheim, Norway, 2016.
  • Implications between Authentication Levels and Secure Termination. CryptoAction Working Group 2 Protocol Analysis, Sofia, Bulgaria, 2015.
Program Committees and Other Service
  • Journal of Cryptology 2022
  • EuroS&P 2022
  • HICSS Cyber Systems Minitrack program committee 2022
  • Selected Areas of Cryptography (SAC) 2021
  • NSF grant reviewer 2021
  • IEEE Journal Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing (TDSC) 2021
  • HICSS Cyber Systems Minitrack program committee 2021
  • Journal of Cryptology 2020
  • HICSS Cyber Systems Minitrack program committee 2020
  • NSF grant reviewer 2020
  • Theory of Cryptography Conference (TCC) 2020
  • Journal of Cryptology 2019
  • Security and Standardization Research (SSR) 2019
  • Security and Standardization Research (SSR) 2018
  • Eurocrypt 2016
  • IEEE Journal Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing (TDSC) SI 2016
  • PASSWORDS 2015

NPS Faculty Council Member (2020-present)

NPS Faculty Council Scholarship Committee (2021-present)

NPS Faculty Council Scholarship Committee Chair (2023-present)

NPS Alternate Academic Council Member (2020-present)

General Chair, CRYPTO 2023

Selected Supervised Master's Projects and Theses
    Current
  • Christine Norton, Wesley Kenyon, Joshua Kejsar, Michael Darnell — High Value Unit (HVU) Self-Escort Against Autonomous Aerial Threats
  • LT Alfonso Sciacchitano — Active Cryptographic Intrusion Detection System Implementation for Use in Ratcheted Key Exchange Protocols
  • Matthew Grant, Matthew Hunter, Kathleen Nuzzo, Eric Toth — Command and Control of Unmanned Systems for Emissions Control Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations
  • LT Ching Ting (Jo) Yuan — Autonomous Device Communication Security Effects on Radio Frequency
  • LT Charles Eilertsen, Allen Greene, Luke Loukas, Jacob VanWhy — Research on Potential UAS CONOPS for USN and USCG Ships
  • Capt Steven Gore — Security of Federated Learning on IoT Systems
  • ENS Alexander Tum — A Risk Analysis of Software Dependencies for the AI/ML Supply Chain
  • LT Grant Knott — Applied Cryptography in Ad-Hoc, Over the Horizon Drone Relays for Ship-to-Shore Communication
  • Maj Mathieu Couillard (Canada, Armed Forces) — The Role of Deceptive Cyber Defense in Cyber Strategy
    Completed
  • Jason Behling, Fernando Fuentes, Larry Mannings, Golda Morgan, and Jonathan Schinowsky (2022) Outstanding Thesis Award — Counter UxS Energy and Operational Analysis
  • LT Floyd Lewis (2022) Outstanding Thesis Award — Comparing and Contrasting Common Aviation Command and Control System (CAC2S) modeling performance under non-contested and contested environments.
  • Maj Thomas Schindler (2022) — Identification, Analysis, and Simulation of Attacks Using Recovered Radio Network Temporary Identifiers on 5G User Equipment
  • Major Chee Hoe Lee (Singapore, Airforce) (2022) — System Analysis on Counter-Unmanned Aerial System Operations Energy Usage and Requirements
  • LT Andre Leon & LT Christopher Britt (2022) Recipients of the Fleet Cyber Award — UxS Cryptologic Protocol Requirements for Multidomain Operation and Joint Interoperability
  • Capt Christian Thiessen (2022) — Redesigning the Counter Unmanned Systems Architecture
  • CPT Nektaria Patrozou (Greece, Army) (2022) — SDN Dialecting Security
  • Elyssa Dietz (2022) — Implementing MLS protocol in a UAV Swarm: Validating the Removal of a Compromised UAV
  • Maj Choon Seng Tan (Singapore, Army) (2021) — System Analysis of Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems Kill Chain in an Operational Environment
  • LCDR Boswyck Offord II and LT Allen Golphin III (2021) — Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (CUAS) Interoperability in the Global Geopolitical Environment
  • LT Fritz Hain (2021) Recipient of an Outstanding Thesis Award — Adaptive Machine Learning-Based Steganographic Model for Subverting Censorship
  • GySgt John Lytle (2021) Recipient of an Outstanding Thesis Award — Performance of Hybrid Signature Generation and Verification for Public Key Infrastructure Certificates
  • LT Duc Nguyen (2020) — Hardening Automated Identification Systems: Providing Integrity Through an Application of Lightweight Cryptographic Techniques
  • Capt Michael Troncoso (2020) Recipient of an Outstanding Thesis Award and the Gary Kildall Award for Computing Innovation — A Cryptographic Analysis of Bluetooth's Human-Machine Authenticated Key Exchange Protocols
  • Aaron Daponte, Gregory Maguire, and Calvin Roldan (2020) — Unmanned Aerial System Risk Management Decision Matrix
  • LT Michael Sjoholmsierchio (2019) — Software-Defined Networks: Protocol Dialects
  • Charlotte Rikardsen (2017) — Secure Instant Messaging End-to-End - Analysis of Security Protocols
  • Eirik Klevstad (2016) — Security and Key Establishment in IEEE 802.15.4
  • Øystein Løvdal Andersen (2016) — Security of Internet of Things Protocol Stacks
  • Jonas Toreskås (2016) — Secure Termination in Real-World Security Protocols
  • Mari Bergendahl (2016) — The Cost of Crypt-by-Default in IoT Master Project
  • Kristian Weium Lange (2015) — Enhanced Privacy ID for Authentication in the Internet of Things
  • Steffen Fredrik Birkeland and Jonathan Hansen (2015) — Android App Communication Using the Tor network Only
  • Henriette Chiem (2015) — Security of Domestic Products in the IoT
  • Christian A. Hansen and Håkon Nymo Matland (2014) — Security of Mobile Payments using Low Energy Bluetooth
Course Titles Taught/Supported
  • Cryptographic Protocol Design and Attacks
  • E-Voting Security
  • Harnessing AI
  • Introduction to Computer Security
  • Network Security
  • Foundations of Computer Science
  • Introduction to Statistics
  • Wireless Network Security
  • Applied Cryptography and Network Security
  • Precalculus and Trigonometry
Courses and Curricula Designed
  • Advocating Emerging Technologies
  • E-Voting Security
  • Leading Technological Change (Certificate)
  • Harnessing AI: Security and Adversarial Al
Selected Research Visits
  • University of California, Berkeley, U.S.
  • Microsoft Research (MSR), Washington, U.S.
  • CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security, Germany
  • University of Oxford, UK
  • Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
  • Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
Past Positions
  • Information Security Research Scientist, SINTEF Digital
  • Research Fellow, NTNU
  • Mathematics Instructor, Cabrillo College
  • Statistical Analyst, Contract
  • Latin Instructor, Contract
  • Publishing Editor, Contract / McGraw-Hill Publishing
Selected Radio / TV / News
  • M. Schehl. NPS Student-Professor Team Connects Research to Marines in the Field. Interview. Communications, II MEF Information Group, (marines.mil). 2021.
  • M. Schehl. NPS Launches New Certificate Program in Implementing Technological Change. Interview. America's Navy (navy.mil Press Office, News Stories), 2021.
  • Lance Cpl. P. Katz. Naval Postgraduate School integration with I MIG. Interview. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (https://www.dvidshub.net/). 2021.
  • B. Hale. The Trident Room Podcast: Exchanging Big Ideas. Naval Postgraduate School, 2021. Interview. NPS Trident Room Podcast.
  • Sikkerhet i en digital verden med hackere hakk i hæl [Security in a Digital World with Hackers at the Heels] Forsker Grand Prix, Trondheim, Norway, 2017
  • Deep Web and Dark Web Samfundsmøte, Trondheim, Norway, 2017
  • Sintef-forsker: – 2020 er ikke dommedag for kryptografi [SINTEF Researcher: 2020 is not Doomsday for Cryptography] Digi.no 2018 (behind a paywall)
Selected Magazine and Blog Articles
  • C. Thiessen and B. Hale. Blocking Uncrewed Aircraft Threats with Bytes, Not Bullets. USNI, Innovation Cell. 2022.
  • C. Britt, A. Leon, B. Hale. C2 Superiority in an Era of Technological Competition. In Signal, AFCEA, 2022.
  • C. Britt, A. Leon, B. Hale. Asynchronous C2 and Multi-Device Capabilities in DON Networks. In CHIPS 2022.
  • B. Hale. Escaping the Innovation Bunker: Leadership for a Technological Revolution. In Proceedings of U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) 2021. Winner of the 2021 NPS Foundation/U.S. Naval Institute Annual Essay Contest
  • Hendelseshåndtering, kryptografi, og tilfellet WPA3 vs. TLS [Incident Management, Cryptography, and the Case of WPA3 vs. TLS] SINTEF 2018
  • Kompleksitet vs. Sikkerhet [Complexity vs. Security] SINTEF 2018
  • Kvantedatamaskiner vs. dagens kryptering: en katastrofe? [Quantum Computers vs. Today's Encryption: A Catastrophe?] SINTEF 2018

Prof Britta Hale