Press Release

January 30 , 2014

Establishment of Cryptographic Protocol Evaluation
Toward Long-Lived Outstanding Security (CELLOS) Consortium
The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (President: Dr. Masao
Sakauchi), Hitachi, Ltd. (President: Hiroaki Nakanishi), KDDI R&D Laboratories, Inc. (President & CEO:Yasuyuki Nakajima) and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (President & CEO: Hiroo Unoura),
together with experienced experts, companies and organizations both from Japan and overseas,
established the Cryptographic protocol Evaluation toward Long-Lived Outstanding Security (CELLOS)
Consortium (led by Tokyo University of Technology: Professor Satoru Tezuka). CELLOS strives toimprove the security of cryptographic protocols that achieve functions such as authentication and privacy
protection with the aim of promoting secure network utilization.
The consortium will consolidate security evaluation information including new attacks against
cryptographic protocols and countermeasures against them, and promptly publish the results ofexaminations conducted by consortium experts. This will help system vendors and network users easily
access the cryptographic protocol usage information examined by the experts, which has been difficultfor individuals and stand-alone organizations to monitor. Furthermore, since the information can beutilized in determining the feasibility of future cryptographic protocols, it will lead to the promotion and theusage of secure cryptographic protocols and prospects for new ICT systems.

1. Founding Statement of the Consortium
In addition to promoting communication, advances in network technologies in recent years are opening
up new possibilities in terms of information and communications, as technologies such as mobile
networks and cloud computing continue to enrich our lives. At the same time, a higher level of security inprivacy protection is required and it is no longer sufficient merely to encrypt and authenticatecommunications.
With that in mind, research and development is active in the field of cryptographic protocols, combining awhole host of cryptographic technologies. Currently, more than 400 cryptographic protocols have beeninternationally standardized. However, the security of these protocols has not been analyzed to a
sufficient extent in actual ICT systems. In particular, little effort has been made to organize the latest
security information on a global scale, engage in expert discussion, and make detailed technical security
information widely available to the public.
We therefore decided to establish the Cryptographic protocol Evaluation toward Long-Lived Outstanding
Security (CELLOS) Consortium with the aim of promoting the widespread adoption of secure
cryptographic protocols by organizing and sharing technical information relating to cryptographic
protocols, discussing technical issues for actual ICT systems, and publishing the resulting security
information.
With involvement from universities, research institutions and companies conducting research into
cryptographic protocols all over the world, the consortium will act as an international hub for organizing,
sharing and disseminating information in an effort to ensure a high level of security for cryptographic
protocols underpinned by an international cooperative framework.
Through activities such as these, we will continue to make significant contributions to improve network
security and fulfill a pioneering and leading role in allowing people to use networks securely in the future.

2. Overview of the Consortium
The consortium consolidates theories and methods for conducting security evaluations, evaluates
results of cryptographic protocols and information concerning new attack methods, confirms technicalfacts and discusses their impact on actual ICT systems as well as countermeasures. The consortium’sactivities will work in compliance with the cryptographic protocol evaluation system developed by theNational Institute of Information and Communications Technology. Swiftly disseminating information
gained from expert discussions regarding the security of cryptographic protocols enables judgments on
the feasibility of cryptographic protocol usage and the design of secure cryptographic protocols, which
promotes secure network usage.

3. Roles of Each Company(1) National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT)NICT conducts research and development regarding cryptographic protocol evaluation technologies
as a part of its research into network security. To date, NICT has promoted the standardization ofISO/IEC 29128 “Verification of Cryptographic Protocols,” an International Standard concerning theevaluation of cryptographic protocols, as a project editor, and launched a Cryptographic Protocol
Analysis Portal Site to publish the results of cryptographic protocol evaluation conducted inaccordance with ISO/IEC 29128. In the consortium, NICT will spread the results of research into
cryptographic protocol evaluation, serve as the consortium’s secretariat and contribute to producing
reliable results on a global scale.
(2) Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd. has continued a range of research and development and standardization activities
regarding security technologies including promoting the standardization of ISO/IEC 29128“Verification of Cryptographic Protocols,” an International Standard concerning the evaluation ofcryptographic protocols, as a project editor. In the consortium, Hitachi, Ltd. will utilize this knowledge
to contribute to the realization of more secure network usage.
(3) KDDI R&D Laboratories, Inc.
KDDI R&D Laboratories, Inc. has engaged in research and development regarding security
technologies to ensure that anyone can use network services with peace of mind. With respect tocryptographic protocols, which are essential for ensuring the security of services, KDDI R&DLaboratories, Inc. has conducted research into evaluation technologies based on computational
complexity theory and developed its own security verification tool. In the consortium, KDDI R&DLaboratories, Inc. will use the theoretical evaluation technologies and the aforementioned uniquetool to conduct cryptographic protocol evaluation.
(4) Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT)NTT has developed security technologies for realizing a safe and secure society. With respect tocryptographic protocol evaluation in particular, NTT has developed formal methods forcryptographic protocols, which enables rigorous evaluations by applying mathematical logic. In theconsortium, NTT will focus on providing rigorous evaluation of cryptographic protocols based ontechnologies and expert knowledge it has acquired to date.

4. Direction of Future Progress
The consortium will swiftly publish information on the impact new attack methods have on actualsystems and the countermeasures against such attacks through its website.
Detailed information on the consortium members and its activities is provided on the consortium’swebpage (https://www.cellos-consortium.org).