World Cryptologic Competition 2023

Rules

Clarifications for WCC 2023

Request for Clarification? Contact the administration at WorldCryptologicCompetition@gmail.com

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General Rules applying to All Entries in the WCC 2023

  1. Rule G-1, "License": Each entry shall be placed into the public domain
  2. Rule G-2, "Professionalism": Each entry shall be documented and seem professional, well composed, and polished
  3. Rule G-3, "Innovation": Each entry shall be novel- unique and significantly distinct from existing algorithms. Examples of acceptable adaptations are AES into WHIRLPOOL, Threefish into Skein, or Radio-Gatun into SHA-3
  4. Rule G-4, "Reference Implementation": Each entry shall contain a C implementation that conforms to the interface standard
  5. Rule G-5, "Modification of Entries": As the competition proceeds, there are numerous opportunities to modify entries. Each modification must be limited to changes of small complexity. Such as, fixing comments/markup/documentation/presentation errors, trivial mistakes, number of rounds, margin calculations, estimations, and etc. Constants, S-Boxes, and permutations are allowed to be modified, but not in the Finalist Round and the preceeding opportunity (Modifications D).
  6. Rule G-6, "Multiple Entries": If a single team (entrant) submits more than one entry in a single category, the entries should be very different, with no obvious similarities
  7. Rule G-7, "Size Limit": The total size of all constants, S-Boxes, and etc, cannot exceed 225 bits = 222 bytes (4MB)

Rules applying to Category A Entries (Block Ciphers) in the WCC 2023

  1. Rule A-1, "Block Size": Each entry must have a 512-bit input block and a 512-bit output block
  2. Rule A-2, "Key Size": Each entry must have a 512-bit key
  3. Rule A-3, "Nonce Size": Each entry must have a 192-bit nonce

Rules applying to Category B Entries (Digest Functions) in the WCC 2023

  1. Rule B-1, "Output Size": Each entry must have, at least, the 512-bit output variation
  2. Rule B-2, "Key Size": Each entry must have a 512-bit key
  3. Rule B-3, "Nonce Size": Each entry must have a 192-bit nonce

Rules applying to Category C Entries (Stream Ciphers) in the WCC 2023

  1. Rule C-1, "Key Size": Each entry must have a 512-bit key
  2. Rule C-2, "Nonce Size": Each entry must have a 192-bit nonce
  3. Rule C-3, "Periodicity": Each entry must output at least 264 secure bits

Rules for Judging/Scoring in the WCC 2023

  1. Rule JS-1: "Security": Security analysis is conducted both in the Standard Model and the Quantum Model. It is the Judge's choice what tests and analysis to conduct. Each entry should be subjected to the same or similar tests to derive this score. A Judge does not need to explain his methods.
  2. Rule JS-2: "Security Goals for Category A (Block Ciphers)": Discovering new information about ciphertext, plaintext, or the key given a method on information about ciphertext, plaintext, the key, and nonce.
  3. Rule JS-3: "Security Goals for Category B (Digest Functions)": Discovering new information about digest, plaintext, or the key given a method on information about ciphertext, plaintext, the key, and nonce.
  4. Rule JS-4: "Security Goals for Category C (Stream Ciphers)": Discovering new information about ciphertext (XOR material), plaintext, or the key given a method on information about ciphertext (XOR material), plaintext, the key, and nonce.
  5. Rule JS-5: "Innovation": Entirely subjective, within the setting of a Judge's knowledge and awareness of existing technologies and other entries. A Judge does not need to explain this score.
  6. Rule JS-6: "Speed": Speed is measured on a mondern 64-bit PC running a POSIX-compliant OS such as a Unix, Linux, BSD, or Apple OS X. The machine and OS is the Judge's choice. No other implementation / model-of-computation is considered. All entries must be judged on the same platform in the same or similar environment. A Judge does not need to explain his methods.
  7. Rule JS-7: "Aesthetics": Entirely subjective. A Judge does not need to explain this score.