Having been established in 1999, the Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (CHES) conference is the premier venue for research on both design and analysis of cryptographic hardware and software implementations. As an area conference of the International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR), CHES bridges the cryptographic research and engineering communities, and attracts participants from academia, industry, government and beyond. CHES 2021 will take place in Beijing, China on September 12–15, 2021 (tentative). The conference website is accessible at https://ches.iacr.org/2021.

The scope of CHES is intentionally diverse, meaning we solicit submission of papers on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

Cryptographic implementations:

    Hardware architectures
    Cryptographic processors and co-processors
    True and pseudorandom number generators
    Physical unclonable functions (PUFs)
    Efficient software implementations

Attacks against implementations, and countermeasures:

    Side-channel attacks and countermeasures
    Micro-architectural side-channel attacks
    Fault attacks and countermeasures
    Hardware tampering and tamper-resistance
    White-box cryptography and code obfuscation
    Hardware and software reverse engineering

Tools and methodologies:

    Computer-aided cryptographic engineering
    High-assurance crypto
    Verification methods and tools for secure design
    Domain-specific languages for cryptographic systems
    Metrics for the security of embedded systems
    Secure programming techniques
    FPGA design security

Interactions between cryptographic theory and implementation issues:

    New and emerging cryptographic algorithms and protocols targeting embedded devices
    Special-purpose hardware for cryptanalysis
    Leakage resilient cryptography

Applications:

    Cryptography and security for the Internet of Things (RFID, sensor networks, smart devices, smart meters, etc.)
    Hardware IP protection and anti-counterfeiting
    Reconfigurable hardware for cryptography
    Smartcard processors, systems and applications
    Security for cyberphysical systems (home automation, medical implants, industrial--control systems, etc.)
    Automotive security
    Secure storage devices (memories, disks, etc.)
    Technologies and hardware for content protection
    Trusted computing platforms

Hybrid Publication Model

As of 2018, CHES has moved to an open-access journal/conference hybrid model. Following the success of similar initiatives at analogous events such as FSE, this decision was made (by the CHES steering committee) as a means of improving review and publication quality while retaining the highly successful, community-focused event. A comprehensive set of FAQs relating to the model can be found via the TCHES website at https://tches.iacr.org. In summary:

    Submitted papers will undergo a journal-style review process, with accepted papers published by Ruhr University Bochum in an issue of the journal IACR Transactions on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (TCHES). Since it has Gold Open Access status, all TCHES papers are immediately and freely available.
    The annual CHES conference consists of presentations for each paper published in the associated issues of TCHES, plus invited talks and a range of additional and social activities.
    TCHES has four submission deadlines per year; all papers accepted for publication in TCHES between 15 July of year n–1 and 15 July of year n will be presented at CHES of year n.