International Association for Cryptologic Research

The International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) is a nonprofit scientific organisation dedicated to advancing research in cryptology and its related fields. Founded in the early 1980s through the initiative of David Chaum at the CRYPTO 82 conference, the association has since become the leading global body for academic cryptographic research. It facilitates communication among researchers, supports the dissemination of scientific results and promotes high standards of scholarship within the cryptographic community.

Background and Formation

The origins of the IACR lie in the development of modern cryptography as an academic discipline. During the early 1980s, research in encryption, secure communications and complexity theory expanded rapidly, prompting the need for a structured international organisation. At CRYPTO 82, researchers recognised the value of coordinated academic exchange, and the association was formally established shortly afterwards. Its first officially sponsored conference was CRYPTO 83, marking the beginning of a long-standing tradition of annual academic gatherings now central to the field.
The IACR is governed as a nonprofit entity and depends on volunteers, steering committees and elected officers to coordinate its activities. Over time, it has expanded its scope to address both theoretical and practical aspects of cryptology.

Activities and Publications

A core function of the IACR is the organisation and sponsorship of academic cryptographic conferences. It supports three flagship conferences, four specialised area conferences and one major applied cryptography symposium. These events facilitate the presentation of new results, peer review, collaboration and the shaping of emerging research directions.
The association also manages several key publications. The Journal of Cryptology, a leading peer-reviewed journal, disseminates high-quality scholarly work. Conference proceedings are typically published in established academic series, commonly the Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS). The Cryptology ePrint Archive serves as a public repository of preprints, enabling rapid distribution of new findings and open access to research papers.
Beginning in 2015, the IACR also sponsors selected summer schools to support training and education for students entering specialised areas of cryptographic research.

Flagship Conferences

The IACR’s three flagship conferences represent major annual gatherings covering the breadth of cryptographic research:

• CRYPTO – held each August at the University of California, Santa Barbara, CRYPTO focuses on foundational and practical cryptology. The first conference took place in 1981, and by 1982 it had become central to fostering international cooperation at a time of heightened sensitivity around encryption technologies.
• Eurocrypt – held in Europe each spring, Eurocrypt has been one of the main venues for cryptographic research since the early 1980s. The name first appeared in 1984, though earlier workshops from 1982 form part of its lineage.
• Asiacrypt – launched initially as AUSCRYPT in 1990 and renamed Asiacrypt in 1991, this annual conference rotates among locations in Asia and Australia. It has been an IACR-sponsored flagship conference since 2000.

These three conferences collectively cover theoretical foundations, algorithm design, protocol analysis and applied cryptographic research across diverse geographical regions.

Specialised Area Conferences

Four principal conferences focus on specific subfields:

• Fast Software Encryption (FSE) – established in 1993 and sponsored by the IACR since 2002, FSE highlights research on symmetric-key cryptography, including block ciphers, stream ciphers, hash functions and message authentication techniques. It is held annually, typically in Europe.
• Public Key Cryptography (PKC) – originally launched as a workshop, PKC became an international conference in 2006. It addresses the theory and practice of public-key methods, such as encryption, signature schemes and key agreement protocols.
• Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (CHES) – founded in 1999, CHES focuses on secure and efficient implementations of cryptographic algorithms. Topics include side-channel attacks, physical unclonable functions, random number generation and specialised cryptanalysis platforms. CHES rotates among Europe, North America and Asia and has grown into one of the most widely attended cryptographic events.
• Theory of Cryptography Conference (TCC) – first held in 2004 and incorporated into the IACR framework in 2006, TCC concentrates on the theoretical foundations of cryptography. The steering committee, comprising leading figures in theoretical computer science, has shaped TCC into a central venue for conceptual developments that influence both cryptographic practice and computational theory.

Real World Crypto Symposium

Established in 2012, the Real World Crypto Symposium (RWC) addresses applied cryptography and its deployment in practical systems. The symposium brings together practitioners, academics and industry experts to discuss real-world implementation challenges, emerging threats and practical applications of cryptographic tools. Notable announcements at RWC have included breakthroughs in collision attacks on SHA-1, security updates for large-scale messaging platforms and the introduction of specialised hardware such as the E4 chip. The symposium also hosts the presentation of the Max Levchin Prize, awarded for major contributions to applied cryptography.

Conference Evolution and Global Significance

The range of IACR-sponsored events reflects the growth of cryptology into a global, multidisciplinary field. Conferences are held across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, supporting an international research community. Participation numbers have risen steadily; for instance, CHES 2018 reached a record attendance of approximately 600 researchers. Consistent publication of proceedings has strengthened the archival record of cryptographic research, with Springer’s LNCS series often used for conference collections.