about

I am Riccardo Zanotto, currently living in Saarbrücken, Germany. I am originally from Turin, Italy.

Research

Throughout my PhD I have been interested in cryptographic applications of group actions, in particular CSIDH; given my background as a mathematician, I also really enjoy the rich structure of isogenies in general, and their applications in cryptography.

I am also interested in advanced primitives that have practical applications, such as FHE (thanks to Giacomo) and adaptor signatures. My main focus is understanding the real-world applications, and construct proper security models and efficient protocols to achieve concrete goals in a secure and fast way.

Education

I hold a Bachelor’s (2018) and a Master’s (2021) degree in Mathematics, obtained at Università di Pisa and Scuola Normale Superiore. During my Master’s thesis I worked with Emmanuela Orsini on isogeny-based oblivious transfer protocols.

Going back to my high school days, I have two gold medals at the national mathematical olympiads, and I participated in the IMO.

CTFs

I also play CTFs with pwnthem0le and about:blankets whenever I have a free weekend. My team from Univesity of Pisa won the 2020 edition of CyberChallengeIT, and with Team Italy we got 3rd place at ECSC in Prague in 2021. I also help organize the CTF competition and conference m0leCon that we host in our beautiful Torino!