General Information

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 2026 will take place in Türkiye in October 11-15, 2026. The conference website is accessible at
https://ches.iacr.org/2026

The scope of CHES is intentionally diverse, meaning we solicit submission of papers on topics including, but not limited to, the following (with new topics for CHES 2026 highlighted in bold blue):

Cryptographic implementations:

Hardware architectures
Cryptographic processors and coprocessors
True and pseudorandom number generators
Physical unclonable functions (PUFs)
Efficient software implementation
SHARCS (Special-purpose HARdware for Cryptanalysis, quantum included)

Attacks against implementations, and countermeasures:

Remote, micro-architectural and physical side-channel attacks and countermeasures
Fault attacks and countermeasures
Hardware tampering and tamper-resistance
White-box cryptography and code obfuscation
Reverse engineering of hardware/software
Hardware trojans and countermeasures

Tools and methodologies:

Formal methods, techniques and tools for secure design and verification for hardware/software
Computer aided cryptographic engineering
Domain-specific languages for cryptographic systems
Metrics for the security of embedded systems
FPGA design security
Physical assurance and analysis of embedded systems
New datasets for public use

Systematization of Knowledge (SoK)

Interactions between cryptographic theory and implementation issues:

Quantum cryptanalysis
Algorithm subversion and subversion prevention
New and emerging cryptographic algorithms and protocols targeting embedded devices
Theoretical hardware models that allow proofs

Applications:

RISC-V security
Trusted execution environments and trusted computing platforms
IP protection for hardware/software and technologies for anti-counterfeiting
Reconfigurable hardware for cryptography
Secure elements, security subsystems, and applications
Security for the Internet of Things and cyberphysical systems (RFID, sensor networks, smart meters, medical implants, smart devices for home automation, industrial control, automotive, etc.)
Secure storage devices (memories, disks, etc.)
Isolation and monitoring hardware for cyberresilience
Engineering of zero-knowledge proof systems
Privacy-preserving computing in practice (MPC, FHE)
Post-quantum security