Leadership Elections Canceled by Cryptology Firm Due to Lost Encryption Key

Tue Nov 25 2025 20:29:52 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) has canceled its election results announcement after an encrypted key went missing, highlighting vulnerabilities in cryptographic governance during the voting process.

The International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR), a key player in encryption advocacy, has annulled its election results following the loss of a crucial encrypted key by one of its trustees. The organization has pledged to implement new safeguards to prevent a recurrence of such issues in future elections. Moving forward, they will adopt a '2-out-of-3' threshold mechanism for managing private keys to bolster security.

Leadership Elections Canceled by Cryptology Firm Due to Lost Encryption Key

34 minutes ago

Laura CressTechnology reporter

A firm considered one of the leading global voices in encryption has cancelled the announcement of its leadership election results after an official lost the encrypted key needed to unlock them.

The International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) uses an electronic voting system which needs three members, each with part of an encrypted key, to access the results.

In a statement, the scientific organisation said one of the trustees had lost their key in an honest but unfortunate human mistake, making it impossible for them to decrypt - and uncover - the final results.

The IACR said it would rerun the election, adding new safeguards to stop similar mistakes happening again.