Growing up in Holon and Rishon LeZion, Lior developed a taste for mathematical sciences at a
young age. After completing his military service as an officer in the IDF’s Intelligence Corps, he
enrolled in a double-major BSc program in computer science and economics at Tel Aviv University. He graduated summa cum laude in both majors, co-authoring his first academic paper, in the field of theoretical cryptography, in his last year as an undergraduate. It was then that he fell in love with cryptography as an area of research with profound mathematical foundations and far-reaching practical implications. He moved on to pursue an MSc in computer science at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, again graduating summa cum laude . His MSc thesis, later published as an academic paper, dealt with the theoretical soundness of basic cryptographic assumptions.

Lior is presently carrying on his research in cryptography as a PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Gil Segev. His focus is on understanding the security guarantees currently provided by widespread messaging platforms (such as WhatsApp and Telegram) and the “best possible” security that they can demonstrably provide, based on sound mathematical assumptions. He has published and presented several papers on this issue at prestigious conferences and responded to various questions concerning secure messaging. For example, Lior has proposed protocols for secure messaging in group chats and for secure messaging for users who do not precisely follow the instructions provided to them. Alongside his research activity, Lior serves as a teaching assistant in an undergraduate course on cryptography and software security.

During his military service, Lior met his beloved wife Daphne, with whom he lives in Jerusalem