ACM CCS 2021, November 15-19
The 28th ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) seeks submissions presenting novel contributions related to all real-world aspects of computer security and privacy. Theoretical papers must make a convincing case for the relevance of their results to practice. Authors are encouraged to write the abstract and introduction of their paper in a way that makes the results accessible and compelling to a general computer-security researcher. In particular, authors should bear in mind that anyone on the program committee may be asked to review any paper.
As in 2020, CCS will have two review cycles in 2021. For each submission, one of the following decisions will be made:
Authors of each accepted paper must ensure that at least one author registers for the conference, and that their paper is presented in-person at the conference.
All submissions must be received by 11:59 PM AoE (UTC-12) on the day of the corresponding deadline. Submitted papers must not substantially overlap with papers that have been published or accepted for publication, or that are simultaneously in submission to a journal, conference, or workshop with published proceedings. All submissions should be properly anonymized; papers not properly anonymized may be rejected without review.
All submitted papers will be evaluated based on their merits, particularly their importance to practical aspects of computer and communications security and privacy, novelty, quality of execution, and presentation. For papers that might raise ethical concerns, authors are expected to convince reviewers that proper procedures (such as IRB approval or responsible disclosure) have been followed, and due diligence has been made to minimize potential harm.
Submitted papers may be rejected for being out of scope, at the discretion of the PC chairs. Authors who have questions about whether their paper is in scope are encouraged to ask the PC chairs in advance.
Submissions must be a PDF file in double-column ACM format (see https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template, with a simpler version at https://github.com/acmccs/format), no more than 12 pages long, excluding the bibliography, well-marked appendices, and supplementary material. Note that reviewers are not required to read the appendices or any supplementary material. Authors should not change the font or the margins of the ACM format. Submissions not following the required format may be rejected without review.
This year the ACM CCS Conference features a multi-track format. Each track operates as a separate mini-conference, with its own Track Program Chair and Track Program Committee. The overall process is managed by the Conference Co-Chairs (Giovanni Vigna and Elaine Shi). At the time of submission, authors must select one track, which should be the most relevant to the topic of the paper. We understand that some papers might span multiple topics. In specific cases, PC members might be asked to provide reviews for papers outside their track, in an effort to provide the best possible reviews to the authors.
This is the list of tracks and their Track Chairs:
| Software Security | Herbert Bos |
| Web Security | Adam Doupe |
| Network Security | Phillipa Gill |
| Formal Methods and Programming Languages | Limin Jia |
| Hardware, Side Channels, and CyberPhysical Systems | Wenyuan Xu |
| Applied Cryptography | Muthuramakrishnan Venkitasubramaniam |
| Machine Learning and Security | Prateek Saxena |
| Security Usability and Measurement | Jelena Mirkovic |
| Blockchain and Distributed Systems | Sarah Meiklejohn |
| Privacy and Anonymity | Jonathan Ullman |
For papers that were previously submitted to, and rejected
from, another conference, authors are required to submit a separate document
containing the prior reviews along with a description of how
those reviews were addressed in the current version of the
paper. (Authors are only required to include reviews from the
last time the paper was submitted.) Reviewers will be able to read
the previous reviews only after having their own review, to avoid
being biased in formulating their own opinions; once their reviews are
complete, however, reviewers will be given the opportunity to provide
additional comments based on the submission history of the
paper. Authors who try to circumvent this rule (e.g., by changing the
title of the paper without significantly changing the contents) may
have their papers rejected without further consideration, at the
discretion of the PC chairs.
Updated on Apr 28, 2021: The paragraph above (rebusmissions) is deleted.
The conference requires cooperation from both authors and program-committee members to ensure a fair review process. For this purpose, authors must report all program-committee members who, in their opinion, have a conflict of interest and therefore may not be able to provide an unbiased review. Mandatory declared conflicts of interest include current or former doctoral advisor/advisee, members of the same institution, close family members, and recent co-authors (within the past 2 years). For any other declared conflict, authors are required to explain the nature of the conflict, which will be reviewed by the Conference Co-Chairs and the Track Chairs. The chairs reserve the right to request further explanation and can remove non-mandatory conflicts at their discretion.
Track Program Chairs are allowed to submit papers, and those papers will be handled by the Conference Co-Chairs.
Program-committee members who have a genuine conflict of interest with a paper, including the Conference Co-Chairs and the Track Chairs, will be excluded from evaluation and discussion of that paper. When a Track Program Chair has a conflict, the paper will be handled by the Conference Co-Chairs. When a Conference Co-Chair is conflicted, the other Co-Chair will be responsible for managing that paper. When both Conference Co-Chairs are in conflict, a committee member will be appointed to handle the paper. Conference Co-Chairs are not allowed to be authors or co-authors of any submissions.
Submissions for the first review cycle go to https://ccs2021-a.hotcrp.com.
Submissions for the second review cycle go to https://ccs2021-b.hotcrp.com
Please Note: The official publication date is the date the proceedings are made available in the ACM Digital Library. This date may be up to two weeks prior to the first day of the conference. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work.
ACM CCS is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in our community. If you have suggestions, concerns, or complaints related biases or sexual harassment, we encourage you to reach out to the Conference Co-Chairs. We are committed to protecting the anonymity of such reports and helping to address your concerns. We value your feedback and ideas to help us all build a healthier and more welcoming community.
We encourage the authors to be mindful of not using language or examples that further the marginalization, stereotyping, or erasure of any group of people, especially historically marginalized and/or under-represented groups (URGs) in computing. Of course, exclusionary treatment can arise unintentionally. Be vigilant and actively guard against such issues in your writing. Reviewers will also be empowered to monitor and demand changes if such issues arise in your submissions. Please check the link for more information.
