Isogenies and the Discrete Logarithm Problem in Jacobians of Genus 3 Hyperelliptic Curves

We describe the use of explicit isogenies to translate instances of the Discrete Logarithm Problem from Jacobians of hyperelliptic genus 3 curves to Jacobians of non-hyperelliptic genus 3 curves, where they are vulnerable to faster index calculus attacks. We provide explicit formulae for isogenies with kernel isomorphic to (Z/2Z)3 (over an algebraic closure of the base field) for any hyperelliptic genus 3 curve over a field of characteristic not 2 or 3. These isogenies are rational for a positive fraction of all hyperelliptic genus 3 curves defined over a finite field of characteristic p > 3. Subject to reasonable assumptions, our constructions give an explicit and efficient reduction of instances of the DLP from hyperelliptic to non-hyperelliptic Jacobians for around 18.57% of all hyperelliptic genus 3 curves over a given finite field.