CT-ISG Collaborative Research: New directions and applications of proxy re-cryptography

加密和签名是两种最基本的加密工具，可以实现私密和可信的通信。然而，它们在电子邮件、分布式存储、数字版权管理和医疗保健系统等应用程序中的应用一直很缓慢。一个主要原因是，在实践中使用这些工具时出现的许多常见操作会产生(有时无法克服)密钥管理问题。研究如何设计具有更大密钥管理灵活性的加密和签名方案，特别是在给定特定信息的情况下，在一个密钥下加密(或签名)的数据需要在另一个密钥下由半可信代理重新加密(或重新签名)。例如，假设Alice希望她的邮件服务器将她的加密电子邮件转发给Bob，而不能阅读她的消息。调查人员将拓宽代理重新密码学的理论基础，并与行业合作伙伴合作，评估其在实践中的表现。该研究将研究代理重签名在维护网络文档动态内容分发完整性方面的应用。研究生和女性研究人员将参与该项目的各个方面，在理论和实践上进行合作。来自这项研究的技术将被纳入两所大学的密码学和计算机安全课程。因此，这个项目将有助于培养未来能够设计和应用密码工具的全面发展的科学家。

Encryption and signatures are two of the most fundamental cryptographic tools, enabling private and authentic communication. Yet, their adoption in applications, such as email, distributed storage, digital rights management and health care systems, has been slow. A primary reason is that many common operations that arise when using these tools in practice create (sometimes insurmountable) key management problems. This research studies how to design encryption and signature schemes with greater key management flexibility.In particular, this research focuses on situations where data encrypted (or signed) under one cryptographic key needs to be re-encrypted (or re-signed) under another cryptographic key by a semi-trusted proxy given special information. For example, suppose Alice wants her mail server to forward her encrypted email to Bob without being able to read her messages. Investigators will broaden the theoretical foundations of proxy re-cryptography and work with industry partners to evaluate their performance in practice. The research will study the application of proxy re-signatures for maintaining the integrity of dynamic content distribution of documents on the Web.Graduate students and women researchers will be involved in all aspects of this project, collaborating on both the theory and practice. Techniques derived from this research will be incorporated into cryptography and computer security courses at both universities.Thus, this project will help develop future well-rounded scientists able to design and apply cryptographic tools.