CAREER: Getting the Most out of Secure Multi-Party Computation

我们的社会越来越依赖于功能强大且相互连接的计算设备，这些设备存储了我们的许多个人信息。这些设备呈现出一种日益紧张的局面，一方面是希望我们的个人信息保密，另一方面是希望我们的个人信息为自己的方便而得到充分利用。在密码学中，涉及有用计算和隐私需求的问题是通过安全多方计算（SMPC）来理解的。具体地说，SMPC指的是相互不信任的各方如何安全协作地执行涉及私人信息的任务的问题。在这个项目中，PI将开发新的技术来理解和克服SMPC协议带来的挑战和限制。特别地，将探讨以下主要主题：(1)在现实世界中，是否有可能设计出无论其他并发运行的协议如何都保持安全的协议？(2)密文、数字签名等对象可以嵌入哪些安全属性？(3)如何在保持私有的同时持久地维护共享数据？PI将根据良好的可视化教学原则，为密码学和算法的本科课程开发新材料。PI还将以密码学结构和原语的在线数据库的形式为密码学研究社区创建资源。

Our society is becoming increasingly reliant on powerful and interconnected computing devices that store much of our personal information. These devices present an ever-growing tension between the desire for our personal information to be private, and the desire to put our personal information to good use for our own convenience. In cryptography, problems that involve requirements of useful computation and privacy are understood through the lens of secure multi-party computation (SMPC). Specifically, SMPC refers to the problem of how mutually distrusting parties can securely and collaboratively perform tasks that involve private information.In this project, the PI will develop new techniques for understanding and overcoming the challenges and limitations posed by SMPC protocols. In particular, the following major themes will be explored: (1) is it possible in the real world to design protocols that remain secure regardless of other concurrently running protocols? (2) what security properties can be embedded into objects like ciphertexts and digital signatures? (3) how can shared data be maintained persistently while remaining private? The PI will develop new materials for undergraduate courses in cryptography and algorithms, based on principles of pedagogically sound visualization. The PI will also create resources for the cryptography research community, in the form of an online database of cryptographic constructions and primitives.