Financial Cryptography and Data Security '10

Invited Talk: Ueli Maurer, ETH Zurich. Constructive cryptography -- A primer 
Monday (1/25), 09:30 - 10:30 - Conference room: Teide

A central paradigm in any constructive discipline is to construct a
complex system from simpler component systems or modules, which each
may consist of yet simpler component systems, and so on. This
important iterative construction paradigm, often called step-wise
refinement, is generally not used in cryptography (or in a way where
the module boundaries are not adequate). As a consequence, protocols
are often complex and lack modularity.  We propose a constructive
approach to cryptography in which a cryptographic scheme can be
interpreted as a transformation of a certain system to a more useful
system. For example, encryption transforms a system, consisting of a
secret key and an authenticated channel, into a secure channel.  Such
an approach allows to investigate and understand theoretically what
cryptography can achieve and what it can intrinsically not achieve.
In this talk we give an introduction into constructive cryptography,
discussing both theoretical and practical aspects.