EncryptedSystems.org

dall-e3.jpg
Dall-E 3's interpretation of encrypted search

This site is a resource intended for those interested in learning about the design, analysis and implementation of practical algorithms and systems that operate on encrypted data.

Content includes:

  • introductory material,
  • overviews of research papers,
  • videos of talks,
  • announcements of events.


Overview

10 years ago, I wrote a series of blog posts on searchable encryption (parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5). The series gave an overview of various cryptographic primitives and how to use them to search on encrypted data. Since then, the area has changed considerably but there isn’t one place to get a cohesive view of the entire field.

The goals of this site are to address this gap and describe the advances that have been made in the last 10 years and discuss where the field is headed. Some of the topics that will be covered include:

  • Foundations: foundational results that shape how we think about and analyze encrypted search algorithm and systems. This includes how we formally describe and model leakage and how we can analyze and quantify it mathematically. This also includes how we can formally define the security of encrypted algorithms and inherent limitations to what can be achieved.

  • Algorithmic design: ideas and techniques that allow us to construct more efficient, more expressive and more secure schemes. This ranges from how the core primitives are constructed, how they are extended to handle more complex problems, how they are transformed so that they leak less and how they are implemented to be efficient enough for practice.

  • Leakage attacks: algorithms that exploit leakage and auxiliary information to recover as much information as possible about data and queries. This includes how to design them so that we can better understand which leakage profiles should be avoided but also how to evaluate and interpret them properly.

  • Encrypted databases: one of the main applications of encrypted search is to the design of end-to-end encrypted database systems. These systems are highly complex, not only to design but to reason about and evaluate both in terms of performance but also in terms of security.

  • Encrypted applications: encrypted systems provide a secure layer that higher-level applications can make use of to protect their data. These applications range from consumer apps to back-end services.

  • Libraries and tools: several important and useful libraries and tools have been built recently (and more are forthcoming) to help researchers and practitioners work with encrypted search algorithms and systems.

  • Limitations and tradeoffs: like any security technology, encrypted systems are not a silver bullet. They have limitations and can require making subtle tradeoffs.


This site is currently maintained by Seny Kamara.