The speaker discusses the field of cryptography, which is concerned with securing communication and computation to ensure confidentiality and integrity. Cryptography is used in various aspects of our daily lives, such as cell phones and online activities. The speaker, a researcher at Microsoft and an Adjunct professor at MIT, focuses on theoretical cryptography.
Modern cryptography differs from classical cryptography in that all algorithms are now public, transforming the field from an art to a science. The emphasis has shifted from securing communication to securing computation, particularly in dealing with weak devices like smartphones and smartwatches that interact with the real world and need to perform computations.
One of the challenges in modern cryptography is ensuring the integrity of the result from a computation, verifying that the result is correct. The speaker mentions interactive proofs, which allow for proofs without revealing information beyond the validity of the statement, and succinct non-interactive arguments (snargs), which are short and can be efficiently verified.
However, the speaker identifies the biggest problem in cryptography today as the advent of quantum computers, which could potentially break the security of cryptographic schemes based on computational assumptions. Despite this, the speaker expresses excitement about the potential advancements that quantum computing could bring to cryptography.
1. Cryptography is a field that deals with securing communication and computation to ensure both confidentiality and integrity.
2. Cryptography is used widely, often unknowingly, in daily activities such as using a cell phone or doing anything online.
3. The speaker is a researcher at Microsoft and an Adjunct professor at MIT, focusing on theoretical cryptography.
4. Modern cryptography differs from classical cryptography in that all modern algorithms are public, whereas classical cryptography was more of an art.
5. The emphasis of modern cryptography is on securing communication, ensuring messages are secret, not tampered with, and authentic.
6. Modern cryptography also deals with securing computation, especially as we have more weak devices that delegate computations to stronger devices.
7. The computational heavy device that generates a computation should give not only the output but also a certificate that certifies the correctness of the output.
8. Interactive proofs are used to prove things without giving out information beyond the validity of the statement.
9. The Vietnam heuristic or Fear Chamir Paradigm is used to convert interactive proofs into non-interactive ones, essentially eliminating interactions using cryptography.
10. Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments (SNARGs) are used to create short, non-interactive arguments that certify the correctness of computations.
11. One of the biggest problems in cryptography today is the advent of quantum computers, which could break the computational assumptions that underpin most cryptographic schemes.