| Title | : | Recent Progress in Code Obfuscation |
| Speaker | : | Venkata Koppula (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) |
| Details | : | Thu, 10 Oct, 2019 11:00 AM @ AM Turing Hall |
| Abstract: | : | Code obfuscation has been one of the main focal points of cryptographic research over the last few years. A code obfuscator is a compiler that hides the implementation of programs while preserving functionality. Barak et al showed that general purpose (virtual black box) code obfuscation is impossible. Therefore, we must either restrict out attention to weaker notion of obfuscation or weaker forms of obfuscation. In this talk, I will first discuss one such weaker notion of obfuscation (called indistinguishability obfuscation) and its tremendous impact on cryptography. Next, I will present a virtual black box obfuscation scheme for a rich function class. We call this notion `lockable obfuscation'. Our obfuscation scheme's security is based on standard cryptographic assumptions. At the same time, it has a number of applications, for upgrading security of encryption schemes as well as showing separations between different security notions. I will present one such application, followed by a brief discussion of how research related to indistinguishability obfuscation led to this result. Based on joint work with Rishab Goyal and Brent Waters, and no prior background on obfuscation/crypto will be needed. |
