Highlights of our framework include the following:
- We use a new `indistinguishability preserving' (INDPRE) definition of security that interpolates indistinguishability and simulation style definitions, which (often) sidesteps the known impossibilities for the latter. INDPRE-security is parameterized by the choice of the ``test'' family, such that by choosing different test families, one can obtain different levels of security for the same primitive (including various standard definitions in the literature).
- We present a notion of `reduction' from one schema to another and a powerful `composition theorem' with respect to INDPRE security. We show that obfuscation is a ``complete'' schema under this notion, under standard cryptographic assumptions. We also provide a stricter notion of reduction that composes even when security is only with respect to certain restricted test families of importance.
- Last but not the least, our framework can be used to model abstractions like the generic group model and the random oracle model, letting one translate a general class of constructions in these heuristic models to constructions based on `standard model assumptions'.
We also illustrate how our framework can be applied to specific primitives like obfuscation and functional encryption. We relate our definitions to existing definitions and also give new constructions and reductions between different primitives.
Category / Keywords: foundations / Original Publication (with minor differences): IACR-EUROCRYPT-2015 Date: received 17 Jun 2014, last revised 1 May 2015 Contact author: sagrawl2 at illinois edu; shweta a@gmail com; mmp@illinois edu Available format(s): PDF | BibTeX Citation Note: Reorganization and minor corrections. Version: 20150501:205211 (All versions of this report) Short URL: ia.cr/2014/480 Discussion forum: Show discussion | Start new discussion