SoK: Research Motivations of Public-Key Cryptography

Fuchun Guo; Willy Susilo; Xiaofeng Chen; Peng Jiang; Jianchang Lai; Zhen Zhao

Paper 2023/715

SoK: Research Motivations of Public-Key Cryptography

Fuchun Guo

Willy Susilo

Xiaofeng Chen

Peng Jiang

Jianchang Lai

Zhen Zhao

Abstract

The design, proposal, and analysis of cryptographic primitives (schemes and protocols) is one of the primary research fields in cryptology. To advance this research field, in this paper, we systematically introduce the research motivations for proposing new constructions (for a primitive) in public-key cryptography. We found that all research motivations aim to produce more benefits for certain users, including practicality, security, and functionalities, although some of the benefits may not be obvious or may only hold conditionally. We have categorized the approaches for exploring more benefits into 3 ways, 6 types, 17 areas, and 40 research strategies. Each research strategy is presented as ``From less-beneficial (in the first construction) To more-beneficial (in the second construction)". This SoK paper aims to provide valuable insights into the driving forces behind advancements in public-key cryptography, facilitating future research efforts in this field.

Metadata

Available format(s): PDF
Category: Public-key cryptography
Publication info: Preprint.
Keywords: Public-Key Cryptography Research Motivations Benefits 40 Research Strategies for Benefits
Contact author(s): fuchun @ uow edu au
wsusilo @ uow edu au
xfchen @ xidian edu cn
pengjiang @ bit edu cn
jclai @ seu edu cn
zzhen @ xidian edu cn
History: 2026-08-06: last of 3 revisions; 2023-05-18: received; See all versions
Short URL: https://ia.cr/2023/715
License: CC BY

BibTeX

@misc{cryptoeprint:2023/715,
      author = {Fuchun Guo and Willy Susilo and Xiaofeng Chen and Peng Jiang and Jianchang Lai and Zhen Zhao},
      title = {{SoK}: Research Motivations of Public-Key Cryptography},
      howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2023/715},
      year = {2023},
      url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/715}
}