Next-generation Encryption Systems with Advanced Computational Power

Title of the Talk: Next-generation Encryption Systems with Advanced Computational Power
Speakers: Dr. Tapas Pal
Host Faculty: Dr.M V Panduranga Rao
Date: Dec 22, 2025
Time: 2:30 PM.

Abstract: The classical paradigm of public-key encryption ensures confidentiality, but it either reveals the complete raw data or nothing—a limitation in scenarios where controlled computation over encrypted data is needed. In this talk, I will argue why traditional encryption is often insufficient for modern privacy-sensitive applications, especially in cloud-based data analytics. I will then introduce the notion of Functional Encryption (FE) including a brief survey about its state-of-the-art, with emphasis on specific instantiations such as inner-product FE, attribute-based inner-product FE, and attribute-weighted-sum FE. I will demonstrate how these schemes enable secure, privacy-preserving data analytics—for example, computing aggregate statistics over encrypted health records without revealing individual data. While classical FE enables controlled access to encrypted information, its traditional architecture relies on a single trusted authority which creates inherent limitations—including key-escrow, central trust bottlenecks, and vulnerability to master-key exfiltration attacks. To address these challenges, I will introduce Registered FE (RFE): a novel paradigm that decentralizes trust and allows users to register their own public keys and authorized functions, removing the need for a central trusted authority. I will present a generic framework from our recent work (IACR ePrint 2024/36006) that transforms classical FE primitives into RFE schemes, while preserving security and efficiency. Overall, this talk aims to highlight how modern encryption systems—based on FE and its registered extension—provide advanced computational power over encrypted data, opening the door to deployable, privacy-preserving intelligent systems that meet the needs of data-driven applications for securing our digital society..

Meeting link: https://meet.google.com/aib-cpsc-nzn