SCN '02: Abstract


Starting with Shamir's secret sharing, polynomials served as a key tool for the design of various cryptographic protocols, taking advantage of their nice algebraic properties. In this talk I will briefly mention some of the classic applications of polynomials for the design of cryptographic protocols. Then, I will proceed to discuss in more details two recent lines of results: (1) applications of polynomials to the design of ``Private Information Retrieval'' (PIR) protocols; and (2) ``randomizing polynomials'' -- an extension of the basic notion of representing functions by polynomials with applications for constant-round secure protocols.