The Center for Research on Computation and Society continues its weekly lunch seminar:

CRCS Privacy and Security Lunch Seminar

Date: Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm (Lunch Provided)
Place: Maxwell Dworkin119

Speaker: Michael O. Rabin, Harvard University Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Professor of Computer Science

Topic: Highly Efficient Zero Knowledge Proofs and Practical Secure and Secrecy Preserving Auctions

Abstract:

We consider a new model of an Evaluator
Prover who receives input values from parties
P_1, …, P_n, performs a computation on these values
and publishes the result together
with a ZKP of its correctness. The efficiency is achieved
by working directly with input numbers rather than at the bit/circuit
level. It achieves a hundred-fold efficiency improvement
over methods employing homomorphic encryptions.
Classical ZKPs can be made a special case as n =0. Applications
include practical secure and secrecy preserving auctions. Presentation will be self contained.

Joint work with Rocco Servidio and Chris Thorpe.

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The Center for Research on Computation and Society continues its weekly lunch seminar:

CRCS Privacy and Security Lunch Seminar
Date: Wednesday, 31 October 2007
Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm (Lunch Provided)
Place: Maxwell Dworkin119

Speaker: Christopher Thorpe, Harvard University

Topic: Efficient, Secrecy-Preserving Proofs of Correctness for Electronic Commerce

Abstract:

For many electronic commercial protocols, such as sealed- bid auctions, securities exchanges, and large “block” stock trades,
the information revealed and kept secret as part of the protocol is of extreme importance. We will explore recent advances in
cryptography that enable market and mechanism designers to precisely tune the transparency of their protocols to optimal economic requirements. We will consider examples such as sealed-bid auctions where no information is revealed to any bidder other than her own outcome and a stock trading protocol where traders post encrypted prices and/or quantities of their trades, and only information necessary for the efficient operation of the market needs to be revealed.

Joint work with David Parkes, Michael Rabin, and Stuart Shieber.

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The Center for Research on Computation and Society continues its weekly lunch seminar:

CRCS Privacy and Security Lunch Seminar
Date: Wednesday, 24 October 2007
Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm (Lunch Provided)
Place: Maxwell Dworkin119

Speaker: Sheila Jasanoff, Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies

Topic: “Science, Technology, and Society: An Emerging Field at Harvard and Beyond”

Abstract:

STS has emerged out of two broad streams of concern that grew during the
20th century. One is the concern of scientists, policymakers, and the
public with the impacts and control of science and technology, with
particular focus on the risks that S&T pose to peace, security, democracy,
social stability, environmental sustainability, and other human values. The
other is the concern of academic researchers with the nature and practices
of S&T as social activities possessing distinctive goals, structures, and
languages that change over time and vary across cultures. Jasanoff will
discuss how these sets of concerns are represented at Harvard and elsewhere,
and what this implies for the training and careers of future scientists and
engineers. Her talk is based on her extensive experiences as a leading
analyst of the politics of science, frequent participant in policy debates,
and founder-chair of the only Ivy League department of STS (at Cornell).
She will also speak about the STS Program at the Kennedy School and how it
is seeking to bridge two, and more, cultures at Harvard.

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The Center for Research on Computation and Society continues its weekly lunch seminar:

CRCS Privacy and Security Lunch Seminar
Date: Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm (Lunch Provided)
Place: Maxwell Dworkin119

Speaker: Sven Seuken, Harvard University

Topic: Selfishness and Altruism in P2P Networks: A Large-Scale Economics
Field Experiment

Abstract:

We conducted a large-scale economics field experiment over the Internet
with more than 15,000 participants. The primary goal was to analyze the
degree of selfishness and altruism among P2P file-sharing users. For
this purpose, we released two versions of a new P2P file-sharing
software - a cooperative version and a selfish version - and observed
the users’ download decisions.

After a description of important experimental design choices I will
report on our findings regarding how the decision between selfishness
and cooperation changed with varying stimuli and user characteristics.
We found a surprising relation between the decision and the personal
benefit received by the user as well as other factors including a) prior
knowledge about P2P systems, b) age c) country, d) operating system, e)
user online community etc. I will conclude with the implications of this
experiment for our future research agenda in the field of Behavioral
Mechanism Design and describe the potential of new user models for the
design of more robust and efficient decentralized electronic markets.

This is joint work with David Parkes and Johan Pouwelse.

The Center for Research on Computation and Society continues its weekly lunch seminar:

CRCS Privacy and Security Lunch Seminar
Date: Wednesday, 10 October 2007
Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm (Lunch Provided)
Place: Maxwell Dworkin119

Speaker: Rachel Greenstadt Fellow, Center for Research on Computation and Society Harvard University

Topic: Security and Virtualized Environments: An Overview

Abstract:

From rootkits like “blue pill” to protective sandboxes for running untrusted code, virtualization is changing the way people think about security and computing in general. This talk give an overview of a wide variety of research/commercial projects in virtualization and some of their security implications. This talk will be short and hopefully provoke lively discussion among the seminar attendees on this topic.