Garbled circuits for secure computing

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An apple in a tree.

Garbled circuits for secure computing

Upon completing his homeschool education in Corvallis at 18, Lance Roy took an unusual step — directly into the College of Engineering’s doctoral program in computer science. Roy, now 23, presented research findings at the virtual International Cryptology Conference last summer with Mike Rosulek, associate professor of computer science.

Roy and Rosulek have developed a secure computation protocol implementing garbled circuits, achieving 25% higher efficiency than Rosulek previously thought possible. Their protocol saves time and reduces energy costs for groups needing to compute together while maintaining individual data privacy. Rosulek deemed Roy the mastermind behind the garbled circuits.

“Mike was excited when I showed it to him. During winter 2021, we refined the technique and wrote up the result,” Roy said.

Roy’s work is funded by a Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship, a program enabling him to focus on fundamental science and engineering applications.

March 3, 2022

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