2020/09/16 by Ran Canetti · 122 citations
Computer Science · #Advanced Authentication Protocols Security #Computer science #Computer security #Computer security model #Context (archaeology) #Cryptographic Implementations and Security #Cryptographic primitive #Cryptographic protocol #Cryptography #Cryptography and Data Security #Distributed computing #Modular design #Programming language #Protocol (science) #Theoretical computer science
paper · doi:10.1145/3402457
published in Journal of the ACM 67(5), 1-94 (Association for Computing Machinery)
openalex publication_date 2020/09/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
This work presents a general framework for describing cryptographic protocols and analyzing their security. The framework allows specifying the security requirements of practically any cryptographic task in a unified and systematic way. Furthermore, in this framework the security of protocols is preserved under a general composition operation, called universal composition. The proposed framework with its security-preserving composition operation allows for modular design and analysis of complex cryptographic protocols from simpler building blocks. Moreover, within this framework, protocols are guaranteed to maintain their security in any context, even in the presence of an unbounded number of arbitrary protocol sessions that run concurrently in an adversarially controlled manner. This is a useful guarantee, which allows arguing about the security of cryptographic protocols in complex and unpredictable environments such as modern communication networks.