ITR: Scalable and Secure Information Republication

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

Our society increasingly relies on prompt, accurate delivery of information over the Internet. Users need assurance that the information they get in this way is authentic, and they need to get this assurance in a cheap and reliable way. The research centers around a new approach for engendering this confidence. The starting point is to separate the roles of the "owner" of a database and its "publisher" (or publishers). With this approach the user need not trust the publisher. Instead, the owner of the database provides the user with a small amount of "summary information". After that, the publisher not only answers the user's questions, but also provides, along with each answer, a short "digital certificate" of accuracy. Using the summary information, the certificate lets the user check that the information received is correct and complete. Developing and evaluating good schemes to construct these certificates is the key technical challenge. The publisher need not maintain a trusted system, lowering his cost of doing business. The publisher can also more easily provide information from multiple owners. Overall, the approach should make it cheaper to obtain reliable data over the Internet, and will expand the settings where the data is used.