Improved proxy re-encryption schemes with applications to secure distributed storage

TLDR

BBS introduced atomic proxy re‑encryption in 1998, but its widespread adoption has been limited by significant security risks. The authors aim to develop faster, more secure proxy re‑encryption schemes that strengthen security and enable access control in encrypted file systems. They design new re‑encryption schemes based on Dodis and Ivan’s work to provide stronger security and support access control in secure file systems. Experimental results show that the proposed proxy re‑encryption schemes perform effectively in practice.

Abstract

In 1998, Blaze, Bleumer, and Strauss (BBS) proposed an application called atomic proxy re-encryption , in which a semitrusted proxy converts a ciphertext for Alice into a ciphertext for Bob without seeing the underlying plaintext. We predict that fast and secure re-encryption will become increasingly popular as a method for managing encrypted file systems. Although efficiently computable, the wide-spread adoption of BBS re-encryption has been hindered by considerable security risks. Following recent work of Dodis and Ivan, we present new re-encryption schemes that realize a stronger notion of security and demonstrate the usefulness of proxy re-encryption as a method of adding access control to a secure file system. Performance measurements of our experimental file system demonstrate that proxy re-encryption can work effectively in practice.