David Chaum

David Chaum
Residence	Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	inventor, cryptographer
Known for	DigiCash, IACR, mixes, voting systems
Website
http://www.chaum.com/

David Chaum is the inventor of many cryptographic protocols, including blind signature schemes, commitment schemes, and digital cash. In 1982, Chaum founded the International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR), which currently organizes academic conferences in cryptography research. He has contributed to the industry advancement of electronic cash, partially in his role as founder of DigiCash, an electronic cash company, in 1990.

Chaum gained a doctorate in Computer Science and Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley. Subsequently, he taught at the New York University Graduate School of Business Administration and at the University of California. He is currently a visiting professor at K.U. Leuven.

His contributions to cryptography include the invention of two anonymity networks: mix networks (the basis for virtually all modern anonymity networks) and DC-Nets; silo watching techniques; invention of several important digital signatures: blind signatures, undeniable signatures, unconditionally secure signatures, and group signatures; tamper-safing sensor systems (foreshadowing many concepts in side-channel cryptanalysis); various techniques for anonymous credentials, invention of partial key techniques (a predecessor to threshold encryption); first techniques for anonymous digital transactions and the invention of digital cash; early zero-knowledge proof techniques; multiparty computations; and the invention of cryptographic voting. He also performed notable cryptanalysis of DES and the RSA signature scheme.

Currently, Chaum heads the Punchscan and Scantegrity projects — open-source, end-to-end auditable voting initiatives based on cryptographic principles.

See also

• Blind signature
• Undeniable signature
• Anonymous remailer (some use Chaum's mix networks)
• Onion routing (based on Chaum's mix networks)
• Dining cryptographers protocol
• Chaum mixes

Further reading

• Email Security, Bruce Schneier (ISBN 0-471-05318-X)
• Computer Privacy Handbook, Andre Bacard (ISBN 1-56609-171-3)
• Presenting Digital Cash, Seth Godin (ISBN 1-57521-062-2)

External links

• Home page
• Punchscan Homepage
• David Chaum research papers
• David Chaum on Electronic Commerce: How Much Do You Trust Big Brother? — interview (abstract only, paid article)

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Name	Chaum, David
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