The Boneh-Franklin scheme, developed alongside Matt Franklin, established a practical foundation for identity-based encryption using the Weil pairing. Born in Israel in 1969, Dan Boneh has spent his professional life advancing the theory and application of cryptography. His research into security protocols and mathematical structures serves as a central pillar for modern data protection and blockchain architecture.
Academic Foundation and Stanford Career
Boneh received his education at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology before moving to Princeton University, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1996 under the supervision of Richard J. Lipton. He joined the faculty at Stanford University in 1997, eventually achieving the position of professor of computer science and electrical engineering. Beyond his research duties, he has become a public-facing educator by hosting his introductory cryptography courses online through platforms like Coursera.
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His work spans multiple areas of computer security. In 2003, Boneh and David Brumley demonstrated the first practical timing attacks on OpenSSL that functioned over the internet. His contributions also include the 2005 development of a partially homomorphic cryptosystem with Eu-Jin Goh and Kobbi Nissim, which allows computations on encrypted data. Additionally, he co-founded Voltage Security in 2002, a company later acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 2015.
Research into Emerging Technologies
In 2018, Boneh and David Mazières assumed the roles of co-directors for the Center for Blockchain Research at Stanford. His recent focus has included verifiable delay functions and privacy-preserving proofs designed for Bitcoin exchanges. Throughout his career, he has collaborated on diverse projects ranging from tcpcrypt, a transport-level security extension, to PwdHash, a browser-based tool for managing site-specific passwords.
Professional Recognition
Boneh has received numerous distinctions for his contributions to computer science. He earned the Gödel Prize in 2013, the ACM Prize in Computing in 2014, and was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2016. Furthermore, he is an IACR Fellow, an ACM Fellow, and a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society.
Fast facts
- Born: 1969, Israel
- Education: Technion and Princeton University
- Primary Affiliation: Stanford University
- Gödel Prize: 2013
- ACM Prize in Computing: 2014
- US National Academy of Engineering Member: 2016
- Known for: Identity-based encryption and timing attacks
Questions readers ask
What is the Boneh-Franklin scheme?
It is an identity-based encryption scheme developed with Matt Franklin that uses the Weil pairing to allow secure communication via public keys derived from a recipient's identity.
What are timing attacks?
These are side-channel security attacks that identify vulnerabilities by measuring the duration a system takes to perform specific calculations.
Achievements
- Affiliated with Stanford University
- Educated at Princeton University and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
- Worked as cryptographer, mathematician and computer scientist
