ZK · MPC · FHE · Symmetric key cryptography · distributed systems
Our research
Selected research from the team, organized by topic.
Zero-Knowledge
We work across the full zero-knowledge (ZK) stack, from zkVM design and development to the proof systems and primitives that make them fast. Our team co-developed VOLE-in-the-Head — the technique behind the FAEST post-quantum signature — and designs the arithmetization-oriented hash functions that dominate modern STARK and SNARK provers.
Multi-Party Computation
We design and analyze protocols that let mutually distrusting parties compute on shared secrets. Our published work spans efficient garbled circuits, threshold zero-knowledge, and the provable-security foundations underneath. We not only contribute on the theoretical level, but bring these results directly into client systems that are deployed in the real world.
Fully Homomorphic Encryption
We build and tune schemes for computing on encrypted data, focused on the parameter choices that determine whether FHE is practical for a given workload. Our research includes new techniques for expanding the message space of NTRU-based FHE and collusion-resistant multiparty variants.
Symmetric-Key Cryptography
Symmetric-key design and cryptanalysis is the foundation 3MI was built on. Our team has both designed widely used primitives and broken others, with a distinguished publication record on round-reduced AES and analyses of authenticated-encryption modes. This build-and-attack perspective is what lets us certify a primitive as sound.
Publications
Lightweight Cryptography
We design cryptography for constrained environments — where every gate, byte, and cycle counts — without giving up provable security. Our contributions include S-box and mode analysis for the NIST Lightweight Cryptography effort and efficient authenticated-encryption and forkcipher constructions. This has broad applications in areas such as satellite and IOT communications.
Algebraic Hash Functions
Arithmetization-oriented hash functions are the bottleneck in most ZK proof systems, and a core specialty of our team. We designed families such as Marvellous (Rescue and Vision) and have analyzed hashes including Poseidon and the RPO/XHash families over modern proving fields — building primitives that are both prover-efficient and cryptographically sound.