A novel approach to proof-of-replication via polynomial evaluation

Foteini Baldimtsi

Proof-of-Replication (PoRep) plays a pivotal role in decentralized storage networks, serving as a mechanism to verify that provers consistently store retrievable copies of specific data. PoRep’s implementation in large-scale systems such as Filecoin has been hindered by scalability challenges. Most existing PoRep schemes face an escalating number of challenges and growing computational overhead as the number of stored files increases.

Foteini Baldimtsi (George Mason University, Mysten Labs) introduces a novel PoRep scheme distinctively tailored for expansive decentralized storage networks. This approach hinges on polynomial evaluation, diverging from the probabilistic checking used in prior works. This design requires only a single challenge, irrespective of the number of files, ensuring both prover’s and verifier’s run-times remain manageable even as file counts soar.

This is joint work with Giuseppe Ateniese, Matteo Campanelli, Danilo Francati and Ioanna Karantaidou

About the presenter Foteini is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at George Mason University and Research Advisor in the Cryptography team of Mysten Labs. She received her Ph.D. from Brown University in May 2014 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Boston University and University of Athens. Her research interests include cryptography, security, and data privacy. She is a recipient of an NSF CAREER award as well as Google, IBM, and Facebook faculty awards. Her research is funded by NSF, DHS, NSA, CCI, Protocol Labs and the Zcash Foundation.

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