Regaining Control Over Mobile and Cloud Data

***Refreshments at 11:50am***

Abstract:

Emerging technologies, such as cloud and mobile computing, offer previously unimaginable global access to data; however, they also threaten our ability to control the use of our data, its lifetime, accessibility, privacy, management properties, etc. My research focuses on restoring to users control they've ceded to the cloud and mobile devices. In this talk I will describe two examples of this work. First, I'll present Keypad, an auditing file system for theft- and loss-prone mobile devices that permits users to track and control accesses on their mobile data, even after a device has been stolen.

Second, I'll describe Vanish, a global-scale distributed-trust system that allows users to cause all copies of desired Web data objects, online or offline, to simultaneously self destruct at a specified time. A common thread of these efforts is the integration of systems and crypto techniques to solve new problems in data management brought on by technological change.