Author: David W. Archer, PhD

David W. Archer, PhDDr. David Archer is a Principal Scientist at Galois, Inc., with over 40 years of experience in computer science research and development. Dr. Archer’s focus is on cryptography, and particularly on methods for computing on data while it remains encrypted. In addition to leading a broad portfolio of R&D projects for customers such as the Department of Defense and Fortune 100 companies, Dr. Archer also consults on advanced cryptographic techniques, and recently served as one of seven national judges in the US Privacy Preserving Technologies Prize Challenge.

Galois

From the Fall 2023 Issue

Using and Sharing Sensitive Data Securely – Fact or Miracle?

Author(s):

David W. Archer, PhD, Principal Scientist, Niobium Microsystems and Galois, Inc.

Using and Sharing Sensitive Data Securely

“If it is a miracle any sort of evidence will answer. But if it is a fact, proof is necessary.” Mark Twain Introduction: More Data + More Sharing = Big Security Problem The volume of data we cultivate and harvest grows by almost 40% every year. At the same time, we’re (finally) learning and starting … Read more

From the Fall 2022 Issue

Auric Goldfinger and the Rise of Privacy Enhancing Technologies

Author(s):

David W. Archer, PhD, Principal Scientist, Niobium Microsystems and Galois, Inc.

David Archer - PETs Feature

“Mr. Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: ‘Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action’.” Goldfinger’s not wrong: When the same topic comes up three times in short succession from seemingly independent sources, something is going on. That’s currently the case with the positive, friendly action of the U.S. Government’s … Read more

From the Fall 2021 Issue

The Ardennes, Again

Author(s):

David W. Archer, PhD, Principal Scientist, Niobium Microsystems and Galois, Inc.

Thin Red Line

Zero-Day, Zero Trust, and the 99th Infantry Division  Zero Day December 16, 1944. Unexpected Allied success after D-Day led to a thin defensive line in the Ardennes forest. Armed with that knowledge and suspecting weakness in the Allies’ resolve, Hitler swung his last big hammer in an attempt to shatter the alliance and force a truce. … Read more

From the Winter 2021 Issue

Zero-Knowledge Proofs, D-Day, and the Promise of Trustable Software

Author(s):

David W. Archer, PhD, Principal Scientist, Niobium Microsystems and Galois, Inc.

ZKP image

An old proverb tells us, “You know nothing until another knows you know it.” Sometimes, though, you don’t want that someone to know sensitive details – just the “fact of.” For example, take April 1942. In two months’, Operation Overlord would invade Germany’s “Fortress Europe.” The Allies’ deception operation, Fortitude South – following a strategy … Read more

From the Spring 2018 Issue

Architectural Security, the Ardennes, and Alfred the Great

Author(s):

David W. Archer, PhD, Principal Scientist, Niobium Microsystems and Galois, Inc.

archer-feature-image

Much of cyber defense today relies on the same approach used in kinetic defense over the last few thousand years. We use hard perimeters (firewalls) to repel attacks, sentries (IDSs) to trigger incident response, and carefully guarded entry points (VPNs, websites) to meet functional requirements (wait…security is still a non-functional requirement?). It is both a … Read more

From the Summer 2017 Issue

REVOLUTION and EVOLUTION: Fully Homomorphic Encryption

Author(s):

David W. Archer, PhD, Principal Scientist, Niobium Microsystems and Galois, Inc.

More and more computation is being outsourced to public clouds. Cloud computers can be just as vulnerable as any other computer, putting the privacy of sensitive data at risk. As nation-state cyber weapons become increasingly available to amateur and low-level professional cyber criminals, the external threats against those cloud-based systems continue to grow. In addition, … Read more