Emad Heydari Beni

Biography

Our world is not the same as decades ago. Our TVs and toasters are connected to the Internet; new monetary systems have been emerging under the control of the masses; our children have phones in their pockets more powerful than supercomputers of 30 years ago; (breached) databases are for sale at (dark) markets; various actors maliciously instrument elections and revolutions. This is the world we are living in. Technologically, it all boils down to how we design, build, deploy and maintain software systems.

I am a researcher at Bell Labs (& COSIC), interested in the security and privacy of next-generation (data-intensive) software systems. I focus on codes deployed in trustless settings, securely computing on distributed sensitive data, and providing trust guarantees in the presence of malicious adversaries.

Research interests (keywords):

• Applied cryptography
  • Secure multiparty computation
  • Zero-knowledge proofs
  • Encrypted search
  • Homomorphic encryption
• Distributed systems
  • Middleware architecture (for storage systems)
  • Decentralised systems (e.g., Solid, Web3, etc.)
  • Cloud infrastructure

Previously, I was a PhD researcher at the imec-DistriNet research group, KU Leuven. My PhD research focused on middleware architecture for outsourcing computation and data to the cloud in a secure and agile fashion. Before joining imec-DistriNet, around 2013, I worked on cloud computing subjects in Alcatel-Lucent (now Nokia) as part of my Master’s thesis research. Furthermore, I worked for several years in the software industry as a software engineer in the Brussels region.