PASS-Encrypt: a public key cryptosystem based on partial evaluation of polynomials

Abstract

A new hard problem in number theory, based on partial evaluation of certain classes of constrained polynomials, was introduced in Hoffstein et al. (Secure user identification based on constrained polynomials, 2000) and further refined in Hoffstein et al. (Polynomial rings and efficient public key authentication, 1999; Practical signatures from the partial Fourier recovery problem, 2013), Hoffstein and Silverman (Polynomial rings and efficient public key authentication. II, 2001) to create an efficient authentication and digital signature scheme called PASS. In this paper we present a public key cryptosystem called PASS-Encrypt that is based on the same underlying hard problem. We also provide an alternative description in terms of partial knowledge of discrete Fourier transforms.