Wireless technologies and mobile computing devices have changed communication. Many communications protocols are designed to work efficiently if all participants follow their specified instructions, but do not function properly if participants cheat. On the other hand, solutions that are robust against arbitrary misbehavior incur a high performance penalty.
"Incentive compatibility borrows ideas from economics and game theory," said Wright, "and is a more finely tunable notion of security than traditional security models, allowing for different kinds of participants motivated by different incentives." In many settings, users will tend to act in their own best interests. By designing and using protocols that are incentive-compatible, in which following the protocol produces outcomes for participants at least as good as deviating from the protocol, it would be possible to avoid misbehavior in many settings. "Weaker security goals are more achievable," said Wright, "but they often underestimate the willingness of participants to cheat." The research will concentrate on four areas: incentive-compatible ad hoc networks, incentive-compatible data mining (both of which can significantly benefit from introducing incentive-compatible solutions), testing tools for incentive compatibility and foundations of incentive compatibility.
"The rapid expansion of the Internet has changed the way we communicate, with ever-increasing aspects of our daily life involving computation and data communication," said Wright. "For a broad range of applications where participants are benefit-driven, incentive compatibility captures the expected behavior of participants. This allows incentive-compatible protocols to provide the right level of security at the right cost."
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Established in 1870, Stevens offers baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science, management and technology management, as well as a baccalaureate in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. Located directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan, the university has enrollments of approximately 1,780 undergraduates and 2,700 graduate students, and a current enrollment of 2,250 online-learning students worldwide. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.Stevens.edu.
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