- cryptography
- formal verification
- privacy
- advocacy + outreach
- education
Jacob White
(he/him or they/them)Graduate Research Assistant
PhD Student, Computer Science (CS)
Purdue University
My research centers around the efficient design of privacy-enhancing cryptographic systems, with a focus on usability. First, I aim to design cryptographic protocols and applications which balance privacy and attribution of a user's actions. Second, I aim to make it easier for non-experts to use complex security tools appropriately, especially zero-knowledge proofs. To support these goals, I leverage a number of interdisciplinary results in human factors, programming languages, formal verification, and automation.
Beyond my research, I serve as the Purdue Graduate Student Government (PGSG) Senator for CS, advocating for fellow students and engaging closely with the department, university, and Greater Lafayette community. I also hone my computer security skills—and teach others—by playing and creating Capture The Flag (CTF) challenges with b01lers.
See my CV for more information.
News
| 04/26/2023 |
As a part of b01lers, I led the protocol design and documentation for car-fob security and authentication and presented our efforts in MITRE's attack/defense-style Embedded CTF. We placed 6th out of 60 and received Best Poster Award! |
| 03/25/2023 |
I and another student received 1st place in the 2023 CyberFire Challenge, hosted by Lawrence Livermore National Labs! |
| 12/12/2022 |
Our paper on issuer-agnostic anonymous credentials for proving complex identity statements, zk-creds, has been accepted to IEEE S&P 2023! Thanks to Christina Garman and the other authors for your guidance and support! |
Academics
As a 2nd-year PhD student and member of the Boilers Applied Research in Cryptography (BARC) lab at Purdue, I conduct research on efficient privacy-enhancing cryptography, automation, and formal verification under my advisor, Dr. Christina Garman.
I am also passionate about mentoring and teaching others, paying forward my education to help make the fields I study more accessible and equitable to everyone to learn and pursue themselves.
University && Community Service
I have served on Purdue's CS Graduate Student Board as the PGSG Senator for CS since 2022, advocating for graduate students with a particular focus on fairness and inclusion. If you are a current or prospective Purdue CS grad student, I'd love to hear from you!
As an officer in b01lers, I not only compete in computer security challenges but also write blog posts, write-ups, and organize challenges and other events to teach others hands-on skills in computer security and crypto(graphy). A particular goal of mine is to make it easier for anyone—even outside university—to explore their interests in various aspects of information security and CS.