Trust, Privacy and the Future of Computing

How can we trust the information we receive? How can we protect our data in a digital world? And how can we prepare for technologies that do not yet fully exist, such as large-scale quantum computers?

These questions shape the work of four young researchers currently or recently at the Bocconi Department of Computing Sciences. Although their research spans different areas of theoretical computer science and cryptography, they share a common goal: building the mathematical foundations of a more secure and trustworthy digital future.

Gal Arnon: Making verification more efficient

How can we trust that a complex system has really been checked properly? This is the question at the heart of Gal Arnon’s research in theoretical computer science.

Modern society depends on systems that must work flawlessly: the software on an aircraft, the code securing online transactions, or the algorithms behind critical infrastructure. But verifying that these systems have been thoroughly tested can itself become an enormous challenge.

Gal studies probabilistic proof systems, mathematical methods that allow one party to convince another that a computation or verification process was carried out correctly—without having to repeat the entire process from scratch. The goal is to make verification both trustworthy and efficient, also considering the danger deriving from so-called “hallucinations” (errors or inventions by LLMs).

He explains the idea with a simple example: imagine asking an engineer to test every possible failure scenario for an airplane computer. Reading a complete report of every single test would take almost as much effort as checking everything yourself. His research explores whether there are smarter ways to provide convincing evidence that the work was done correctly.

At a time marked by misinformation and growing concerns about trust in digital systems, this line of research has implications for cybersecurity, reliable computing, and the future of verifiable information.

Gal Arnon’s PhD dissertation “New Advancements in Interactive Oracle Proofs: Theory, Practice, and Limitations” earned him the Honorable Mention for the Association for Computing Machinery’s Doctoral Dissertation Award.

Paul Lou: Preparing encryption for the quantum age

Every time we pay with a card, log into an email account, or send a message online, encryption helps keep our information secure. But the arrival of powerful quantum computers could eventually break many of the cryptographic systems currently used around the world.

Paul Lou works on designing new forms of post-quantum encryption: security systems intended to remain safe even in a future where quantum computers become practical realities.

His research focuses on public-key encryption, the technology that protects countless everyday digital interactions. While several candidate post-quantum systems already exist, no one can yet guarantee which approaches will ultimately withstand future attacks. Paul Lou therefore explores entirely new cryptographic constructions that could remain secure even if many current proposals fail.

For Paul, one of the most exciting aspects of Bocconi is the combination of expertise in cryptography, machine learning, and theoretical computer science. He is particularly interested in the emerging connections between cryptography and artificial intelligence—for example, using cryptographic ideas to better understand the limits and reliability of large language models.

Working with colleagues at Bocconi and collaborators at Harvard University, Paul recently co-authored research challenging a widely used assumption underlying the security of certain encryption methods. More broadly, he sees the department’s collaborative environment as an ideal setting for exploring some of the most important security challenges of the coming decades.

Tamer Mour: Protecting privacy in emerging technologies

How can we use powerful technologies such as artificial intelligence without exposing sensitive personal data? And how can we verify that a quantum computer is genuinely performing quantum computations rather than simply claiming to do so? These are some of the questions that drive the research of cryptographer Tamer Mour.

His work combines rigorous mathematical foundations with a strong focus on real-world applications. One area of research is private computation, which seeks to make it possible to process confidential information without revealing it. Such techniques could allow hospitals, companies, or individuals to benefit from advanced AI systems while keeping their data private.

Tamer has also worked on methods for verifying quantum capabilities. As quantum computers become increasingly powerful, researchers and businesses will need reliable ways to determine whether a device truly possesses the quantum properties it claims. His research develops cryptographic tools that can help provide this evidence.

While at Bocconi as a postdoctoral researcher, Mour found an environment that encouraged both scientific rigor and intellectual exploration. Collaborating with researchers who shared an interest in tackling emerging technological challenges allowed him to pursue new directions in cryptography while remaining grounded in the field’s fundamental principles.

Valerio Cini: Making sensitive data useful without giving it away

How can organizations benefit from powerful digital services without exposing their most sensitive information? Cryptography scholar Valerio Cini focuses specifically on this aspect.

Hospitals, research centers, companies, and public institutions increasingly rely on external computing resources to analyze data, train artificial intelligence models, or run large-scale simulations. Yet much of the information involved, from medical records and financial data to proprietary research results, cannot simply be shared without risking privacy breaches or violating regulations.

Valerio Cini studies cryptographic tools designed to resolve this tension. His goal is to make it possible to use advanced digital services while maintaining strong protections for sensitive data.

Part of his research focuses on advanced forms of encryption that can support fine-grained access to information, allowing only authorized users or systems to view specific data. Besides, he investigates cryptographic proof systems that can help organizations verify that a cloud provider has performed a computation correctly, without having to repeat the entire computation themselves. As more services move to shared digital infrastructures, Cini believes these technologies will become increasingly important. Rather than treating privacy as an obstacle to innovation, his research aims to make it a foundation for trustworthy digital services.

A shared commitment to trustworthy computing

At first glance, the work of Gal Arnon, Paul Lou, Tamer Mour and Valerio Cini addresses different challenges. Yet all four researchers are concerned with a common question: how can society continue to trust digital technologies as they become more powerful and more deeply integrated into everyday life?

Their answers range from proving that computations have been performed correctly, to securing communications against future quantum computers, to protecting sensitive information while enabling new forms of computation and artificial intelligence. Together, they illustrate how advances in theoretical computer science and cryptography can shape technologies that are not only more capable, but also more trustworthy.

This combination of foundational research and real-world relevance is a hallmark of Bocconi's Department of Computing Sciences, where expertise in cryptography, theoretical computer science, machine learning and artificial intelligence creates fertile ground for tackling some of the most important technological questions of our time.