Research Interests
Professor Stinson's main research interests are in cryptography, including techniques for authentication of digital information; generation of random numbers for cryptographic applications; distribution of secure cryptographic keys; fingerprinting and tracing algorithms to prevent copyright violation; and public-key encryption and signature algorithms.
The use of cryptography in networks and distributed settings has been an area of recent interest for Professor Stinson. For example, he has done research on various types of secure distributed cryptographic protocols and their application to multicast security. Broadcast encryption is an example of a method to allow selective decryption of encrypted data in a network setting. Recent work has involved finding new algorithms for key distribution in sensor networks.
Professor Stinson is interested in several areas in algorithms and computational complexity, including combinatorial algorithms, randomized algorithms and parallel algorithms. Another area of research activity lies in the construction of combinatorial structures with applications in computer science and cryptography, such as universal hash families, resilient functions, correlation-immune functions, cover-free families, perfect hash families, extractors and dispersers.
Degrees and Awards
BMath (Waterloo), MSc (Ohio), PhD (Waterloo)
University Professor; FRSC; University Research Chair, University of Waterloo (2005-2012); Faculty of Mathematics Fellow, University of Waterloo (2001-2004); NSERC Industrial Chair/Certicom (1998-2003); Marshall Hall Medal, Institute of Combinatorics and Its Applications (1994); Foundation Fellow of the Institute of Combinatorics/Applications (1990)
Industrial and Sabbatical Experience
From 1998-2003, Professor Stinson held the NSERC/Certicom Industrial Research Chair in cryptography at Waterloo. (From 1998-2002, Professor Stinson's academic appointment was in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization. He transferred to Computer Science in 2002.)
Professor Stinson was the Managing Director of the Centre for Applied Cryptographic Research (CACR) at the University of Waterloo from 1998-2001. He was the principal investigator on several research projects involving the CACR, including projects sponsored by MITACS and ORDCF.
Professor Stinson has acted as an expert witness in connection with legal proceedings regarding infringement of cryptographic patents.
Representative Publications
J. Lee and D.R. Stinson. On the construction of practical key predistribution schemes for distributed sensor networks using combinatorial designs. TISSEC, 11, article 5, 35 pp., 2008.
M. Nandi and D.R. Stinson. Multicollision attacks on some generalized sequential hash functions. IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 53:759-767, 2007.
A. Mashatan and D.R. Stinson. Noninteractive two-channel message authentication based on hybrid-collision resistant hash functions. IET Information Security, 1:111-118, 2007.
D.R. Stinson. Cryptography Theory and Practice, Third Edition. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 616 pp., 2006.
D.R. Stinson. Some observations on the theory of cryptographic hash functions. Designs, Codes and Cryptography, 38:259-277, 2006.
