Betül Durak

About

I am a principal researcher at Microsoft Research (MSR) in Redmond, with training in applied cryptography. My research focuses on the interplay between security and privacy in real‑world systems.

Since joining MSR, I have worked on privacy‑preserving cryptographic primitives that carefully balance security, functionality, and anonymity, including Precio (CCS 2024) (opens in new tab), Anonymous Tokens with Hidden Metadata (CRYPTO 2023), (opens in new tab) and Non-Transferable Anonymous Tokens by Secret Binding (CCS 2024) (opens in new tab).

More recently, my research has expanded to the security, privacy, and safety of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, particularly when AI components are integrated into end‑to‑end, socio‑technical systems. I am especially interested in the new privacy–security trade‑offs that arise in these settings. My most recent work, Formal_Guide_to_AIOracles, is now available.

I welcome collaboration on my ongoing work in digital trust. Two of my papers that are publicly available are A Privacy-Preserving Reputation System with Global Trust Signals (opens in new tab)and Cryptographically Secure Digital Consent (opens in new tab), with additional projects underway.

My approach to research has evolved over time, shaped by both theoretical inquiry and real‑world impact. A detailed account of my research trajectory, including realized and intended impacts, is available in my research statement: Durak Research Journey. To summarize, I finished my Ph.D. at Rutgers University under the supervision of David Cash (opens in new tab). Then, I moved to Switzerland to do my post-doc in LASEC (opens in new tab) at EPFL where I stayed for two years. Later, I came back to the US to work for Bosch Research in Pittsburgh as a research engineer.

My research spans the following areas (all my IACR (opens in new tab) publications list authors in alphabetical order):

Anonymous Tokens:  Anonymous Tokens with Hidden Metadata, (opens in new tab) Non-Transferable Anonymous Tokens by Secret Binding (opens in new tab).

Multi-Party Computation (MPC):  AES in MPC (opens in new tab), Faster Convolution with Discrete Fourier Transformation in MPC, Precio: Secure Aggregation (opens in new tab).

Structure-Preserving Encryption: Order-Revealing Encryption (opens in new tab), Format-Preserving Encryption [1 (opens in new tab), 2 (opens in new tab), 3 (opens in new tab)], Searchable Encryption (opens in new tab).

Secure End-to-End Messaging: Ratcheted Key Agreement [1 (opens in new tab), 2 (opens in new tab)], Post-Compromise Secure Self-Encryption (opens in new tab).

Biometric Access Control: BioID (opens in new tab), BioLocker (opens in new tab).

Post-Quantum Cryptography: Misuse Attacks (opens in new tab), LowMC Attack (opens in new tab).