Stefan Brands Explained

Fields:	Cryptography
Doctoral Advisors:	Adi Shamir Henk van Tilborg
Workplaces:	CWI University of Utrecht McGill University School of Computer Science

Stefan Brands is the designer of the core cryptographic protocols of Microsoft's U-Prove technology. Following his academic research on these protocols during the nineties, they were implemented and marketed under the U-Prove name by Credentica until Microsoft acquired the technology.^{[1] [2]}

Prior to Credentica, earlier versions of Brands' protocols were implemented by DigiCash,^[3] by Zero-Knowledge Systems,^[4] and by two consortiums made up of academic research groups, European banks, and large IT organizations.^{[5] [6]}

Brands has worked at DigiCash,^[7] at Zero-Knowledge Systems, and at Microsoft Corp. He has also served as an adjunct professor at McGill University, and as an advisor to Canada's data protection commissioner and to the Electronic Privacy Information Center.^[8]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Gohring . Nancy . 2008-03-06 . Microsoft buys U-Prove technology. . 2023-06-23 . Computerworld . en.
2. Web site: Stefan Brands . 2023-06-23 . EPIC - Electronic Privacy Information Center . en-US.
3. https://cryptome.org/jya/digicrash.htm How DigiCash Blew Everything
4. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB951173045490453639 Wall Street Journal: Zero-Knowledge Is Hoping to Cash In On Move to Anonymous Funds for Web
5. http://www.semper.org/sirene/projects/cafe/index.html About the CAFE project
6. https://www.ercim.eu/publication/Ercim_News/enw30/hirschfeld.html OPERA - Open Payments European Research Association
7. News: Chaum . David . Brands . Stefan . 'Minting' electronic cash . 17 September 2018 . IEEE Spectrum special issue on electronic money, February 1997 . IEEE . 4 January 1999.
8. Web site: Stefan Brands . 2023-06-23 . EPIC - Electronic Privacy Information Center . en-US.