Popular explanation of fully homomorphic encryption wanted

[Udhay Shankar N]

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homomorphic_encryption :

> The utility of fully homomorphic encryption has been long
> recognized. The problem of constructing such a scheme was first
> proposed within a year of the development of RSA.[1] A solution proved
> more elusive; for more than 30 years, it was unclear whether fully
> homomorphic encryption was even possible. During this period, the best
> result was the Boneh-Goh-Nissim cryptosystem which supports evaluation
> of an unlimited number of addition operations but at most one
> multiplication.
> 
> The question was finally resolved in 2009 with the development of the
> first true fully homomorphic cryptosystem. The scheme, constructed by
> Craig Gentry, employs lattice based encryption and allows evaluation
> of both addition and multiplication operations without restriction.[2]
> 
> References
> 
>    1. ^ R. L. Rivest, L. Adleman, and M. L. Dertouzos. On data banks
>       and privacy homomorphisms. In Foundations of Secure Computation,
>       1978. 
>    2. ^ Craig Gentry. On homomorphic encryption over circuits of
>       arbitrary depth. In the 41st ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing
>       (STOC), 2009. 

I was wondering if anyone on this list could recommend a good,
entry-level piece on the Gentry paper referenced above, and its
implications. Failing which, anyone wants to take a stab at it?

Udhay

-- 
((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

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