Pairing-based Cryptography

Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to some people who were involved in this project. First of all, I owe thanks to Henk van Tilborg for being my overall supervisor and arranging current and previous projects. I would like to thank Benne de Weger, who was closely involved in the writing of this report, for the fruitful discussions and useful advises. Thanks is due to Hans Cuijpers for being on my committee. Patrick Bours and Gido Schmitz deserve thanks for supervising the project and editing this report. Special thanks goes out to Gido, who put a great deal of effort in teaching me all about elliptic curves and making this project into a valuable and enjoyable experience. On a more personal note, I would like to mention some people who mean a lot to me. First of all Vincent, who provided me with a bed to sleep in and, more importantly, a place to call home in The Hague. Thanks goes out to Ard Jan and Maarten who were always there for me – especially whenever I needed a drink after a train ride across country. Last but by no means least, I would like to thank Ciska and Hans for their unconditional support.