Efficient revocable identity-based encryption via subset difference methods

Providing an efficient revocation mechanism for identity-based encryption (IBE) is very important since a user’s credential (or private key) can be expired or revealed. Revocable IBE (RIBE) is an extension of IBE that provides an efficient revocation mechanism. Previous RIBE schemes essentially use the complete subtree (CS) scheme for key revocation. In this paper, we present a new technique for RIBE that uses the efficient subset difference (SD) scheme or the layered subset difference (LSD) scheme instead of using the CS scheme to improve the size of update keys. Following our new technique, we first propose an efficient RIBE scheme in prime-order bilinear groups by combining the IBE scheme of Boneh and Boyen and the SD scheme and prove its selective security under the standard assumption. Our RIBE scheme is the first RIBE scheme in bilinear groups that has O(r) number of group elements in update keys. Next, we also propose another RIBE scheme in composite-order bilinear groups and prove its full security under static assumptions. Our RIBE schemes also can be integrated with the LSD scheme to reduce the size of private keys.