What is jiff?

JIFF is a framework for secure multi-party computation (MPC) in JavaScript. It allows multiple parties to jointly compute a function over their private inputs without revealing those inputs to each other. Here's a breakdown of key aspects:

• Core Concept: JIFF leverages cryptographic protocols to enable computation on secret-shared values. These values are split into shares and distributed among the participating parties. Each party performs computations on their shares, and the results are combined (again without revealing the original inputs) to produce the final output.

• Secret Sharing: JIFF employs secret sharing schemes (primarily additive secret sharing) to split sensitive data into shares. Each share, on its own, reveals no information about the original value.

• Cryptographic Protocols: The framework implements secure protocols for arithmetic operations (addition, multiplication, etc.), comparisons, and other functionalities necessary for building more complex computations. These protocols ensure privacy throughout the computation.

• Programming Model: JIFF provides an API for developers to write MPC applications using a familiar programming style. You define the computation logic, and JIFF handles the underlying cryptographic operations to execute it securely.

• Applications: JIFF can be used in various scenarios where privacy is paramount, such as secure statistical analysis, privacy-preserving machine learning, and secure auctions.

• JavaScript Implementation: Being implemented in JavaScript makes JIFF readily deployable in web browsers and Node.js environments.

• Security Considerations: Like all MPC frameworks, JIFF's security relies on certain assumptions about the underlying cryptographic primitives and the behavior of the parties involved. Proper use and understanding of these assumptions are crucial for deploying secure applications. For example, it usually assumes an honest-majority setting (more than half of the parties are honest) depending on the specific setup or protocol used.