SECRET SETS AND APPLICATIONS

This paper introduces the notion of a secret set - a basic construct f or communication with groups of mutually suspicious entities. A set is secret if any entity can test its membership in the set but can deter mine neither the other set members nor the cardinality of the set. A n umber of possible secret set constructions are presented, analyzed and contrasted according to criteria such as: security (strength) as well as bandwidth and processing overheads. Example applications of secret sets are discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.