Enabling User-Accountable Mechanisms in Decision Systems

Decision systems are at the core of our democratic and meritocratic processes. In fact, systems for voting, procurement, grant management, and competitive examinations all rest on submission, evaluation, and ranking. Computer assistance is becoming a critical part of modern decision systems and so are cybersecurity challenges. As decision systems get increasingly complex, the classic approach of enforcing security through fail-safe mechanisms preventing cybersecurity attacks becomes infeasible. A recent trend in cybersecurity is to disincentivize potential attacks by using deterrence-based mechanisms that make stakeholders accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, using such mechanisms requires knowledge of the underlying technology, which is not accessible to all people. In this project, we look at ways to extend decision systems with user-accountable mechanisms that enable users to verify correct executions and provide dispute resolution capabilities by combining cryptographic techniques for human senses with advanced cryptographic protocols. If successful, this project will provide novel ways to secure decision systems by creating disincentivizing mechanisms that are accessible to any human user.