Bernardo Luís Portela

Currently, I am a fourth year Ph.D. student under the MAPi doctoral programme, and a researcher at HASLab/INESC TEC, working for project SafeCloud and NanoSTIMA. I hold a M.Sc. thesis in Informatics Engineering from University of Minho.My research interests are cryptography and information security, more specifically regarding secure multiparty computation protocols relying on trusted hardware. The goal of my Ph.D. project is to improve the implementation of high-assurance multiparty computation protocols, by bridging the gap between rigorous theoretical security models and efficient practical implementations. Relevant contributions in this context include the first provable security approach for formalizing security guarantees of Isolated Execution Environments (IEEs), and the first general approach to implementing MPC protocols using IEE-enabled systems.

Domains

High-Assurance Software Computer Science and Engineering

Projects

SafeCloud

Despite all their advantages and importance to the competitiveness of modern economies, cloud infrastructures raise fundamental questions related to the privacy, integrity, and security of offsite data storage and processing tasks. There are major privacy and security concerns about data located in the cloud. These concerns are currently not addressed satisfactorily by existing technologies.

THEIA

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Publications

Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning on Apache Spark

Brito, CV;Ferreira, PG;Portela, BL;Oliveira, RC;Paulo, JT;

2023

IEEE ACCESS

A Provable Security Treatment of Isolated Execution Environments and Applications to Secure Computation

Portela, B;

2018

General-Purpose Secure Conflict-free Replicated Data Types

Portela, B;Pacheco, H;Jorge, P;Pontes, R;

2023

2023 IEEE 36TH COMPUTER SECURITY FOUNDATIONS SYMPOSIUM, CSF

Soteria: Preserving Privacy in Distributed Machine Learning

Brito, C;Ferreira, P;Portela, B;Oliveira, R;Paulo, J;

2023

38TH ANNUAL ACM SYMPOSIUM ON APPLIED COMPUTING, SAC 2023

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Supervised theses

CAPE-KIDS: Cognitive and Physical Evaluation for Kids' Integrated Development and Success

Matheus Rodrigues Felizardo

M - 2024

UP-FEUP

Centres

High-Assurance Software

At the High-Assurance Software Laboratory (HASLab), we improve practice through theory, creating and implementing software that goes beyond mere functionality: we ensure it is correct, resilient, and secure against failures and attacks. Our team of researchers, scientists, and engineers has proven expertise in software engineering, developing methods and tools to design and integrate robust software; in distributed systems, exploring distribution and replication to ensure scalability and reliability; and in information security, addressing cybersecurity challenges and improving systems with advanced, secure cryptographic protocols, thus minimising vulnerabilities. With a multidisciplinary approach supported by solid theoretical principles, we develop innovative solutions for critical software, secure cloud infrastructures, and privacy-aware big data management, driving scientific advancement, innovation, and high-level consultancy. In addition, we complement our core expertise with work in human-computer interaction, programming languages, computational mathematics, and quantum computing - because we believe the future of trustworthy software is built on knowledge and innovation.