Protocols for The Meeting Businessmen Problem

Abstract

Assume that some businessmen wish to have a meeting. For this to occur, they usuallyhave to meet somewhere. If they cannot meet physically, then they can take part in a video (oraudio) conference to discuss whatever needs to be discussed. But what if their meeting is meant tobe private? In this case they need a cryptographic protocol that allows them to exchange their ideasremotely, while keeping them secure from any potential eavesdropper. In this paper we list all thenecessary requirements that a cryptographic protocol must have in order to allow several businessmento exchange their ideas securely over the Internet. Moreover, and based on the standard taxonomy ofcryptographic protocols, we suggest several approaches on how to design cryptographic protocols thatenable us to achieve our aim. Finally, we propose the design of a protocol that solves the meetingbusinessmen problem.