How to Obfuscate Computer Programs Mathematically?

Program obfuscation aims to compile computer programs into unintelligible ones while preserving functionality. It is a fascinating and powerful object that has been shown to enable a host of new cryptographic goals and beyond. However, constructions of program obfuscation schemes had remained elusive for over four decades until recently. In this talk, we will introduce indistinguishability obfuscation, a mathematical notion of program obfuscation, and show how to achieve this notion based on three well-founded hardness assumptions, without relying on any heuristics.