An often asked question is “how can I get started with MPC (secure multiparty computation)”? I have compiled a select few resources here for studying MPC, with a focus on getting started. This resource is in no way comprehensive, and I am sure that many great resources are missing. If you know of a resource that is missing (yours or someone elses), please send it to me and I’ll happily add it.

Books

Books are always the best way to get started, since they provide a holistic presentation of the field. The following books on MPC all teach a different aspect, and are all helpful:

• David Evans, Vladimir Kolesnikov and Mike Rosulek. A Pragmatic Introduction to Secure Multi-Party Computation, NOW Publishers, 2018. This short book contains a friendly introduction and comprehensive survey of techniques for achieving efficient secure computation. The book does not go into details regarding each technique and does not provide proofs. However, it gives a fantastic overview and pointers to where you can find all of the details. As such, it is an invaluable resource.
• Ronald Cramer, Ivan Damgård and Jesper Buus Nielsen. Secure Multiparty Computation and Secret Sharing, Cambridge University Press, 2015. This book includes definitions, constructions for both the computational and information theoretic settings, techniques for efficiency, and more. This is the most comprehensive treatment of the basics of MPC, and I recommend reading it methodically from the beginning.
• Carmit Hazay and Yehuda Lindell. Efficient Secure Two-Party Protocols: Techniques and Constructions, Springer, 2010. This book focuses specifically on the two-party case and efficiency. It includes definitions, general constructions based on the garbled circuit technique, and chapters on specific tools like oblivious transfer, sigma protocols, and more. The specific techniques for general constructions are outdated (with must faster techniques available today), but the text is very relevant for study and includes basic results like a full proof of the security of Yao’s garbled circuits construction.
• Oded Goldreich. Foundations of Cryptography Vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, 2004. Chapter 7 of the book introduces two-party and multiparty computation, contains a thorough and comprehensive definitional treatment, provides a full and detailed proof of the GMW construction, and surveys advanced topics. The book’s formal and rigorous treatment makes it a must-read for the MPC researcher.
• Thomas Schneider. Engineering Secure Two-Party Computation Protocols, Springer, 2012. This book focuses specifically tools for optimizing secure computation in practice, including circuit optimizations, frameworks for constructing protocols, and more. The book provides a very good overview of different techniques and tools that MPC researchers should be familiar with.
• Ashish Choudhury and Arpita Patra. Secure Multi-Party Computation Against Passive Adversaries, Springer, 2022. This book covers MPC for the case of passive (semi-honest) adversaries. It serves as a good introduction to fundamental feasibility results (information theoretic and computational), as well as showing techniques for constructing more efficient protocols.

Video Tutorials

Videos are often a more friendly way of getting started in the field. There are many talks that you can find online. Here, I have tried to compile series of talks that cover the basics or are tutorials in nature.

• The 1st BIU Winter School on Secure Computation and Efficiency, 2011. This series of lectures covers the very basics of secure computation and as such is a useful tool. YouTube playlist
• The 5th BIU Winter School on Advances in Practical Multiparty Computation, 2015. This series of lectures begins with tutorials and includes many more advanced techniques. YouTube playlist
• The 12th BIU Winter School on Advances in Practical Multiparty Computation, 2022. This series of lectures covers advanced techniques. YouTube playlist
• Ran Canetti. The Universal Composability Framework, 2016. This series of tutorials introduces the universal composability framework in detail.

Survey Papers

• Yehuda Lindell. Secure Multiparty Computation (MPC), Communications of the ACM, January 2021. This is a general and friendly introduction to secure multiparty computation – what it is, how it works, and what it is used for.
• Yehuda Lindell. How to Simulate It – A Tutorial on the Simulation Proof Technique, 2016. The simulation paradigm is fundamental to secure computation. However, many have difficulties in understanding how to write simulation proofs. This tutorial explains this proof technique in great detail.
• Manoj Prabhakaran and Amit Sahai (Eds.). Secure Multi-Party Computation, IOS Press, 2013. This is a compilation of surveys on the topic of multiparty computation. It focuses on theoretical aspects and is highly useful for those wishing to study the theory of MPC.

Other

• A compilation of MPC resources maintained by Dragos Rotaru
• Getting started with practical secure computation by Mike Rosulek
• Lectures and scribe notes (including references to papers) from a course by Jonathan Katz on Secure Computation
• Lectures on MPC (and many other topics) at the Simons Institute Bootcamp on Cryptography