Unknowable Math Can Help Hide Secrets

(quantamagazine.org)

37 points | by Xcelerate 4 days ago ago

6 comments

  • ksd482 3 hours ago

    Is the approach analogous to one way hash? But with mathematical statements?

    Given that they can’t be proven, so it’s effectively unpredictable and ā€œun-generatableā€ ?

  • HoldOnAMinute 2 hours ago

    How is this not security through obscurity?

    • majorchord an hour ago

      If math is STO then I would argue passwords are also STO.

      It's only secure until someone figures it out.

  • zb3 an hour ago

    > to create a powerful new tool in cryptography.

    What is that new powerful tool in cryptography, then?

    > He wanted to build zero-knowledge proofs that weren’t interactive. Thirty years earlier, Goldreich and Oren had established that such proofs are impossible.

    I'm not sure what "interactive" means here, but I thought ZK-SNARKs were already non-interactive.

    It seems the article has nothing to do with anything practical..

    • calmbonsai 25 minutes ago

      You are correct. I suspect Quanta just needed some sort of "math filler".

    • newsicanuse 43 minutes ago

      Typical of Quanta magazine