Unknowable Math Can Help Hide Secrets

(quantamagazine.org)

37 points | by Xcelerate 3 days ago

3 comments

  • ksd482 2 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 “un-generatable” ?

    • HoldOnAMinute 2 hours ago

      How is this not security through obscurity?

      • majorchord 1 hour ago

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

        It's only secure until someone figures it out.

      • zb3 1 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 27 minutes ago

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

          • newsicanuse 44 minutes ago

            Typical of Quanta magazine