Unknowable Math Can Help Hide Secrets

(quantamagazine.org)

34 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 1 hour 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 46 minutes 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 6 minutes ago
      You are correct. I suspect Quanta just needed some sort of "math filler".
    • newsicanuse 24 minutes ago
      Typical of Quanta magazine