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Certificate Transparency is an application of blockchain that isn't a scam!

Nextgrid 4y ago
Is it even a blockchain in the cryptocurrency sense of the word? It's a chain of trust where every addition cryptographically signs the previous entry (to prevent the database from being modified retroactively) but as far as I know there's no "mining" process nor decentralization - the log is still controlled by a central entity.
- theK 4y ago
  Not sure if the parent author meant a specific company or was just referring to the general domain of certificate verification. There are certificate verification projects in the blockchain space that go beyond what you describe.
  - TheDong 4y ago
    The parent post capitalized Certificate Transparency, so they probably meant the Certificate Transparency project, as described here: https://certificate.transparency.dev/ https://certificate.transparency.dev/ I hadn't seen any of these blockchain projects that try to provide a similar audit log for issued certificates that you reference... mind naming them? Particularly any that can actually be used?
TheDong 4y ago
Certificate transparency only uses a blockchain if you redefine a blockchain to mean "any use of a merkle tree", which is all certificate transparency logs are. You will notice the certificate transparency website makes zero mentions of blockchain anywhere: https://certificate.transparency.dev/howctworks/ https://certificate.transparency.dev/howctworks/ What a blockchain normally means is something that has added some sort of attempt at solving the two generals problem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Generals%27_Problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Generals%27_Problem), as the original bitcoin whitepaper outlined. That is to say, blockchains have a consensus mechanism to resolve multiple writers, with some of those being potentially untrusted. If Certificate Transparency is a blockchain, than so are the zfs filesystem (which also uses a merkle tree internally), git, and dynamodb.
- gregjor 4y ago
  Yeah but those aren't called blockchain!

Is it even a blockchain in the cryptocurrency sense of the word? It's a chain of trust where every addition cryptographically signs the previous entry (to prevent the database from being modified retroactively) but as far as I know there's no "mining" process nor decentralization - the log is still controlled by a central entity.

theK 4y ago
Not sure if the parent author meant a specific company or was just referring to the general domain of certificate verification. There are certificate verification projects in the blockchain space that go beyond what you describe.
- TheDong 4y ago
  The parent post capitalized Certificate Transparency, so they probably meant the Certificate Transparency project, as described here: https://certificate.transparency.dev/ https://certificate.transparency.dev/ I hadn't seen any of these blockchain projects that try to provide a similar audit log for issued certificates that you reference... mind naming them? Particularly any that can actually be used?

TheDong 4y ago

Certificate transparency only uses a blockchain if you redefine a blockchain to mean "any use of a merkle tree", which is all certificate transparency logs are. You will notice the certificate transparency website makes zero mentions of blockchain anywhere: https://certificate.transparency.dev/howctworks/ https://certificate.transparency.dev/howctworks/ What a blockchain normally means is something that has added some sort of attempt at solving the two generals problem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Generals%27_Problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Generals%27_Problem), as the original bitcoin whitepaper outlined. That is to say, blockchains have a consensus mechanism to resolve multiple writers, with some of those being potentially untrusted. If Certificate Transparency is a blockchain, than so are the zfs filesystem (which also uses a merkle tree internally), git, and dynamodb.

gregjor 4y ago
Yeah but those aren't called blockchain!