3 ms·

AFAIK, zero-knowledge proofs allow you to prove that you know something without revealing what it is you know. For example, verifying you know a password, but w

AFAIK, zero-knowledge proofs allow you to prove that you know something without revealing what it is you know. For example, verifying you know a password, but without having to send the password to the server, so a malicious server or MitM wouldn't be able to sniff it. It also might provide better options for identity verification, i.e. proving you have a certain government-issued ID but without actually leaking the document to the server (for it to be stored "for a maximum of 2 years / 3 years / 6 months / etc." but then leaked in a data breach anyway).

dumbo-octopus 3y ago
Secure password verification does not require anything close to what we mean when we refer to modern "zero knowledge proofs". A better example would be verifying you know the answer to a SAT problem without sharing the answer. Which is of... limited.. practical application.
- LoganDark 3y ago
  I never said it required ZKP.
  - dumbo-octopus 3y ago
    You implied it would be a helpful tool for soling that particular problem, which is to dramatically misrepresent their utility to the parent asking for concrete examples of their relevance.
    - LoganDark 3y ago
      It's just the analogy I use to understand ZKPs myself, since I haven't done a ton of research into them yet. It's also why I think ZKPs are cool, so it was my response to a comment asking why people think ZKPs are cool.
- vlovich123 3y ago
  ZK proofs could be used to implement secure cloud computing where a total compromise of a vendor’s machines / network wouldn’t in any way compromise the customers running workloads on that network.
  - dumbo-octopus 3y ago
    Perhaps. But if someone cares that much about data access control, they can very easily manage a rack in house (they probably already do), and do the compute on that. Paying someone else to do orders of magnitude more work than strictly needed when you have private enough data to justify just buying a server (again, you already have one) is a very hard sell. It could maybe, possibly be justified if the workload is highly burstable, but... even then, it's hard to come up with numbers that make sense.
  - LoganDark 3y ago
    Is homomorphic encryption a type of ZKP or is it a different thing entirely?
    - vlovich123 3y ago
      Good question. I found [1] but I’m not a cryptographer so I may have made mistake because they’re so closely related. It sounds like homomorphic encryption is the strong aspect. ZKP are used in securing chats in Signal for example: https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/1416.pdf https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/1416.pdf [1] https://crypto.stackexchange.com/questions/57747/what-is-the-link-if-any-between-zero-knowledge-proof-zkp-and-homomorphic-enc https://crypto.stackexchange.com/questions/57747/what-is-the...

dumbo-octopus 3y ago

Secure password verification does not require anything close to what we mean when we refer to modern "zero knowledge proofs". A better example would be verifying you know the answer to a SAT problem without sharing the answer. Which is of... limited.. practical application.

LoganDark 3y ago
I never said it required ZKP.
- dumbo-octopus 3y ago
  You implied it would be a helpful tool for soling that particular problem, which is to dramatically misrepresent their utility to the parent asking for concrete examples of their relevance.
  - LoganDark 3y ago
    It's just the analogy I use to understand ZKPs myself, since I haven't done a ton of research into them yet. It's also why I think ZKPs are cool, so it was my response to a comment asking why people think ZKPs are cool.
vlovich123 3y ago
ZK proofs could be used to implement secure cloud computing where a total compromise of a vendor’s machines / network wouldn’t in any way compromise the customers running workloads on that network.
- dumbo-octopus 3y ago
  Perhaps. But if someone cares that much about data access control, they can very easily manage a rack in house (they probably already do), and do the compute on that. Paying someone else to do orders of magnitude more work than strictly needed when you have private enough data to justify just buying a server (again, you already have one) is a very hard sell. It could maybe, possibly be justified if the workload is highly burstable, but... even then, it's hard to come up with numbers that make sense.
- LoganDark 3y ago
  Is homomorphic encryption a type of ZKP or is it a different thing entirely?
  - vlovich123 3y ago
    Good question. I found [1] but I’m not a cryptographer so I may have made mistake because they’re so closely related. It sounds like homomorphic encryption is the strong aspect. ZKP are used in securing chats in Signal for example: https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/1416.pdf https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/1416.pdf [1] https://crypto.stackexchange.com/questions/57747/what-is-the-link-if-any-between-zero-knowledge-proof-zkp-and-homomorphic-enc https://crypto.stackexchange.com/questions/57747/what-is-the...