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The security of knowing nothing

Nature volume 446, pages 992–993 (2007)Cite this article

A Correction to this article was published on 02 May 2007

'Zero-knowledge' proofs are all about knowing more, while knowing nothing. When married to cryptographic techniques, they are one avenue being explored towards improving the security of online transactions.

Modern scientists, not unlike medieval monks, keep their knowledge firmly grounded in trust and authority. Unless it is part of their job description to probe such matters, they take it on faith that Genghis Khan defeated the Khwarezmid Empire, that praying mantids moonlight as sexual cannibals, and that man landed on the Moon. There is only so much a person can check: trust is the oxygen of the scientific community.

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  1. Bernard Chazelle is in the Department of Computer Science, Princeton University, 35 Olden Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540-5233, USA. chazelle@cs.princeton.edu,

    Bernard Chazelle

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  1. Bernard Chazelle
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Chazelle, B. The security of knowing nothing. Nature 446, 992–993 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/446992a

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