Secret sharing (also called secret splitting) refers to method for distributing a secret amongst a group of participants, each of whom is allocated a share of the secret. The secret can be reconstructed only when a sufficient number, of possibly different types, of shares are combined together; individual shares are of no use on their own.
In one type of secret sharing scheme there is one dealer and n players. The dealer gives a share of the secret to the players, but only when specific conditions are fulfilled will the players be able to reconstruct the secret from their shares. The dealer accomplishes this by giving each player a share in such a way that any group of t (for threshold) or more players can together reconstruct the secret but no group of fewer than t players can. Such a system is called a (t, n)-threshold scheme (sometimes it is written as an (n, t)-threshold scheme).
Secret sharing was invented independently by Adi Shamir and George Blakley in 1979.
Read more about Secret Sharing: Importance of Secret Sharing Schemes, An Example Secret Sharing Scheme, Limitations of Secret Sharing Schemes, Trivial Secret Sharing, A t ≠ N Example, Shamir's Scheme, Blakley's Scheme, Using The Chinese Remainder Theorem, Proactive Secret Sharing, Verifiable Secret Sharing, Computationally Secure Secret Sharing, Other Uses and Applications
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A secret virtue bringing peace and mirth
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—George Herbert (1593–1633)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)