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
Famous quotes containing the words secret and/or sharing:
“Don’t let him know she liked them best,
For this must ever be
A secret kept from all the rest,
Between yourself and me.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“By sharing the information and observations with the caregiver, you have a chance to see your child through another pair of eyes. Because she has some distance and objectivity, a caregiver often sees things that a parent’s total involvement with her child doesn’t allow.”
—Amy Laura Dombro (20th century)