How to share a secret

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:15:38 +0000

“How to Share a Secret” is the title of paper written in 1979 by Adi Shamir (best known for his work on the RSA algorithm). The paper describes a method for dividing information in smaller pieces so that the knowledge of all but one of the pieces gives absolutely no information about the original information. Quoting the author:

This technique enables the construction of robust key management schemes for cryptographic systems that can function securely and reliably even when misfortunes destroy half the pieces and security breaches expose all but one of the remaining pieces.

Decryption on Bruno Pedro

How to share a secret