SSSS is a UNIX implementation of Shamir's secret sharing scheme, allowing for the secure splitting of confidential information between multiple parties.
As a software program, the ssss project offers an efficient implementation of Shamir's secret sharing scheme specifically designed for UNIX systems. Cryptography experts are aware that implementing a secret sharing scheme involves the distribution of a secret among a group of participants, with each person receiving a share of the secret. It is only the combination of these individual shares that enables the reconstruction of the original secret.
Moreover, secret sharing schemes usually involve a dealer and n players, where the dealer exclusively provides the players with the secret. However, the dealer stipulates specific prerequisites that must be fulfilled before access is granted. The dealer distributes each player's shares to ensure that any group of t or more players can collaborate to reconstruct the secret while groups of less than t players cannot perform this task. This mechanism is widely known as a (t, n)-threshold scheme.
The software package leverages polynomial interpolation, also known as Lagrange interpolation, to implement threshold schemes effectively. The inventor of this method, Adi Shamir, invented the technique in 1979, and he has since improved the standard to ensure more robust security. Users can also experiment with threshold schemes on the demo page to understand the robustness that comes with this mechanism.
Notably, Shamir's scheme is provable secure, meaning that attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in the system are highly unlikely. A (t, n) scheme guarantees that attackers will not obtain any advantage, even when they have t-1 valid shares at their disposal. Simply put, it is virtually impossible for an attacker with fewer than t shares to guess the secret correctly.
This latest version of the software features two important additions. Firstly, there is memory locking capable of preventing unauthorized access to data. Secondly, the package offers TTY echo suppression, which ensures that highly sensitive data input remains private. Additionally, the latest release features a fix to the buffer overflow condition.
Moreover, secret sharing schemes usually involve a dealer and n players, where the dealer exclusively provides the players with the secret. However, the dealer stipulates specific prerequisites that must be fulfilled before access is granted. The dealer distributes each player's shares to ensure that any group of t or more players can collaborate to reconstruct the secret while groups of less than t players cannot perform this task. This mechanism is widely known as a (t, n)-threshold scheme.
The software package leverages polynomial interpolation, also known as Lagrange interpolation, to implement threshold schemes effectively. The inventor of this method, Adi Shamir, invented the technique in 1979, and he has since improved the standard to ensure more robust security. Users can also experiment with threshold schemes on the demo page to understand the robustness that comes with this mechanism.
Notably, Shamir's scheme is provable secure, meaning that attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in the system are highly unlikely. A (t, n) scheme guarantees that attackers will not obtain any advantage, even when they have t-1 valid shares at their disposal. Simply put, it is virtually impossible for an attacker with fewer than t shares to guess the secret correctly.
This latest version of the software features two important additions. Firstly, there is memory locking capable of preventing unauthorized access to data. Secondly, the package offers TTY echo suppression, which ensures that highly sensitive data input remains private. Additionally, the latest release features a fix to the buffer overflow condition.
What's New
Version 0.5: N/A