How to Let Everyone Keep a Secret
The article discusses a method for sharing secrets without revealing them to individuals. It explains Shamir's Secret Sharing, a technique developed by Adi Shamir in 1979, which allows a secret to be divided into parts that can only be reconstructed when a certain number of parts are combined. The concept is illustrated using geometric equations to demonstrate how multiple points can be used to derive a secret value.
- ▪Shamir's Secret Sharing allows secrets to be divided into parts for secure sharing.
- ▪At least two points are needed to reconstruct the secret from the shared parts.
- ▪The method can be extended to require more participants for unlocking the secret.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
How To Let Everyone Keep A Secret No comments by: Al Williams May 28, 2026 Title: Copy Short Link: Copy Someone calls you at work and says, “Don’t tell anyone, but…” If you are like most people, there are one or two people you will pass it along to with the same admonishment. In fact, they are probably repeating it from someone else, and you are on their list of two people. So for really big secrets, you need a way to spread the secret out so that no one has any real information about the secret, but a certain number of people together can decode it. As [neeaj] explains in a recent post about Shamir’s Secret Sharing, [Adi Shamir] (the S in RSA encryption) devised a way to do this very well in 1979, and the core concept is very easy to understand. The explanation works with geometry.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Hackaday.
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