[1381] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: distributed virtual bank
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (James A. Donald)
Fri Aug 29 11:49:58 1997
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 17:10:17 -0700 (PDT)
To: tzeruch@ceddec.com, Adam Back <aba@dcs.ex.ac.uk>
From: "James A. Donald" <jamesd@echeque.com>
Cc: cryptography@c2.net
At 12:35 PM 8/27/97 -0400, tzeruch@ceddec.com wrote:
> The only problem I see is that once one node has the n of k in the simple
> protocols, they have the secret. You need *distributed* N of K secret
> splitting such that for whatever function (e.g. signing blinded coins,
> processing electronic cheques) the Nth node can accomplish the function
> without being able to reconstruct the secret. There are anti-cheating
> protocols too, but I haven't researched them.
Schneier's protocols for voting all involved a trusted central authority,
which is a pain,because the central authority is usually the one you
have least reason to trust.
There are theoretical reasons to believe a protocol is possible that
does not require a trusted central authority, but I have not seen
it yet.
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