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1 \documentclass{article} |
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2 \usepackage{../style} |
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3 |
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4 \begin{document} |
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5 \fnote{\copyright{} Christian Urban, King's College London, 2014, 2015} |
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6 |
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7 \section*{Handout 6 (Zero-Knowledge Proofs)} |
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8 |
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9 Zero-knowledge proofs (short ZKP) solve a paradoxical puzzle: |
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10 How to convince somebody else that one knows a secret, without |
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11 revealing what the secret actually is? This sounds like a |
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12 problem the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland would occupy |
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13 himself with, but actually there some serious and not so |
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14 serious applications of it. For example, if you solve |
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15 crosswords with your friend, say Bob, you might want to |
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16 convince him that you found a solution for one question, but |
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17 of course you do not want to reveal the solution, as this |
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18 might give Bob an advantage somewhere else in the crossword. |
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19 |
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20 So how to convince Bob that you know the answer (or a secret)? |
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21 One way would be to come up with the following protocol: |
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22 Suppose the answer is \textit{folio}. Then look up the |
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23 definition of \textit{folio} in a dictionary. Say you find: |
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24 |
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25 \begin{quote} |
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26 ``an \textit{individual} leaf of paper or parchment, either |
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27 loose as one of a series or forming part of a bound volume, |
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28 which is numbered on the recto or front side only.'' |
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29 \end{quote} |
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30 |
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31 \noindent |
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32 Take the first non-small word\footnote{Let's say the, a, an, |
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33 or, and \ldots fall into the category of small words.} in this definition, |
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34 in this case \textit{individual}, and look up the definition |
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35 of this word, say |
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36 |
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37 \begin{quote} |
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38 ``a single \textit{human} being as distinct from a group'' |
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39 \end{quote} |
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40 |
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41 \noindent |
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42 In this definition take the second non-small word, that |
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43 is \textit{human}, and again look up the definition of this |
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44 word. This will yield |
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45 |
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46 \begin{quote} |
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47 ``relating to or \textit{characteristic} of humankind'' |
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48 \end{quote} |
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49 |
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50 \noindent |
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51 You could go on looking up the definition of the third |
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52 non-small word in this definition and so on. But let us assume |
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53 you agreed with Bob to stop after three iterations with the |
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54 third non-article word in the last definition, that is |
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55 \textit{or}. Now, instead of sending to Bob the solution |
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56 \textit{folio}, you send to him \textit{characteristic}. |
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57 |
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58 How can Bob verify that you know the solution? Well, once he |
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59 solved it himself, he can use the dictionary and follow the |
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60 same ``trail'' as you did. If the final word agrees with what |
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61 you had sent him, he must infer you knew the solution earlier |
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62 than him. This protocol works like a one-way hash function |
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63 because \textit{characteristic} does not give any hint as to |
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64 what was the first word was. I leave you to think why this |
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65 protocol avoids small words? |
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66 |
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67 After Bob found his solution and verified that according to |
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68 the protocol it ``maps'' also to \textit{characteristic}, can |
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69 he be entirely sure no cheating is going on? Not with 100\% |
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70 certainty. It could have been possible that he was given |
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71 \textit{characteristic} as the word, but it derived from a |
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72 different word. This might seem very unlikely, but at least |
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73 theoretical it is a possibility. Protocols based on |
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74 zero-knowledge proofs will produce a similar result---they |
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75 give an answer that might be erroneous in a very small number |
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76 of cases. The point is to iterate them long enough so that the |
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77 theoretical possibility of cheating is negligibly small. |
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78 |
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79 By the way, the authors of the paper ``Dismantling Megamos |
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80 Crypto: Wirelessly Lockpicking a Vehicle Immobilizer'' who |
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81 were barred from publishing their results used also a hash to |
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82 prove they did the work and (presumably) managed to get into |
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83 cars without a key; see Figure~\ref{paper}. This is very |
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84 similar to the method above about crosswords: They like to |
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85 prove that they did the work, but not giving out the |
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86 ``solution''. But this also shows what the problem with such a |
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87 method is: yes, we can hide the secret temporarily, but if |
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88 somebody else wants to verify it, then the secret has to be |
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89 made public. Bob needs to know that \textit{folio} is the |
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90 solution before he can verify the claim of Alice that she had |
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91 the solution first. Similarly with the car-crypto paper: we |
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92 needed to wait until September 2015 when the authors were |
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93 finally able to publish their findings in order to verify the |
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94 hash. Zero-knowledge proofs, in contrast, can be immediately |
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95 checked, even if the secret is not public yet and perhaps |
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96 never will be. |
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97 |
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98 \begin{figure} |
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99 \begin{center} |
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100 \addtolength{\fboxsep}{4mm} |
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101 \fbox{\includegraphics[scale=0.4]{../pics/Dismantling_Megamos_Crypto.png}} |
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102 \end{center} |
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103 \caption{The authors of this paper used a hash in order to prove |
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104 later that they have managed to break into cars.\label{paper}} |
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105 \end{figure} |
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106 |
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107 |
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108 \subsubsection*{ZKP: An Illustrative Example} |
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109 |
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110 The idea behind zero-knowledge proofs is not very obvious and |
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111 will surely take some time for you to digest. Therefore let us |
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112 start with a simple illustrative example. The example will not |
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113 be perfect, but hopefully explain the gist of the idea. The |
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114 example is called Alibaba's cave, which graphically looks as |
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115 follows:\footnote{The example is taken from an |
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116 article titled ``How to Explain Zero-Knowledge Protocols |
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117 to Your Children'' available from |
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118 \url{http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~mkowalcz/628.pdf}.} |
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119 |
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120 \begin{center} |
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121 \begin{tabular}{c@{\hspace{8mm}}c@{\hspace{8mm}}c} |
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122 \includegraphics[scale=0.1]{../pics/alibaba1.png} & |
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123 \includegraphics[scale=0.1]{../pics/alibaba2.png} & |
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124 \includegraphics[scale=0.1]{../pics/alibaba3.png} \\ |
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125 Step 1 & Step 2 & Step 3 |
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126 \end{tabular} |
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127 \end{center} |
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128 |
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129 \noindent Let us take a closer look at the picture in Step 1: |
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130 The cave has a tunnel which forks at some point. Both forks |
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131 are connected in a loop. At the deep end of the loop is a |
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132 magic wand. The point of the magic wand is that Alice knows |
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133 the secret word for how to open it. She wants to keep the word |
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134 secret, but wants to convince Bob that she knows it. |
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135 |
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136 One way of course would be to let Bob follow her, but then he |
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137 would also find out the secret. So this does not work. To find |
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138 a solution, let us first fix the rules: At the beginning Alice |
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139 and Bob are outside the cave. Alice goes in alone and takes |
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140 either tunnel labelled $A$ in the picture, or the other tunnel |
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141 labelled $B$. She waits at the magic wand for the instructions |
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142 from Bob, who also goes into the gave and observes what |
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143 happens at the fork. He has no knowledge which tunnel Alice |
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144 took and calls out (in Step 2) that she should emerge from tunnel |
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145 $A$, for example. If she knows the secret for opening the |
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146 wand, this will not be a problem for Alice. If she was already |
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147 in the $A$-segment of the tunnel, then she just comes back. If |
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148 she was in the $B$-segment of the tunnel she will say the magic |
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149 word and goes through the wand to emerge from $A$ as requested |
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150 by Bob. |
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151 |
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152 Let us have a look at the case where Alice cheats, that is not |
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153 knows the secret. She would still go into the cave and use, |
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154 for example the $B$-segment of the tunnel. If now Bob says she |
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155 should emerge from $B$, she is lucky. But if he says she |
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156 should emerge from $A$ then Alice is in trouble: Bob will find |
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157 out she does not actually know the secret. So in order to fool |
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158 Bob she needs to anticipate his call, and already go into the |
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159 corresponding tunnel. This of course also does not work, since |
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160 Bob can make any call he wants. Consequently in order to find |
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161 out whether Alice cheats, Bob just needs to repeat this |
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162 protocol many times. Each time Alice has a chance of |
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163 $\frac{1}{2}$ to be lucky or being found out. Iterating this |
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164 $n$ times means she must be right every time and when |
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165 cheating: the probability for this is $\frac{1}{2}^n$, number |
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166 that for already relatively small $n$, say 10, is incredibly |
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167 small. |
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168 |
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169 |
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170 There are some interesting observations we can make about |
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171 Alibaba's cave and the ZKP protocol between Alice and Bob: |
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172 |
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173 \begin{itemize} |
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174 \item {\bf Completeness} If Alice knows the secret, Bob |
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175 accepts Alice ``proof'' for sure. There is no error |
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176 possible in that Bob thinks Alice cheats when she |
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177 actually knows the secret. |
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178 \item {\bf Soundness} If Alice does not know the secret, |
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179 Bob accepts her ``proof'' with a very small probability. |
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180 If, as in the example above, the probability of being |
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181 able to hide cheating is $\frac{1}{2}$ in each round |
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182 it will be $\frac{1}{2}^n$ after $n$-rounds, which even |
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183 for small $n$ say $> 10$ is very small indeed. |
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184 \item {\bf Zero-Knowledge} Even if Bob accepts |
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185 the proof by Alice, he cannot convince anybody else. |
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186 \end{itemize} |
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187 |
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188 \noindent The last property is the most interesting one. |
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189 Assume Alice has convinced Bob that she knows the secret and |
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190 Bob filmed the whole protocol with a camera. Can he use the |
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191 video to convince anybody else? After a moment of thought, you |
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192 will agree that this is not the case. Alice and Bob might have |
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193 just made it all up and colluded by Bob telling Alice |
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194 beforehand which tunnel he will call. In this way it appears |
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195 as if all iterations of the protocol were successful, but they |
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196 prove nothing. If another person wants to find out whether |
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197 Alice knows the secret, he or she would have to conduct the |
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198 protocol again. This is actually the formal definition of a |
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199 zero-knowledge proof: an independent observer cannot |
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200 distinguish between a real protocol (where Alice knows the |
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201 secret) and a fake one (where Bob and Alice colluded). |
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202 |
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203 |
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204 \subsubsection*{Using an Graph-Isomorphism Problem for ZKPs} |
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205 |
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206 Now the question is how can we translate Alibaba's cave into a |
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207 computer science solution? It turns out we need an NP problem |
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208 for that. The main feature of an NP problem is that it is |
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209 computational very hard to generate a solution, but it is very |
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210 easy to check whether a given solution indeed solves the |
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211 problem at hand.\footnote{The question whether $P = NP$ or not, |
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212 we leave to others to speculate about.} |
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213 |
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214 One NP problem is the \emph{graph isomorphism problem}. It |
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215 essentially determines whether the following two graphs, say |
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216 $G_1$ and $G_2$, can be moved and stretched so that they look |
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217 exactly the same. |
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218 |
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219 \begin{center} |
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220 \begin{tabular}{c@{\hspace{8mm}}c@{\hspace{8mm}}c} |
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221 $G_1$ & $G_2$\\ |
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222 \raisebox{-13mm}{\includegraphics[scale=0.4]{../pics/simple.png}} & |
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223 \raisebox{-13mm}{\includegraphics[scale=0.4]{../pics/simple-b.png}}& |
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224 |
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225 \footnotesize |
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226 \begin{tabular}{rl} |
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227 Graph $G_1$ & Graph $G_2$\\ |
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228 a & 1\\ |
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229 b & 6\\ |
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230 c & 8\\ |
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231 d & 3\\ |
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232 g & 5\\ |
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233 h & 2\\ |
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234 i & 4\\ |
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235 j & 7\\ |
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236 \end{tabular} |
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237 \end{tabular} |
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238 \end{center} |
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239 |
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240 \noindent The table on the right gives a mapping of the nodes |
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241 of the first graph to the nodes of the second. With this |
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242 mapping we can check: node $a$ is connected in $G_1$ with $g$, |
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243 $h$ and $i$. Node $a$ maps to node $1$ in $G_2$, which is |
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244 connected to $2$, $4$ and $5$, which again correspond via the |
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245 mapping to $h$, $i$ and $g$ respectively. Let us write |
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246 $\sigma$ for such a table and let us write |
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247 |
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248 \[G_1 = \sigma(G_2)\] |
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249 |
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250 \noindent for two isomorphic graphs ($\sigma$ being the |
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251 isomorphism). It is actually very easy to construct two |
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252 isomorphic graphs: Start with an arbitrary graph, re-label the |
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253 nodes consistently. Alice will need to do this frequently |
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254 for the protocol below. In order to be useful, we therefore |
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255 would need to consider substantially larger graphs, like |
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256 with thousand nodes. |
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257 |
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258 Now the secret which Alice tries to hide is the knowledge of |
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259 such an isomorphism $\sigma$ between two such graphs. But she |
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260 can convince Bob whether she knows such an isomorphism for two |
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261 graphs, say $G_1$ and $G_2$, using the same idea as in the |
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262 example with Alibaba's cave. For this Alice and Bob must |
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263 follow the following protocol: |
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264 |
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265 \begin{enumerate} |
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266 \item Alice generates an isomorphic graph $H$ which she sends |
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267 to Bob (in each iteration she needs to generate a |
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268 different $H$). |
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269 \item |
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270 After receiving $H$, Bob asks Alice either for an |
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271 isomorphism between $G_1$ and $H$, or $G_2$ and $H$. |
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272 \item Alice and Bob repeat this procedure $n$ times. |
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273 \end{enumerate} |
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274 |
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275 \noindent In Step 1 it is important that Alice always |
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276 generates a fresh isomorphic graph. I let you think what |
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277 would happen if Alice sends out twice the same graph $H$. |
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278 |
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279 As said before, this is relatively easy to generate by |
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280 consistently relabelling nodes. If she started from $G_1$, |
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281 Alice will have generated |
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282 |
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283 \begin{equation} |
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284 H = \sigma'(G_1)\label{hiso} |
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285 \end{equation} |
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286 |
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287 \noindent where $\sigma'$ is the isomorphism between $H$ and |
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288 $G_1$. But she could equally have started from $G_2$. In the |
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289 case where $G_1$ and $G_2$ are isomorphic, if $H$ is |
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290 isomorphic with $G_1$, it will also be isomorphic with |
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291 $G_2$, and vice versa. |
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292 |
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293 After generating $H$, Alice sends it to Bob. The important |
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294 point is that she needs to ``commit'' to this $H$, therefore |
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295 this kind of zero-knowledge protocols are called |
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296 \emph{commitment protocols}. Only after receiving $H$, Bob |
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297 will make up his mind about which isomorphism he asks |
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298 for---whether between $H$ and $G_1$ or $H$ and $G_2$. For this |
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299 he could flip a coin, since the choice should be as |
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300 unpredictable for Alice as possible. Once Alice receives the |
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301 request, she has to produce an isomorphism. If she generated |
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302 $H$ as shown in \eqref{hiso} and is asked for an isomorphism |
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303 between $H$ and $G_1$, she just sends $\sigma'$. If she had |
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304 been asked for an isomorphism between $H$ and $G_2$, she just |
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305 has to compose her secret isomorphism $\sigma$ and $\sigma'$. |
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306 The main point for the protocol is that even knowing the |
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307 isomorphism between $H$ and $G_1$ or $H$ and $G_2$, will not |
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308 make the task easier to find the isomorphism between $G_1$ and |
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309 $G_2$, which is the secret Alice tries to protect. |
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310 |
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311 In order to make it crystal clear how this protocol proceeds, |
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312 let us give a version using our more formal notation for |
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313 protocols: |
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314 |
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315 \begin{center} |
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316 \begin{tabular}{lrl} |
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317 0) & $A \to B:$ & $G_1$ and $G_2$\\ |
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318 1a) & $A \to B:$ & $H_1$ \\ |
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319 1b) & $B \to A:$ & produce isomorphism $G_1 \leftrightarrow H_1$? |
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320 \quad(or $G_2 \leftrightarrow H_1$)\\ |
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321 1c) & $A \to B:$ & requested isomorphism\\ |
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322 2a) & $A \to B:$ & $H_2$\\ |
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323 2b) & $B \to A:$ & produce isomorphism $G_1 \leftrightarrow H_2$? |
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324 \quad(or $G_2 \leftrightarrow H_2$)\\ |
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325 2c) & $A \to B:$ & requested isomorphism\\ |
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326 & \ldots\\ |
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327 \end{tabular} |
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328 \end{center} |
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329 |
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330 \noindent As can be seen the protocol runs for some |
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331 agreed number of iterations. The $H_i$ Alice needs to |
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332 produce, need to be all distinct. I hope you now know |
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333 why? |
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334 |
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335 It is also crucial that in each iteration, Alice first sends |
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336 $H_i$ and then Bob can decide which isomorphism he wants: |
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337 either $G_1 \leftrightarrow H_i$ or $G_2 \leftrightarrow H_i$. |
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338 If somehow Alice can find out before she committed to $H_i$, |
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339 she can cheat. For this assume Alice does \emph{not} know an |
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340 isomorphism between $G_1$ and $G_2$. If she knows which |
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341 isomorphism Bob will ask for she can craft $H$ in such a way |
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342 that it is isomorphism with either $G_1$ or $G_2$ (but it |
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343 cannot with both). Then in each case she would send Bob |
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344 a correct answer and he would come to the conclusion that |
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345 all is well. I let you also answer the question whether |
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346 such a protocol run between Alice and Bob would convince |
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347 a third person, say Pete. |
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348 |
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349 Since the interactive nature of the above PKZ protocol and the |
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350 correct ordering of the messages is so important for the |
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351 ``correctness'' of the protocol, it might look surprising that |
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352 the same goal can also me achieved in a completely offline |
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353 manner. By this I mean Alice can publish all data at once, and |
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354 then at a later time, Bob can inspect the data and come to the |
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355 conclusion whether or not Alice knows the secret (again |
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356 without actually learning about the secret). For this |
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357 Alice has to do the following: |
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358 |
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359 \begin{enumerate} |
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360 \item Alice generates $n$ isomorphic graphs |
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361 $H_{1..n}$ (they need to be all distinct) |
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362 \item she feeds the $H_{1..n}$ into a hashing function |
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363 (for example encoded as as matrix) |
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364 \item she takes the first $n$ bits of the output of the hashing |
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365 function: |
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366 whenever the output is $0$, she shows an isomorphism |
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367 with $G_1$; for $1$ she shows an isomorphism |
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368 with $G_2$ |
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369 \end{enumerate} |
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370 |
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371 \noindent The reason why this works and achieves the same |
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372 goal as the interactive variant is that Alice has no |
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373 control over the hashing function. It would be |
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374 computationally just too hard to assemble a set of |
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375 $H_{1..n}$ such that she can force where $0$s and $1$s |
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376 in the hash values are such that it would pass an external |
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377 test. The point is that Alice can publish all this data |
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378 on the comfort of her own web-page, for example, and |
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379 in this way convince everybody who bothers to check. |
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380 |
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381 The virtue of the use of graphs and isomorphism for a |
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382 zero-knowledge protocol is that the idea why it works |
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383 are relatively straightforward. The disadvantage is |
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384 that encoding any secret into a graph-isomorphism, while |
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385 possible, is awkward. The good news is that in fact |
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386 any NP problem can be used as part of a ZKP protocol. |
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387 |
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388 |
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389 \subsubsection*{Using Modular Logarithms for ZKP Protocols} |
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390 |
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391 While information can be encoded into graph isomorphisms, it |
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392 is not the most convenient carrier of information. Clearly it |
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393 is much easier to encode information into numbers. Let us look |
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394 at zero-knowledge proofs that use numbers as secrets. For this |
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395 the underlying NP-problem is to calculate discrete logarithms. |
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396 It can be used by choosing public numbers $A$, $B$, $p$, and |
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397 private $x$ such that |
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398 |
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399 \begin{center} |
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400 $A^x \equiv B\; mod\; p$ |
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401 \end{center} |
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402 |
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403 \noindent holds. The secret Alice tries to keep secret is $x$. |
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404 The point of the modular logarithm is that it is very hard |
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405 from the public data to calculate $x$ (for large primes). |
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406 Now the protocol proceeds in three stages: |
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407 |
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408 \begin{itemize} |
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409 \item {\bf Commitment Stage} |
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410 \begin{enumerate} |
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411 \item Alice generates $z$ random numbers $r_1, \ldots, r_z$, |
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412 all less than $p - 1$. Alice then sends Bob for all |
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413 $i = 1,\ldots, z$: |
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414 \[ h_i = A^{r_i}\; mod\; p\] |
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415 \item Bob generates $z$ random bits, say $b_1,\ldots, b_z$. He can do this |
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416 by flipping $z$ times a coin, for example. |
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417 \item For each bit $b_i$, Alice sends Bob an $s_i$ where |
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418 |
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419 \begin{center} |
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420 \begin{tabular}{ll} |
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421 if $b_i = 0$: & $s_i = r_i$\\ |
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422 if $b_i = 1$: & $s_i = (r_i - r_j) \;mod\; (p -1)$\\ |
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423 \end{tabular} |
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424 \end{center} |
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425 |
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426 where $r_j$ is the lowest $j$ where $b_j = 1$. |
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427 |
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428 \end{enumerate} |
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429 \end{itemize} |
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430 |
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431 \noindent For understanding the last step, let $z$ be just 4. |
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432 We have four random values $r_i$ chosen by Alice and four |
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433 random bits $b_i$ chosen subsequently by Bob, for example |
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434 |
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435 \begin{center} |
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436 \begin{tabular}{lcccc} |
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437 $r_i$:\; & 4 & 9 & 1 & 3\\ |
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438 $b_i$:\; & 0 & 1 & 0 & 1\\ |
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439 & & $\uparrow$ \\ |
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440 & & $j$ |
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441 \end{tabular} |
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442 \end{center} |
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443 |
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444 \noindent The highlighted column is the lowest where $b_i = |
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445 1$ (counted from the left). That means $r_j = 9$. The reason |
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446 for letting Alice choose the random numbers $r_1, \ldots, r_z$ |
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447 will become clear shortly. Next is the confirmation |
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448 phase where Bob essentially checks whether Alice has sent |
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449 him ``correct'' $s_i$ and $h_i$. |
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450 |
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451 \begin{itemize} |
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452 \item {\bf Confirmation Stage} |
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453 \begin{enumerate} |
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454 \item For each $b_i$ Bob checks whether $s_i$ |
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455 conform to the protocol |
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456 |
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457 \begin{center} |
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458 \begin{tabular}{ll} |
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459 if $b_i = 0$: & $A^{s_i} \stackrel{?}{\equiv} h_i\;mod\;p$\\ |
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460 if $b_i = 1$: & $A^{s_i} \stackrel{?}{\equiv} h_i * h_j^{-1} \;mod\; p$\\ |
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461 \end{tabular} |
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462 \end{center} |
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463 \end{enumerate} |
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464 \end{itemize} |
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465 |
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466 \noindent To understand the case for $b_i = 1$, you have |
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467 to do the following calculation: |
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468 |
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469 \begin{center} |
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470 \begin{tabular}{r@{\hspace{1mm}}c@{\hspace{1mm}}l} |
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471 $A^{s_i}$ & $=$ & $A^{r_i - r_j}$\\ |
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472 & $=$ & $A^{r_i} * A^{-r_j}$\\ |
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473 & $=$ & $h_{r_i} * h_{r_j}^{-1}\;mod\;p$ |
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474 \end{tabular} |
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475 \end{center} |
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476 |
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477 \noindent What is interesting that so far nothing has been |
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478 sent about $x$, which is the secret Alice has. Also notice |
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479 that Bob does not know $r_j$. He received |
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480 |
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481 \begin{center} |
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482 $r_j - r_j$, $r_m - r_j$, \ldots, $r_p - r_j \;mod \;p - 1$ |
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483 \end{center} |
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484 |
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485 \noindent whenever his corresponding bits were $1$. So Bob |
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486 does not know $r_j$ and also does not know any $r_i$ where the |
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487 bit was $1$. Information about the $x$ is sent in the next |
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488 stage (obviously not revealing $x$). |
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489 |
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490 \begin{itemize} |
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491 \item {\bf Proving Stage} |
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492 |
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493 \begin{enumerate} |
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494 \item Alice proves she knows $x$, the discrete log of $B$, |
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495 by sending |
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496 |
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497 \begin{center} |
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498 $s_{z+1} = x - r_j\;mod\;p-1$ |
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499 \end{center} |
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500 |
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501 \item Bob confirms |
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502 |
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503 \begin{center} |
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504 $A^{s_{z+1}} \stackrel{?}{\equiv} B * h_j^{-1} \;mod \; p$ |
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505 \end{center} |
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506 \end{enumerate} |
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507 \end{itemize} |
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508 |
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509 \noindent To understand the last step, you have to do the trick |
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510 again that |
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511 |
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512 \[A^{s_{z+1}} = A^{x-r_j} = \ldots |
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513 \] |
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514 |
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515 \noindent |
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516 which I leave to you. |
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517 |
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518 Now the question is how can Alice cheat? In order to cheat she |
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519 has to coordinate what she sends as $h_i$ in step 1 and $s_i$ |
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520 in step 3 of the commitment stage, and also what to send as |
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521 $s_{z+1}$ in the proving stage. For the latter of course |
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522 Alice does not know $x$, so she just chooses some random |
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523 number for $s_{z+1}$ and calculates |
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524 |
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525 \[A^{s_{z+1}}\] |
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526 |
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527 \noindent |
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528 and then solves the equation |
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529 |
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530 \[A^{s_{z+1}} \equiv B * y \;mod\;p\] |
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531 |
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532 \noindent for $y$. This is easy since no logarithm needs to be |
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533 computed. If Alice can guess the $j$ where the first 1 will |
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534 appear in Bob's bit vector, then she sends the inverse of $y$ |
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535 as $h_j$ and 0 as $s_j$. However, notice that when she |
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536 calculates a solution for $y$ she does not know $r_j$. For this she |
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537 would need to calculate the modular logarithm |
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538 |
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539 \[y \equiv A^{r_j}\;mod\;p\] |
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540 |
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541 \noindent which is hard (see step 1 in the commitment stage). |
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542 |
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543 Having settled on what $h_j$ should be, now what should Alice |
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544 send as the other $h_i$ and other $s_i$? If the $b_i$ happens |
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545 to be a 1, then the $h_i$ and other $s_i$ need to satisfy the |
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546 test |
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547 |
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548 \[A^{s_i} \stackrel{?}{\equiv} h_i * h_j^{-1} \;mod\; p\] |
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549 |
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550 \noindent where she has already settled on the value of |
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551 $h_j^{-1}$. Lets say she choses $s_i$ at random, then she just |
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552 needs to solve |
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553 |
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554 \[A^{s_i} \equiv z * h_j^{-1} \;mod\; p\] |
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555 |
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556 \noindent for $z$. Again that is easy, but it does not allow |
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557 us to know $r_i$, because then we would again need to solve |
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558 a modular logarithm problem. Let us call an $h_i$ which was |
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559 solved the easy way as \emph{bogus}. Alice has to produce |
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560 bogus $h_i$ for all bits that are going to be $1$ in advance! |
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561 This means she has to guess all the bits correctly. (Yes? |
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562 I let you think about this.) |
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563 |
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564 Let us see what happens if she guesses wrongly: Suppose the |
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565 bit $b_i = 1$ where she thought she will get a 0. Then she has |
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566 already sent an $h_i$ and $h_j$ and now must find an $s_i$ |
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567 such that |
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568 |
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569 \[A^{s_i} \equiv h_i * h_j^{-1} \;mod\; p\] |
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570 |
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571 \noindent holds. For this remember in calculating $h_i$, she |
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572 just chose a random $s_i$. Now she has to send a genuine one. |
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573 But this is of course too hard. If she knew the genuine $r_i$ |
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574 and $r_j$ for $h_i$ and $h_j$, it would be easy (in this case |
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575 $s_i = r_i - r_j$). But she does not. So she will be found |
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576 out. If $b_i = 0$, but she thought she will get a 1, then |
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577 she has to send a $s_i$ which satisfies |
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578 |
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579 \[A^{s_i} \equiv h_i\;mod\;p\] |
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580 |
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581 \noindent Again she does not know $r_i$. So it is a too hard |
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582 task and she will be found out again. |
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583 |
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584 To sum up, in order for Alice to successfully cheat Bob, she |
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585 needs to guess \emph{all} bits correctly. She has only a |
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586 $\frac{1}{2^z}$ chance of doing this. |
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587 |
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588 \subsubsection*{Further Reading} |
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589 |
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590 Make sure you understand what NP problems |
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591 are.\footnote{\url{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NP_(complexity)}} |
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592 They are the building blocks for zero-knowledge proofs. |
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593 Zero-Knowldege proofs are not yet widely used in production |
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594 systems, but it is slowly gaining ground. One area of application |
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595 where they pop up is crypto currencies (for example Zerocoins |
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596 or how to make sure a Bitcoin exchange is solvent without |
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597 revealing its assets). |
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598 |
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599 If you want to brush up on the modular logarithm problem, |
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600 the Khan Academy has a nice video: |
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601 |
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602 \begin{center} |
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603 \url{https://www.khanacademy.org/video/discrete-logarithm-problem} |
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604 \end{center} |
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605 |
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606 \end{document} |
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607 |
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608 http://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2014/11/zero-knowledge-proofs-illustrated-primer.html |
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609 |
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610 http://btravers.weebly.com/uploads/6/7/2/9/6729909/zero_knowledge_technique.pdf |
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611 http://zk-ssh.cms.ac/docs/Zero_Knowledge_Prinzipien.pdf |
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612 http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~oded/PS/zk-tut02v4.ps |
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613 |
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614 socialist millionares problem |
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615 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_millionaire |
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616 http://twistedoakstudios.com/blog/Post3724_explain-it-like-im-five-the-socialist-millionaire-problem-and-secure-multi-party-computation |
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617 |
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618 |
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