Frequently Used in Cryptography, What is Zero Knowledge Proof?

31 Jul 2022

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Have you guys ever heard of Cryptography? According to an article from TechTarget, Cryptography can be defined as a method to protect information and communication using codes so it can only be processed and read by the target party. In Computer Science, Cryptography is a safe communication and information tech using the derivation of specific mathematical and algorithmic concepts to encrypt that information making it harder to be hacked. In this era of technological advancement, Cryptography plays a major role in protecting internet users’ private data. After understanding what Cryptography is, there is still a lot of concept under Cryptography itself and one of them is the term Zero Knowledge proof.

Zero Knowledge Proof is a technique to verify if a piece of information is true without knowing what the information is. In other words, it proves something is true without revealing the data that prove that it is true. Hard to digest? Let’s learn from examples. Say that you are with a blindfolded friend. You have two balls of different colors and you want to prove to your friend that you have two balls of a different colors by telling him. Your blindfolded friend can’t be 100% sure you are telling the truth since he can’t see the balls so, how to prove it? You put both balls in each of your friend’s hand and your friend switch the balls on the back of their body so you can’t see them. After switching, your friend asks you if he switches the position of the balls. Not seeing the balls being switched you can’t know if the balls are switched, but you can know by identifying the color of the balls. Let’s say at first, your friend is holding the yellow ball in his right hand and after switching them behind his back, the yellow ball is now in his left hand meaning that you know if the balls are switched place and vice versa if the yellow ball stays on his right hand. With this, you have proven that you have two balls of different colors without your friend knowing that the balls are indeed in a different color.

Zero Knowledge Proof has been implemented in various technologies such as Blockchain technology, for financial, online voting, authentication, and also Machine Learning. Zero Knowledge Proof increases security and protects our private data, but there are also some challenges one of them being it can’t prove 100% if something is true. While the probability to prove that it is not true is very low, Zero Knowledge Proof can’t be 100% sure if it is true. So, that is the concept of Zero Knowledge Proof plays a huge role in protecting our private data on the internet.

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Writer: Michael Christopher