The Joy of Why
The Joy of Why
Steven Strogatz, Janna Levin and Quanta Magazine
How Does Math Keep Our Secrets?
23 minutes Posted Aug 1, 2024 at 1:14 pm.
0:00
23:59
Download MP3
Show notes

Can you keep a secret? Modern techniques for maintaining the confidentiality of information are based on mathematical problems that are inherently too difficult for anyone to solve without the right hints. Yet what does that mean when quantum computers capable of solving many problems astronomically faster are on the horizon? In this episode, host Janna Levin talks with computer scientist Boaz Barak about the cryptographic techniques that keep information confidential, and why “security through mathematics” beats “security through obscurity.”