Geometric cryptography

<p>Geometric cryptography is an area of <a href="/facts/Cryptology/e94PEVau">cryptology</a> where <a href="/facts/Message/zaUQGfQB">messages</a> and <a href="/facts/Ciphertext/luNTs4sY">ciphertexts</a> are represented by geometric quantities such as <a href="/facts/Angle/gFUTEQYq">angles</a> or intervals and where <a href="/facts/Computation/qLsELosq">computations</a> are performed by <a href="/facts/Ruler_and_compass_construction/lbaHf2m7">ruler and compass constructions</a>. The difficulty  or impossibility of solving certain geometric problems like trisection of an angle using ruler and compass only is the basis for the various protocols in geometric cryptography. This field of study was suggested by Mike Burmester, <a href="/facts/Ronald_L._Rivest/nQsIcAKa">Ronald L. Rivest</a> and <a href="/facts/Adi_Shamir/CTnaUeP6">Adi Shamir</a> in 1996. Though the cryptographic methods based on geometry have practically no real life applications, they are of use as pedagogic tools for  the elucidation of other more complex cryptographic protocols. Geometric cryptography may have applications in the future once current mainstream encryption methods are made obsolete by <a href="/facts/Quantum_computing/nbbcgmvq">quantum computing</a>.
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Geometric cryptography open-in-new

Geometric cryptography