Blog posts

2024

What happens in the trusted setup phase of the Groth16 protocol

12 minute read

Published:

The Groth16 Protocol

Groth16, probably the most wide-used zk-SNARK (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge) on blockchains, was introduced by Jens Groth at Eurocrypt 2016 (that’s why it is named groth16). The paper, entitled On the Size of Pairing-Based Non-interactive Arguments, could be on eprint/2016/260.

Zero-Knowledge Proof Learning Resources (a learning path)

1 minute read

Published:

Zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) probably is currently the hottest topic in the cryptography world. The idea of proving that something is true without revealing any information apart from the fact that this specific statement is true is one of the most beautiful things that cryptography could do.

Why should we be ready for Quantum-Safe Cryptography

7 minute read

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Quantum computers are still in the early stages of development, and there are many technical challenges that need to be overcome before they can be widely used. However, they have the potential to revolutionize fields such as pharmaceuticals, finance, and defense, and researchers are actively working to develop practical applications for them.

2023

A primer on Zero-Knowledge Proof Systems in Web3

5 minute read

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The term of Zero-Knowledge Proofs was first introduced by MIT researchers Shafi Goldwasser, Silvio Micali and Charles Rackoff when they were working on interactive proof systems. A ZKP system will involve two parties: Prover and Verifier, in which the Prover exchanges messages with the Verifier to convince the Verifier that some statement is true while leaking nothing but the validity of the assertion.

Exploring Elliptic Curve Cryptography in Ethereum Cryptography library

8 minute read

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Cryptography plays a crucial role in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. It provides the foundational security elements that make decentralized and trustless systems possible. Basic cryptographic primitives such as hash function, Merkle tree, digital signatures, and consensus mechanisms (e.g. Proof of work) ensures secure transactions, preventing counterfeiting and double-spending in cryptocurrencies. They also ensure the integrity of the entire system due to collision-free property of hash functions.

Replay Attacks against Payment Schemes

22 minute read

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In this article, I am reviewing the security of EMV transactions against replay attacks. After briefly recalling the EMV framework and its countermeasures against replay attacks, a number of reported attacks will be analyzed. For each succesfull attack, I am going to go through the following questions:

  1. What was happened?
  2. How was that happened?
  3. Why was that happened?
  4. Key takeaways from the attack?

Textbook: Practical Python for High School Students

1 minute read

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Well, when my kid went to the high school level, he starting feel boring with Scratch, so I was looking something that can inspire him a further step to the coding world. C/C++ seems require too much tech passion from the kids, Java is probably a good consideration if you are a computer science university student, by perhaps not for a high school student. I found that Python could be the best choice as its simplicity and its conciseness.

Differential Privacy: An illustrated primer

8 minute read

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Nowadays, many things you can do online, some can be named as browsing news, shopping, socializing, registering services, attending events and courses, visiting healthcare clinic, etc. Your life seems getting more and more convenient. However, the trade-off is that more and more your personal information is collected and used/shared over online platforms. You is becoming more visible on Internet, and hence getting higher risk to be a victime of online fraudulent activities.

2022

Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement Protocol

5 minute read

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This blog will discuss the Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol, which is the most popular key exchange used on Internet nowadays.

2020

Fraud Transactions Detection with Isolation Forest

5 minute read

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Problem

Nowadays, more digital transactions performed over internet, higer chance your credit card information is leaked and thus hackers can performed fraud purchases on stolen credit cards.