Can obscurity make cryptography better?

news
Jul 18, 20081 min

If there is anywhere obscurity shouldn’t apply, it’s in cryptography because crypto needs to be open, tested, and truly secure, Roger Grimes writes.

“But I argue that obscurity can even play a role here,” he argues in Can obscurity make cryptography better?

And Grimes gives three examples: salting password hashes, hiding crypto and hiding crypto keys.

“I can think of many more examples when adding obscurity to cryptography adds some additional value. Security is rarely a binary decision and we diminish the discussion when we completely discount the value of obscurity.”