In the latest session of "Proof is in the Pudding," we teamed up with Archetype to explore the basics of Trusted Execution Environments. Through a collaborative whiteboarding session, we break down key concepts and practical applications, making this tech topic accessible and engaging. Dive in to discover how these environments can enhance digital security in a straightforward way.
In June 2025, we uncovered a serious soundness issue in Solana's ZK ElGamal Proof Program that could let attackers manipulate confidential token transfers undetected. We worked with the Anza team to quickly address the flaw by pausing and disabling vulnerable components. This post dives into the root cause, which was a subtle mistake in handling prover-generated challenges within sigma OR proofs, revealing broader lessons in zero-knowledge protocol security. If you're interested in cryptographic protocol design, this could provide valuable insights.
Programming in Circom comes with its fair share of challenges. After reviewing numerous Circom codebases, we’ve identified certain anti-patterns that occur frequently. In this series, we’ll provide a comprehensive overview of these issues to help you avoid the most common pitfalls. Of course, this won’t be a complete list of every mistake possible (Circom has plenty of ways to trip you up). But the footguns we’ll cover are the ones that tend to catch developers off guard the most.
In this engaging blog post, we dive into the future of cryptography by exploring how lattice-based proof systems could fend off the quantum threat. We break down Greyhound, a promising lattice-based solution, explaining its transparent nature, efficient construction, and adaptability with today's systems. Along the way, you'll get a glimpse of key concepts like lattices, Ajtai commitments, and how Greyhound cleverly ensures security and efficiency. Whether you’re curious about the cutting-edge of cryptographic research or just want to understand the basics of quantum-resistant solutions, this post offers both depth and clarity.
In this blog post, we explore an optimization for Barrett reduction, a popular method for modular arithmetic. We discovered that the error bound can be tighter than traditionally thought, meaning you often only need a single subtraction instead of two. This tweak can speed up cryptographic operations like those in the RustCrypto library by 14% when applied to NIST curves, which is a game changer for both encryption and performance. Dive into the details to see how this simple change can lead to significant improvements in real-world applications!
In this blog post, we dive into the world of polynomial commitment schemes (PCS), which are crucial for constructing most practical SNARKs. We cover the basics of how PCS works, focusing on KZG10, known for its efficiency in proof size and verification time. You'll learn about the essential properties of binding and hiding and explore technical concepts like homomorphism, batching, and unconditionally hiding. We break down various methods to achieve these features, offering insight into how PCS maintains the security and privacy of polynomials in cryptographic systems. Get ready to understand these powerful concepts and their applications in modern cryptography!
