Show HN: A simple app to cryptographically time-lock files

https://github.com/thread314/chrono-locker

by barkding • 6 years ago

30 4 6 years ago

klysm• 6 years ago

The subject is discussed at length (and referenced by the repo) here https://www.gwern.net/Self-decrypting-files for those interested in more. Gwern has mentioned it at least once on HN previously as well https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16295313

TheTank• 6 years ago

I find the concept interesting and I can see real applications for something like this (delaying someone's access to a file). For example, one could use that to disseminate press releases ahead of time without actually revealing the contents.

That said, it seems the current implementation is impractical because you will "on average" decypher after a certain time, but that time can vary greatly. Are there plans or methods to explore in order to make this more deterministic?

barkding• 6 years ago

That's a very good question, one I've been thinking about a lot. The current implementation, has even distribution. Even changing it to normal distribution would greatly improve this. Not certain yet how to achieve this, however.

csense• 6 years ago

The problem with this is that time is fungible against money.

So if you set your file to take 3650 days for a single computer to decrypt, you can get it way ahead of time by using 365 computers for 10 days.

Obviously cloud computing makes the short-term rental of a few hundred computers relatively cheap and easy to arrange.

Show HN: A simple app to cryptographically time-lock files

Related Stories