{"id":12410,"date":"2020-08-15T21:50:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-16T01:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=12410"},"modified":"2020-08-18T14:35:25","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T18:35:25","slug":"zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden\/","title":{"rendered":"Zero Knowledge Encryption: Snowden\u2019s Key to Privacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is a secure way to store files? How does zero knowledge encryption protect your files? Is zero knowledge cloud storage the best option for cloud-based storage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zero knowledge encryption is a security technique that divides up an encryption key so that something can&#8217;t be accessed without the whole key. Getting a file is meaningless without the key to the encryption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about zero knowledge encryption and how Ed Snowden used zero knowledge storage to protect the files he took from the NSA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>When Edward Snowden took files out of the NSA, he put them on SD cards. After Ed got home from work, he\u2019d hide his laptop under a cotton blanket in case the FBI had bugged his house. Then, he\u2019d transfer the files from the SD cards to a bigger, very securely encrypted, external storage device.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Zero-Knowledge Encryption<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Ed\u2019s encrypted drive had zero-knowledge encryption within zero-knowledge encryption. The purpose of zero knowledge storage is ultimate protection against surveillance. The zero knowledge key was divided up and separated. For example, pretend you had a party with 20 guests. You give each guest a number as they leave and none of the guests overhear. You can only put the key back together by bringing all the guests back together in the same room and having them regurgitate their number in the same order. Ed also had a number. If even one of the guests, including Ed, lost or destroyed their number, the key was permanently broken.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How Mass Surveillance Works in Practice<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Edward Snowden took a new job with the National Threat Operations Center in Hawaii. Ed\u2019s new job was to actually use mass surveillance technology to research targets. He became the person who \u201cacquired\u201d information about particular people who\u2019d thrown up flags. He wondered if there was anyone in the world that the NSA couldn\u2019t get to and this job let him get an inside look at that question.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Encryption<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The only way to protect yourself from surveillance is through encryption. <\/strong>Think of encryption as a much more advanced version of a cipher. You\u2019re using a key to transform data into gibberish when you encrypt something. Therefore, you have to have the key to make sense of data. If someone is looking at your data without the key, it will be meaningless.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Encryption works using algorithms. They are very complicated math problems\u2014problems so complicated even computers can\u2019t solve them. <strong>The math and computing power required to break a 4096- or 8162-bit encryption key don\u2019t exist. <\/strong>Usually, the longer an encryption key is, the safer it is, because the math is harder.&nbsp;The only choice for the government is to <strong>go after the keys or the locksmiths. The government doesn\u2019t try to break the encryption. <\/strong>To go after the key, the government attacks the programs that do the encryption. To keep keys safe, you can use a method called \u201czero knowledge encryption.\u201d Zero knowledge cloud storage involves encrypting data before you upload anything so that the key never leaves your computer. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a secure way to store files? How does zero knowledge encryption protect your files? Is zero knowledge cloud storage the best option for cloud-based storage? Zero knowledge encryption is a security technique that divides up an encryption key so that something can&#8217;t be accessed without the whole key. Getting a file is meaningless without the key to the encryption. Learn more about zero knowledge encryption and how Ed Snowden used zero knowledge storage to protect the files he took from the NSA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":12540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,24],"tags":[116],"class_list":["post-12410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-society","tag-permanent-record","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Zero Knowledge Encryption: Snowden\u2019s Key to Privacy - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zero knowledge encryption is a security technique that divides up an encryption key. A file is meaningless without the key to the encryption. Here&#039;s why.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zero Knowledge Encryption: Snowden\u2019s Key to Privacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zero knowledge encryption is a security technique that divides up an encryption key. A file is meaningless without the key to the encryption. Here&#039;s why.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-16T01:50:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-18T18:35:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/permanent-record-zero-encryption.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1064\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"686\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rina Shah\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d07435826f13a8f422d5d333dceac287\"},\"headline\":\"Zero Knowledge Encryption: Snowden\u2019s Key to Privacy\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-16T01:50:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-18T18:35:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden\/\"},\"wordCount\":524,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/permanent-record-zero-encryption.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Permanent Record\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Communication\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden\/\",\"name\":\"Zero Knowledge Encryption: Snowden\u2019s Key to Privacy - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/zero-knowledge-encryption-snowden\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/permanent-record-zero-encryption.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-16T01:50:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-18T18:35:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"Zero knowledge encryption is a security technique that divides up an encryption key. 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