Secret sharing schemes for infinite sets of participants: a new design technique (Q2227498)

Secret sharing is concerned with recovering a secret from a set of $n$ shares based on a specific security policy. Each share contains partial information about the secret. At least $k$ $(k<n)$ shares are needed to retrieve the secret. Sets of $m$ $(k\le m\le n)$ shares are qualified for recovery, sets of $l$ $(l<k)$ shares are forbidden. The set of all qualified shares is called an access structure to the secret. Threshold access structures, more accurately called $(k,n)$-threshold schemes, have been explored extensively since 1979. In this setting, an access structure is static and known from the beginning. In contrast, an evolving access structure is not fixed at the start, i.e. the number of participants may increase. In response new qualified shares, if any, are added to the access structure. Since there is no upper limit imposed, the number of participants is potentially infinite, i.e. yielding so-called $(k,\infty)$-threshold access structures. Naturally, this secret-sharing scheme is of interest for multi-participants cryptographic protocol design. The authors point out that efficient constructions for evolving access structures are hard to develop in general; for $k>2$, it is still an open problem. In this paper, the authors explore a new design approach for $(2,\infty)$-threshold schemes and claim to have succeeded with even $(3,\infty)$-threshold schemes. The construction of the secret sharing scheme is based on the Chinese remainder theorem, in particular the Asmuth-Bloom approach. First, they define the model of secret sharing schemes, recap the Chinese remainder theorem, give an overview of several secret sharing schemes based on it and delve into the Asmuth-Bloom scheme with ideas of how to gain perfect security for it. Subsequently, the author's $(3,\infty)$-threshold scheme is formally described, and a viable implementation is outlined. Finally, a performance analysis is given along with correctness and privacy considerations that end in a brief discussion of open problems. The succinct presentation and the concise reference list make the interested reader keen to get more thoroughly acquainted with secret-sharing schemes.