Trees named for this cryptographer are used in distributed databases like Cassandra and Dynamo to facilitate anti-entropy repair. For 10 points each:
[10m] Name this cryptographer whose namesake trees consist of nodes labeled with hashes. With Damgård, this cryptographer names a “construction” for building hash functions from one-way compression functions.
ANSWER: Ralph C. Merkle [accept Merkle tree or Merkle–Damgård construction]
[10e] Merkle trees may be used in these proofs, which are often illustrated using examples such as the Ali Baba cave or color-blind friend. In these proofs, a Prover seeks to prove a statement to a Verifier without revealing any extra information.
ANSWER: zero-knowledge proofs [or ZKPs]
[10h] These proof protocols are used in cryptocurrencies like Zcash to validate transactions through a ZKP. Unlike a similarly-named “transparent” alternative, these proofs are commonly generated through circuit computations.
ANSWER: zk-SNARKs [or zero-knowledge Succinct Non-interactive ARguments of Knowledge; reject “STARKs” or “SNARGs”]
<DN, Other Science (Computer Science)>