[hjk05]

There’s nothing cryptographic about this. It’s a central authority that either says “yes it’s real” or not. The system revolves around trust in that central authority. Everyone can easily fake a certificate which cannot be independently falsified without asking that central authority, who will be more likely to check their books than to do anything related to the actual certificate.

[hn_throwaway_99]

This is the second time in a couple weeks where I've seen a headline try to take a "crypto" angle for something ridiculously simple. There was another article touting drug cartels using "dollar bill serial numbers as random keys", https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20484197, which was wrong - the keys weren't random, they were just unique and difficult to fake.

I get the sense, with the general failure of blockchain to live up to its hype beyond Bitcoin, that we'll see a lot of "crypto-" this and that nonsense, similar to how everything was "e-" this and that in 2000.

[cycrutchfield]

Does cryptographic imply decentralized?

[gruez]

No, but I think you'll agree that saying tears in a piece of paper "cryptography" is a stretch. It's not cryptography in the same way that a stamp or wax seal isn't cryptography, unless your definition of cryptography is "any method to protect the confidentiality and integrity of a document".

[cycrutchfield]

Do you consider ThreeBallot to be an example of cryptography? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThreeBallot

[gitgud]

Cryptographic implies math is used, which doesn't seem to be the case here.

[throwthro1029]

The word is much older than that.

> 1650s, "art of writing in secret characters"

https://www.etymonline.com/word/cryptography

[cycrutchfield]

That’s a rather restrictive definition of cryptography, don’t you think?

[gitgud]

Well yes strictly speaking it's not just math, but usually it does imply math.

What are some examples of cryptography without math of some kind?

[arpa]

Character substitution comes to mind, as described in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_the_Dancing...

[wp381640]

> It’s a central authority that either says “yes it’s real” or not.

/me looks at his browser CA roots

[theamk]

Browser uses cryptography, so one does not have to contact CA for every visit.

Banksy does not, so you do have to contact “CA” every time.

[manicdee]

That’s right, the CA certificates in your browser can be tampered with because they aren’t the actual CA saying “yes it’s legit” they are a token containing a cryptographic key which claims to prove authenticity mathematically.

Banksy is more secure than web browser crypto.

[HelloNurse]

While not actually cryptographic in nature, it's a nontrivial authentication protocol that is better than a more traditional certificate, as discussed in the article, and potentially very impressive end enlightening for the not too technically minded people who follow art and art trade.