Privacy Glossary
Forward Secrecy
Past messages stay secure even if keys are later compromised
In Short
A property ensuring that if long-term keys are compromised in the future, past session keys (and thus past messages) remain secure.
Explained
Forward secrecy (also called perfect forward secrecy) means each session uses unique keys that are discarded after use. If an attacker later obtains your long-term keys, they still cannot decrypt previously captured traffic because those session keys no longer exist.
How zkChat Implements This
zkChat's ephemeral rooms inherently provide forward secrecy. Each room has a unique key that exists only during the session. Once the room is destroyed, the key is gone forever - there's nothing to compromise later.
Related Concepts
See It In Action
Experience forward secrecy firsthand with zkChat.
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