Secret Random Oracle

Definition ∞ A secret random oracle is a theoretical construct in cryptography that produces truly random outputs for any given input, with the added property that its internal state or generation process remains hidden. It functions as an idealized black box for randomness, where the output is unpredictable and appears random, yet is consistently reproducible for the same input. This concept is used in security proofs to model the behavior of cryptographic hash functions.
Context ∞ In crypto news, discussions about secret random oracles often occur in advanced cryptographic research, particularly when analyzing the security of new proof systems or randomized consensus mechanisms. The current situation involves efforts to construct practical cryptographic primitives that closely approximate the ideal behavior of a random oracle. A critical future development concerns the creation of verifiable delay functions or other provably secure random number generators that can reliably provide unmanipulable randomness for decentralized applications.