How to build a quantum-proof app using the Shamir Secret Sharing plugin for Capacitor?
The future of computing is knocking on our door. Quantum computers promise to revolutionize industries, solve impossible problems, and, unfortunately, break most of the encryption that protects our digital lives today.
This is where the Shamir Secret Sharing plugin for Capacitor plugin becomes your secret weapon for building truly resilient and secure apps.
What are capacitors in Ionic?
Capacitor is an open-source, cross-platform native runtime that allows developers to build iOS, Android, and web apps from a single modern JavaScript/TypeScript codebase. Created by the Ionic team, this solution provides a consistent API layer that connects web technologies (such as React, Vue, Angular, or vanilla JS) with native device features such as secure storage, biometrics, file systems, and more. Through its plugin system, Capacitor allows first-party and community plugins (such as the Shamir Secret Sharing plugin for Capacitor) to expose powerful native functionality in a way that feels natural to web developers, enabling high-performance, production-grade apps without sacrificing the speed and flexibility of the web-based stack.
What are the challenges of self-custody?
We are witnessing a fundamental shift in the way people think about digital assets and personal data. From cryptocurrency wallets to personal health records, users increasingly want control over their information. They don’t want to trust a centralized service with their most sensitive data.
But self-management presents scary problems. What happens if someone loses their phone, forgets their password, or worse (the device is stolen)? Traditional backup solutions force users to trust a third party or create a single point of failure.
The Shamir Secret Sharing plugin for Capacitor plugin elegantly solves this problem by eliminating the need for a single point of trust or failure.
What is the math behind Shamir’s secret sharing?
Shamir’s secret sharing reads like something out of a crypto fairy tale. Invented by Adi Shamir (the “S” in RSA encryption), this algorithm mathematically divides every secret into pieces called shards.
It gets even more beautiful here. Even if you lose some fragments, your secrets can be fully recovered. Do I need 3 shards to reorganize my data? Create 5 shards and distribute them to trusted friends or devices. Even if two shards are lost forever, everything can be recovered.
But the real magic comes from what cryptographers call “information theoretic security.” Each individual share reveals absolutely nothing about your secrets. No matter how powerful the computer is at deciphering the information, not a single piece of information is leaked.
Not only is this computationally difficult to break, it is also mathematically impossible. Even with unlimited processing power, an attacker with insufficient shards will learn nothing. The math ensures this, but it is not a limitation of current technology.
How do we prepare for the future against quantum threats?
Most cryptography today relies on mathematical problems that are difficult to solve with conventional computers. Factoring large prime numbers would take thousands of years on a classical computer. Quantum computers could solve this same problem in a matter of hours.
Shamir’s Secret Sharing takes a completely different approach. Security depends on mathematical impossibility, not computational difficulty. Think of it like trying to solve an equation with fewer unknowns. There are an infinite number of equally valid solutions, making it impossible to determine which one is correct.
This information-theoretic approach means that quantum computers offer no advantage to attackers. The underlying mathematics will remain secure whether it is a classical computer, a quantum computer, or a hypothetical super-quantum computer that may appear decades from now.
Applications built today with the Shamir Secret Sharing plugin for Capacitor will remain secure no matter what computing revolution comes next.
How can I prevent defects in my app through deployment?
Traditional security models create a single point of failure. Lost your password manager database? Everything is gone. Will my company’s servers be compromised? Your data has been exposed. Was your phone stolen? You will lose access to your account.
Shamir’s secret sharing turns this model on its head. Instead of completely protecting one important thing, you spread security across multiple independent channels. Each share can be in a different location.
- 1 encrypted share in a secure area on your phone
- Also, with a trusted friend or family member.
- The third is stored in a safety deposit box.
- Additional shards distributed across different devices or locations
A threshold system means you are protected against multiple simultaneous errors. Is your device broken? Is your friend moving abroad? Will I lose access to my safe? The system continues to function because no single error can compromise security.
This distributed approach creates applications that become more resilient, not more vulnerable, as they scale.
Sharing Shamir’s Secret What are common use cases for the capacitor plugin?
The Shamir Secret Sharing plugin for Capacitor plugin provides the foundation, but your imagination determines the possibilities. Consider these new use cases:
Family digital inheritance becomes possible when cryptocurrency seeds or important documents are shared between trusted family members. Parents can ensure that their digital assets are transferred seamlessly without exposing sensitive information throughout their lives. This is exactly what the Vault12 Guard app does using the Shamir Secret Sharing plugin for Capacitor.
Collaborative authentication allows teams to secure shared resources without a single administrator taking full control. Critical business systems require multiple people to approve changes to prevent both external attacks and internal threats.
Progressive disclosure allows applications to disclose information only when certain conditions are met. A legal document that unlocks automatically when multiple parties agree, or a time-locked message that requires distributed consent for early access.
Redundant backup systems can store encrypted application state across multiple cloud providers, user devices, and physical locations. Users don’t lose access to their data, but no single provider has complete information.
The cross-platform nature of the plugin, which supports iOS, Android, and web, means these experiences work seamlessly across all user devices and contexts.
Sharing Shamir’s Secret How has the capacitor plugin been tried and tested in commercial apps?
The convergence of quantum computing, increasing awareness of privacy, and the demand for user-controlled applications provide unprecedented opportunities for forward-thinking developers.
Applications built with traditional security models will become obsolete as quantum computers emerge. Centralized platforms will suffer as users demand true ownership of their data. As digital stakes continue to grow, single points of failure will become unacceptable.
However, developers using the Shamir Secret Sharing plugin for Capacitor can build applications that can thrive in this new environment. Users gain true self-management without sacrificing usability. As the architecture scales, it becomes even more resilient. Security improves as computing power increases, not as it becomes more vulnerable.
Plugins abstract away complex math and cross-platform implementation details. You get enterprise-grade Shamir’s secret sharing through a simple TypeScript interface, so you can focus on creating innovative user experiences rather than implementing encryption.
Sharing Shamir’s Secret How can I start using the Capacitor plugin?
Quantum computers don’t wait for applications to catch up. User expectations regarding data ownership and privacy continue to accelerate. Developers who begin building quantum-resistant, fault-tolerant applications today will define the next generation of digital experiences.
The Shamir Secret Sharing plugin for Capacitor plugin provides the tool. The mathematical foundation is unshakable. Production verification has been completed. Cross-platform compatibility ensures broad reach.
What’s left is the most interesting part. That means imagining and building resilient, user-empowering applications that will define the next chapter of computing. The future belongs to developers who understand that true security comes from completely eliminating single points of failure, not from building higher walls.
Users are ready to use applications they can truly trust. Technology is ready to support your vision. The question is what to make of it.
Using the Shamir Secret Sharing plugin for Capacitor – Github: https://github.com/vault12/capacitor-shamir
What is Shamir’s Secret Sharing?
Sharing Shamir’s Secret An encryption algorithm that divides a secret into multiple parts (shards), requiring a minimum threshold of shards to reconstruct the original secret. This ensures:
- No shard reveals any information about its secrets.
- Secrets can be reconstructed regardless of the threshold number of shards.
- Security through distribution – Store shards separately for maximum security.
What is the security concept behind Shamir’s secret sharing?
Shamir’s secret sharing provides information-theoretic security. In other words, the algorithm has been mathematically proven to be unbreakable, regardless of computational power. Key security benefits:
- Quantum Resistance: Security relies on mathematical impossibility rather than computational complexity, making it secure for quantum computers.
- No key management: There is no single master key to rotate or protect. Instead, security depends on deploying and securing individual shards.
- Math Fundamentals: Foundations Polynomial interpolation over finite fieldsReconstructing a secret without enough shards is not only computationally difficult, but also mathematically impossible.
What does Shamir’s Secret Sharing Capacitor plugin do?
- Secure Secret Sharing: Split your sensitive data into encrypted shards using Shamir’s secret sharing.
- Cross-platform: native support for iOS, Android, and web
- Flexible storage: memory-based and file system-based operations
- Progress tracking: Real-time progress callbacks for all tasks
- Performance optimization: Efficiently handle large files and data
- Recovery options: Full secret or individual shard restore
What are the real-world use cases?
The plugin is a core component of Vault12 Guard, a mobile app that provides decentralized backup and inheritance for cryptocurrency wallets and other sensitive data and has already been battle-tested for 10 years in production on nearly 1 million iOS and Android devices.
More details are on Github: https://github.com/vault12/capacitor-shamir