Understanding Minority Interest and Minacity in Cryptography

Minority interest (MI) and minacity (MN) are two related but distinct concepts in the context of cryptography.

Minority interest refers to a situation where a small group of individuals or entities have a disproportionate amount of influence or control over a larger group or population. In the context of cryptography, this can be a problem because it means that a small number of people or organizations may be able to exert undue influence over the development and implementation of cryptographic standards, potentially compromising the security of the entire system.

Minacity, on the other hand, refers to the idea that a cryptographic system should be designed such that it is secure even if a small number of individuals or entities within the larger population are not trustworthy. In other words, the system should be robust against attacks by a minority of malicious actors. This is often achieved through the use of techniques such as secret sharing and threshold cryptography, which allow the system to function correctly even if some of the participants are not trustworthy.

In summary, minacity is the idea that a cryptographic system should be secure even if a small number of individuals or entities within the larger population are not trustworthy, while minority interest refers to the problem of a small group of individuals or entities having disproportionate influence over the development and implementation of cryptographic standards.