[Cryptography] Lava Lamps Can Actually Create Secure File Encryptions - Here's How

[Dan McDonald]

On Tue, Mar 03, 2026 at 02:36:11PM -0600, Aram Perez via cryptography wrote:
> 
> As far as data encryption goes, you wouldn't expect a bunch of lights to
> help secure anything — certainly not some '70s-style lava lamps. But as it
> turns out, the exact opposite is true. Cloudflare, the major infrastructure
> company that props up large portions of the internet, actually uses 100
> lava lamps for SSL encryption. The blueprint, integral to secure
> encryption, is randomness. The encryption "key" is what unlocks the data
> for secure systems and allows it to be read. By keeping keys random, you
> can essentially keep would-be hackers guessing, preventing unauthorized
> parties from accessing the systems or data the encryption protects. This is
> a lot like how encrypted messaging apps work, minus the psychedelic decor.

30 years and 2 months ago I interviewed at SGI and got to see the original
"LavaRand" farm.

	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavarand

Dan