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

[Jon Callas]

> On Mar 3, 2026, at 12:36, Aram Perez via cryptography <cryptography at metzdowd.com> 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.

One of photos in my library is from a visit to Cloudflare offices of the wall of lava lamps. The power is off.

Humorously, perhaps, even better would be to put lens caps on the cameras and take pictures of nothing. There is background noise on the sensors, and it's quantum noise, too. Among other effects, virtual particles appear in the spacetime near the sensor and some of those particles hit the sensor and are detected. As you might expect, the other particle of the pair flies off inside the camera housing and may or may not be detected, too. This is the very same effect that drives Hawking radiation and makes black holes evaporate.

The effect works better in the dark, of course because when there's a lot of light it washes out the noise. Nonetheless, it's easy to adjust ISO, use ND filters (or even better, IR filters). You just want sensor noise, that's all.

Using lava lamps or whatever as opposed to a dark room is just security theater.

	Jon