Glossary
Security Through Obscurity
Security through obscurity relies on secrecy about how a system works as the actual source of its protection, rather than on the strength of properly designed cryptographic keys or access controls. The specific danger is how it fails: not gradually or partially, but completely and often silently, the moment the design details become known — through a leak, reverse engineering, or simple accident — because the design itself was the only thing standing between an attacker and success.
This doesn't mean keeping implementation details private has no value at all — it can add a modest, genuine layer of friction. The mistake is treating that friction as the primary defense rather than as a minor addition on top of security that would hold up even if the design were fully known.