Securing Edge Analytics With Zero-Knowledge Cryptography
June 17, 2025
Blog
Edge computing is a crucial step forward for data analytics. Processing information on a distributed network of nearby endpoints raises local computing power and reduces latency from remote data centers.
At the same time, so much sensitive information moving between devices can raise security concerns. Zero-knowledge cryptography has emerged as a promising solution to that issue.
What Is Zero-Knowledge Cryptography?
Zero-knowledge cryptography is a method of verifying communications between two parties without revealing sensitive information. Conventional means of proving a statement is true involve exposing the statement itself or parts of it. A zero-knowledge proof (ZKP), by contrast, does not give away any details, making it more private while still working in a decentralized environment.
The concept first appeared in a 1985 paper theorizing how someone could prove they know something without unveiling what that knowledge is. By 2013, developers began implementing it in cryptocurrency as a way to verify users’ identities in a transaction while keeping them anonymous. Since then, zero-knowledge cryptography has grown beyond its crypto-centric early days to see other cybersecurity and decentralized app uses.
A reliable ZKP must feature three key criteria:
- Completeness, or the ability of the verifier to believe that the prover’s statement is true
- Soundness, or the inability of either party to lie if a statement is false
- Zero-knowledge, which means the verifier learns nothing but the fact that the statement is true
Adhering to these three characteristics often involves complex question-and-answer-type processing. However, it has gotten more efficient over time and may become increasingly valuable since spending on edge computing could reach $378 billion by 2028.
How Can Zero-Knowledge Proofs Benefit Edge Security?
Zero-knowledge cryptography has several enticing use cases within edge security. Here are a few of the most significant.
Lower Data Interception Risks
The most straightforward advantage of ZKPs in edge environments is that they lower the risk of data interception. Edge analytics requires considerable amounts of information flowing between devices. While encryption may protect it to some extent, attackers may be able to pull sensitive data from all the decryption and verification happening between endpoints.
Zero-knowledge cryptography ensures that any private information in this data flow stays private at all times. This is all the more important in light of edge computing’s likely rise amid remote work. Roughly 11% of U.S. workers are fully remote, and 27% are hybrid, requiring company information to pass between many distributed devices. ZKPs ensure access to such data without exposing anything sensitive.
Passwordless Authentication
Similarly, ZKPs could bolster the security of other edge analytics defense measures. User and device authentication are critical for edge communications, but passwords are notoriously risky. Many people use weak passcodes and reuse them between multiple accounts, and 80% find password management stressful, making it hard to embrace better habits.
Using ZKPs instead of conventional passwords could be the answer. Users on trusted devices could verify their identity to edge endpoints without using weak passwords or potentially exposing a strong one. This method also reduces the likelihood of attackers gleaning multifactor authentication information from the network, further securing the environment.
Secure Device Updates
Over-the-air (OTA) updates can also benefit from zero-knowledge cryptography. Regular patching is key to Internet of Things (IoT) security, but just 2.45% of IoT devices in deployment run on the latest firmware. At the same time, breaches from malicious updates — notably, the 2020 SolarWinds attack — raise the need for OTA update verification.
ZKPs let an IoT device verify an OTA update’s validity while keeping the details and origin private. Consequently, edge networks can safely automate updating to patch known vulnerabilities while minimizing the chances of a malicious OTA attack in the future.
Remaining Challenges in Zero-Knowledge Cryptography
As promising as zero-knowledge cryptography is, some obstacles remain. Most notably, ZKPs are often computationally complex, even as they’ve become increasingly efficient over time. While edge networks reduce latency, on-device processing power is limited enough to restrict functionality, making ZKP implementation difficult.
Relatedly, deploying zero-knowledge cryptography is complex and costly. These barriers may make edge adopters less comfortable or even unable to capitalize on the benefits. Such restrictions may either slow edge computing’s growth or compromise its security.
In some cases, ZKPs may be too private, leading to auditing roadblocks. This lack of transparency is particularly troublesome in heavily regulated industries like health care or government operations.
ZKPs Could Be Revolutionary for Edge Analytics
Zero-knowledge cryptography requires additional research and development before it's ready for large-scale deployment across edge analytics environments. However, its benefits still hold significant promise.
When it matures, this method could transform edge security. Distributed computing solutions could reach their full potential without raising privacy and cybersecurity concerns.
Eleanor Hecks is a writer with 8+ years of experience contributing to publications like freeCodeCamp, Smashing Magazine, and Fast Company. You can find her work as Editor-in-Chief of Designerly Magazine, or keep up with her on LinkedIn.
