Encryption Lava Lamps – San Francisco, California – Atlas Obscura
February 13, 2024
WHAT’S ENCRYPTING YOUR WEB TRAFFIC as you surf the internet? An advanced algorithm created by a supercomputer? Actually, if the site you’re visiting is encrypted by the cybersecurity firm Cloudflare, your activity may be protected by nothing other than a wall of lava lamps. There couldn’t possibly be a groovier way to keep the internet secure.
Cloudflare covers about 10 percent of international web traffic, including the websites for Uber, OKCupid, or FitBit, for instance. And the colorful wall of lava lamps in the company’s San Francisco headquarters might be what’s generating the random code. The wall features over 100 lava lamps, spanning a variety of colors, and its random patterns deter hackers from accessing data.
Source: Encryption Lava Lamps – San Francisco, California – Atlas Obscura
Randomness is hard (as Lachlan Hunt explored at one of our conferences). Here’s how CloudFlare generates the random numbers needed to make privacy and security work on the Web.
