What is Security Through Obscurity?

Security Through Obscurity is the reliance on secrecy, concealment, or the hiding of system details to achieve security. Instead of using a heavy vault door with a complex cryptographic lock, STO is the equivalent of hiding the key under the welcome mat and hoping the burglar doesn't look there.

It is a polarizing topic because traditional security doctrine—dating back to the 19th-century cryptographer Auguste Kerckhoffs—states that a system should be entirely secure even if the attacker knows everything about how it works, as long as the encryption key remains private.…