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Split Knowledge

nounverified·updated May 9, 2026

1. Separation of data or information into two or more parts, each part constantly kept under control of separate authorized individuals or teams so that no one individual or team will know the whole data. 2. A process by which a cryptographic key is split into multiple key components, individually sharing no knowledge of the original key, which can be subsequently input into, or output from, a cryptographic module by separate entities and combined to recreate the original cryptographic key.

polysemousMWENISTIR 7298: Glossary of Key Information Security Terms, Revision 2

Senses

NISTIR 7298: Glossary of Key Information Security Terms, Revision 2

A procedure by which a cryptographic key is split into n multiple key components, individually providing no knowledge of the original key, which can be subsequently combined to recreate the original cryptographic key. If knowledge of k (where k is less than or equal to n) components is required to construct the original key, then knowledge of any k-1 key components provides no information about the original key other than, possibly, its length.

NISTIR 7298: Glossary of Key Information Security Terms, Revision 2sense 2 pending review

A process by which a cryptographic key is split into multiple key components, individually sharing no knowledge of the original key, that can be subsequently input into, or output from, a cryptographic module by separate entities and combined to recreate the original cryptographic key.

Classifications

Entity Type

Control85%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5
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Sensitivity

Regulated90%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5
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Information Class

Cui70%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5
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Variants

possessive
Split Knowledge's