{
  "type": "failure-mode",
  "name": "Toxic waste that is never actually destroyed",
  "slug": "toxic-waste-that-is-never-actually-destroyed",
  "section": {
    "id": "ceremony",
    "number": "04",
    "title": "Running or reusing a trusted setup",
    "url": "https://zkpick.com/ceremony/"
  },
  "url": "https://zkpick.com/ceremony/failure-modes/toxic-waste-that-is-never-actually-destroyed/",
  "markdown": "https://zkpick.com/md/ceremony/failure-modes/toxic-waste-that-is-never-actually-destroyed.md",
  "detail": "Contributions are generated on a laptop that is backed up, on a cloud VM whose memory is snapshotted, or in a process whose secret is swapped to disk. The participant sincerely believes the secret is gone.",
  "mitigation": "Provide tooling and written procedure: ephemeral or air-gapped machines, no swap, no backups, secure erase or destruction of the medium. Have participants attest to what they actually did, not to what was recommended.",
  "relatedOptions": [],
  "updated": "2026-09-12",
  "version": "1.3",
  "canonical": "https://zkpick.com/ceremony/failure-modes/toxic-waste-that-is-never-actually-destroyed/",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "authors": [
    "MarketComp"
  ]
}