17 Dec
2003
17 Dec
'03
11:17 p.m.
One good (non-cypherpunk) argument against GAK is that it concentrates a very large quantity of valuable keys in a few places, where they become an extremely attractive target for government or corporate espionage. You could compare this to the function served by banks, but banks tend to notice fairly quickly when money is missing. Compromising keys doesn't involve removing anything, or throw the books out of balance; they just get copied. The compromise is only revealed if they are used clumsily. Note that a few million keys would fit very easily on even a low-end DAT tape (easily hidden in a pack of cigarettes).