-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- To: cypherpunks@toad.com Date: Wed Jul 03 16:09:34 1996
At 09:42 PM 7/2/96 EDT, Derek Atkins <warlord@MIT.EDU> wrote:
:Basically, I refuse to type my passphrase over the net, which signing :all my messages (this one included) would require. : :-derek
Why, in heaven's name, would you have to "type your passphrase over the net" to encypher a message?
Lots of people still deal with the Internet remotely, despite the profileration of SLIP/PPP accounts. To see the the difference consider the following two scenarios: 1. Alice connects to the Internet via a PPP account. She downloads all of her mail to Exchange (on her local computer), from which she can encrypt/decrypt et cetera. All encryption is done locally and securely. 2. Bob connects to the Internet via a "shell" account. All processing is done by his ISP's unix machine. He reads his mail on the mail reader provided by unix machine. He has two choices: 2A. Install PGP on the ISP's unix machine and use it to encrypt/decrypt messages. This is relatively easy, but also insecure. The ISP's administration has access to his secret keyring, and his password must be sent over the modem line to the ISP before it used. Thus he is "typing his passphrase over the net". 2B. He can download the mail to his local machine manually. Manually encrypt/decrypt the mail there and then upload it (again manually) to the host computer to be sent. This is secure, but it's also a pain in the butt. David F. Ogren | ogren@concentric.net | "A man without religion is like a fish PGP Key ID: 0x6458EB29 | without a bicycle" - ------------------------------|---------------------------------------- Don't know what PGP is? | Need my public key? It's available Send a message to me with the | by server or by sending me a message subject GETPGPINFO | with the subject GETPGPKEY -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2..6.2 iQEVAwUBMdrTf+SLhCBkWOspAQGLHgf+LEQRFzRl5vdWoGDI8TKhyfHHjBbCszHV Fshtoa2h3vj+GcqGhh3IBTBwynZWlrQTHZeON41XMcl7ZxUqb9yd3C0qxaBE56Yk Bf1b9KVa+z7GWue3EVbcuOP2wNBQjUKC0FZLjwHGxiLH1+sZ2HvTGzBSLeHWoMFq oYyxLR6RZMbMy/2lKWJDIaz9CB4X8p5TPqvHQqoOIAhM6cmJkJc6VlPdW4bQgWWi unzKcaMf9WuHH3crZMNAeGsnq2PkzYlDCTQNsESHIBtlw0+Z8gjmGaqnI2ouG1gh b0ozEOOvgo+jrLF1+uXy92UJzdOFeNq4kXjbqxa9QQ7FidtDYpskkw== =B5gF -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----