Excerpts from mail.cypherpunks: 30-Jan-96 Re: FV Demonstrates Fatal F.. Weld Pond@l0pht.com (1503*)
Here is an example of an imagemap for secure number entry.
I *really* like this example. That's because it demonstrates so clearly the security/usability tradeoff that I keep trying to hammer home to people. Yes, with something like this -- and a LOT of variation, so it wasn't the same every time -- you could avoid an attack like ours. But you'd also have a user interface that was virtually unusable. The focus of the attack we outlined was one particular, naive approach to Internet commerce that sacrificed a lot of security for usability. If the net result of what we've done is to force them to find a better balance, it was well worth the effort. Or, to put it another way, I'm not too worried about competing with software-encrypted credit card numbers if they use an imagemap technique like the one you've outlined. -------- Nathaniel Borenstein <nsb@fv.com> Chief Scientist, First Virtual Holdings FAQ & PGP key: nsb+faq@nsb.fv.com