Re: Cryptobox (was Re: Edupage, June 20, 2001)

Tell them to stop as it already exists, get Plan 9. http://plan9.bell-labs.com On Thu, 21 Jun 2001, R. A. Hettinga wrote:

At 5:08 PM -0600 on 6/20/01, EDUCAUSE wrote:

...

PRIVATE LIFE Researchers at Ottawa University are developing Cryptobox, a program that encrypts e-mail, instant messages, and other Internet communications. The program works by sending transmissions over a peer-to-peer network, scrambling each end of the transmission with an encryption code and hiding it underneath a stream of junk traffic. The system automatically decodes the transmissions once they reach their destinations. The researchers have already tested Cryptobox in a network of 40 real and 200 virtual clients and report that the test succeeded. Independent researchers are skeptical, however. Richard Clayton, a computer scientist at Cambridge University, noted, "It's unclear whether they can make this work and keep it stable in the real world with millions of systems." The program could, if successful on a large scale, solve one of the main security vulnerabilities of the Internet. Currently, e-mails, instant messages, and many other transmissions can be easily intercepted by those with access to key areas of a network. (New Scientist Online, 18 June 2001)

-- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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