Problems with certificates.
I suspect the real danger would come from issuance of duplicate certificates. MasterCard conrols MarterCard numbers by issuing all of them (and I suspect that there is coding to separate MC from Visa from AmEx). Today, each person generates their own PGP key. While it is unlikely that any two will match, it is likely that at some point some two will match (see matching birthdays in a bar - number is less than you would think). Next rage might well be "vanity" PGP keys. While at the moment it is not known how to create a specific match key to a sequence, if you generate enough keys, there will be some interesting sequences found. Possibly some PGP signatures will even be in violation of the CDA (now that should start a rush 8*). For some time I have been concerned about the scalability of PGP. It works well in small groups but after trying once to create a 6,000 member keyring (took over three days on a 386 & was several meg when done) I decided that areas were going to need work to be a real anyone/anywhere/anytime mechanism. Not saying I have a good answer, just that at some point there will be a problem. Warmly, Padgett
Next rage might well be "vanity" PGP keys. While at the moment it is not known how to create a specific match key to a sequence, if you generate enough keys, there will be some interesting sequences found. Possibly some PGP signatures will even be in violation of the CDA (now that should start a rush 8*). That's not quite correct. The part about it not being known, I mean. I created a key: Type bits/keyID Date User ID sec 1024/DEADBEEF 1995/09/28 Prime Rib Lovers sig DEADBEEF Prime Rib Lovers (note: DEADBEEF seems about the most interesting 8-character hex word -- CAFE doesn't seem to go with anything...) And Christopher Drake (http://pobox.com/~netsafe) has mailed out a key which has a company advertisement in its ASCII armor. Hmmm. I thought I kept it around, but I can't find it. Ahhh. There it is. -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6.i mQCNAjD/mQAAAAEEAP/////NetSafe+PGP+key////We+provide+inexpensive AntiFraud/theft+etc+Security+Software5tGfKREuINIWsQqsLNS+uAneN9M SuMu37f+NU/U2djtxE/b9h4bJ4wb8h3QkBiuTAS1QjpxpxryQzZ10zzGQe8VAAUR tChDaHJpc3RvcGhlciBOLiBEcmFrZSA8TmV0U2FmZUBQb2JveC5jb20+ =SGC/ -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Type bits/keyID Date User ID pub 1024/C641EF15 1996/01/19 Christopher N. Drake <NetSafe@Pobox.com> Greg. Greg Rose INTERNET: greg_rose@sydney.sterling.com Sterling Software VOICE: +61-2-9975 4777 FAX: +61-2-9975 2921 28 Rodborough Rd. http://www.sydney.sterling.com:8080/~ggr/ French's Forest 35 0A 79 7D 5E 21 8D 47 E3 53 75 66 AC FB D9 45 NSW 2086 Australia. co-mod sci.crypt.research, USENIX Director.
participants (2)
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A. Padgett Peterson P.E. Information Security -
Greg Rose