Re: How do I know if its encrypted?
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
From: daleh@ix.netcom.com (Dale Harrison (AEGIS))
Paco begins by inventing the new [format] of which only Paco knows the internals.
Eric Hughes replied:
No operator of any data service can be expected to know about every data interpretation. The key here is "good faith". An operator can undertake a good faith effort to remain ignorant about content.
While this may be possible, the argument that someone actively tried to remain uninformed about something "dangerous" or potentially "illegal" doesn't seem like a particularly strong defense. Someone with proper credentials might want to comment on whether intentional ignorance is sufficient to avoid culpability. =D.C. Williams <dcwill@ee.unr.edu> - --- [This message has been signed by an auto-signing service. A valid signature means only that it has been received at the address corresponding to the signature and forwarded.] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Gratis auto-signing service iQBFAwUBLxdS6yoZzwIn1bdtAQHHYQF/Qe+7AcXH5ub+BMEY91hjbKNwGGUEho5o CN63jwJ4NQYBcLHwhhu9Q+b1wTE9hMrB =lSSE -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
OK. If this isn't the solution, it at least makes it past Eric's last objection. Alice hashes her file and uses that hash as the key to encrypt the file. She sends the file to Dave, and sends the original hash when she wants it back. Dave decrypts, and confirms the hash. Unfortunately, this still doesn't quite close the loop--Dave knows the contents of the file once Alice sends the key. It does, however, make it very difficult for Dave to know anything about Alice's file. In a real-world implementation, Dave is going to want to get the file back to Alice as quickly as possible, since that's part of what she's paying for. Scanning the file as it leaves will slow down delivery--especially if it's "suspicious" and must get routed to a human--so it's uneconomical for Dave to do anything until later. Once he's returned the file, the deed has been done, and it does little good to know that Alice was hoarding plans to build a nuke, as she's got them back again--the cat's out of the bag. b& -- Ben.Goren@asu.edu, Arizona State University School of Music Finger ben@tux.music.asu.edu for PGP public key ID 0xCFF23BD5.
participants (2)
-
Ben Goren -
Dr. D.C. Williams