encrypted telnet

[Eric Hughes]

>2) How do you do key distribution? 

Derek asks this, and suggests using Kerberos.  WSK responds by saying
that you could encrypt a session key with PGP and send it.

WSK replies properly that kerberos is a lot of overhead to get
running, but his proposed solution is missing forward secrecy.  If the
PGP key is ever compromised, then all recorded prior traffic will be
available to read.

The solution is to use Diffie-Hellman key exchange.  I'm not going to
explain the details of the algorithm right here, right now, but I'll
tell you it's salient properties.  Each party makes a random number,
applies a one-way function with very special properties, and sends it
to the other.  Then each party takes their secret number, combines it
with the number they were sent, and makes a new (arbitrary) number
which will be the same on both sides.  This number cannot be derived
from the publicly transmitted data.  (The very special function is
exponentiation in a finite field; those with sufficient math
background may consider figuring out the details "a problem left to
the reader.")

Encrypting session keys with PGP is suggested often enough that this
qualifies as a legitimate FAQ.  I'll write up a description of this
protocol next week if no one has one already written.

As a design principle, every live end-to-end session should use D-H to
make session keys.  Only when you don't have interactivity should
session keys be encrypted with a public key.

Eric