[fc-discuss] Financial Cryptography Update: Frank Hecker goes to the Mountain - mapping the structure of the Certificate Authority

[iang@iang.org]

 Financial Cryptography Update: Frank Hecker goes to the Mountain - mapping the structure of the Certificate Authority 

                           November 21, 2005


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https://www.financialcryptography.com/mt/archives/000600.html



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Frank takes aim at the woeful business known as certificate authorities
in an attempt to chart out their structural elements and market
opportunities.

http://www.hecker.org/mozilla/business-of-cas

Frank argues that CAs can be viewed as providers of one of encryption,
DNS-fixes, site identity proofs, _or_ as anti-fraud services. 
Depending on which you choose, this has grave ramifications for what
follows next - Frank's thesis implicitly seems to be that only one of
those can be pursued, and each have severe problems, if not inescapable
and intractable contradictions.  In the meantime, what is a browser
manufacturer supposed to do?

For those who have followed the PKI debate this will not surprise. 
What is stunningly new - as in _news_ - is that this is the first time
to my knowledge that a PKI user organisation has come out and said "we
have a problem here, folks!"  Actually, Frank doesn't say that in
words, but if you understand what he writes, then you'd have to be
pre-neanderthalic not to detect the discord.

What to do next is not clear - so it would appear that this essay is
simply the start of the debate.  That's very welcome, albeit belated.

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