[117526] in Cypherpunks
RE: NSA key in MSFT Crypto API
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sean Roach)
Sun Sep 5 01:56:11 1999
Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.19990905003917.00806780@mail.intplsrv.net>
Date: Sun, 05 Sep 1999 00:39:17 -0500
To: cypherpunks@algebra.com
From: Sean Roach <roach_s@mail.intplsrv.net>
In-Reply-To: <000f01bef6e8$bfdc8b60$bf011712@bananas>
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Reply-To: Sean Roach <roach_s@mail.intplsrv.net>
At 11:18 AM 9/4/99 -0400, Phill Hallam-Baker wrote:
>
>>In a very important sense, it doesn't matter who actually "owns"
>>the NSAKEY. What matters is that there is a second key, that this
>>key can be used to verify CSP's, that it can be replaced without adversely
>>affecting the rest of the "operating system," and that no special
>>privileges are needed to do the replacement. A program that does
>>exactly this is already available.
>
>Rich, that is simply not fair. If MSFT had created a complete operating
>system in which every component was digitally signed (a damn good idea
>BTW) and there was no other means of running a component than it was
>signed a backdoor key would be a serious issue.
Maybe someone can set up a privacy-secured distribution of Linux or BSD.
Probably not, too much effort reading through that much code when it would
probably be easier to start over with a spiral model.
>MSFT has not done anything remotely like that. They have merely created
>a crypto system that passes the ludicrous crypto export rules.
>
>If as MSFT claim they still have full control of both keys the fact
>one is labelled NSA is pretty irrelevant.
>
>
>The only relevant fact is that the second key can be easilly replaced
>thus invalidating the whole export control concept.
Here is a bandwagon idea for the public opinion rebound. Perhaps it's an
inside joke. Sort of a, "Well, if you replace this bit right here, that
whole NSA requirement goes right out the window. Let's name it after the
agency that it will hurt the most".
This is not to say that I will do anything I consider sensitive on Windows.
I've been shaken by the concept too much, and besides, I finally got
around to re-installing linux to play around with.
Sean Roach
