Best practices/HOWTO for key storage in small office/home office setting?

[Rick Smith at Secure Computing]

At 11:41 AM 10/2/2001, Bill Stewart wrote:
>At 07:23 PM 10/02/2001 +0300, Sampo Syreeni wrote:
>>Or integrate some computing power into those IBM thingies, and use
>>remotely keyed encryption. Enough power is available through USB so that
>>you don't have to end up with battery power.
>
>Sounds like you're starting to reinvent the I-Button.
>(Dallas semiconductor's product - uses a small computer chip
>and an infrared link attached to a watch battery.)

Or the iKey which is pretty much exactly what you're describing -- smart 
card-like crypto functions and key storage that plugs right into a USB 
socket. Given that just about everything has USB now, these seem a lot more 
practical than smart cards, which require the purchase of an interface device.

>If your threat model includes people rifling through your office
>looking for stuff, you're probably toast anyway,

Either you have to be compulsive about carrying the key-holder, whether it 
be smart card, iButton, iKey, or whatever, or you have to incorporate 
memorized safe combinations, er, passwords. It's like the way that every 
key in a typical office is usually on a ring in the secretary's unlocked 
desk drawer, which is why safes have combination locks instead of keys. Of 
course, then you have to contend with the compulsion to write the secret 
down so you don't forget it, and you're back where you started...


Rick.
smith at securecomputing.com          roseville, minnesota
"Authentication" coming in October http://www.visi.com/crypto/




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