[Clips] The summer of PKI love

James A. Donald jamesd at echeque.com
Fri Aug 12 12:44:19 EDT 2005


    --
From:           	"Stefan Kelm"
<stefan.kelm at secorvo.de>
> The usage of X.509 certificates and related PKI
> techniques is getting more and more common. It enables
> users to sign and encrypt messages, to use secure
> communication channels for internet communication and
> to authenticate themselves to all kind of network
> services. The overall level of security for the usage
> of public key cryptography depends heavily on that of
> the private key, which is usually installed on the 
> local host of the user. This poses not only a security
> risk but it does also restrict the increasing user
> demand for mobility. A solution to these problems can
> be smart cards and USB-tokens, which store private 
> keys in such a way that they cannot be retrieved from
> these

If the token has no user interface, or minimal user
interface, and the mobile user uses the token to log on
to a corrupted computer, then the adversary has control
of the token, even though the rightful user retains
physical control of the token. 

    --digsig
         James A. Donald
     6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG
     k8jT9lI+qnD2l9zmgoEnD1dREI6nEAq21MKjTBy2
     4l82lryIH7nTP4rjhCMmKYcuZkd3xQSd8Mtpt1S8d


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