[Cryptography] [cryptography] Browser JS (client side) crypto FUD

[Lodewijk andré de la porte]

2014-07-31 18:47 GMT+02:00 Tony Arcieri <bascule at gmail.com>:

> Simply using https:// would prevent many active attacks. It isn't a lot
> of effort to implement... certainly a lot less than hand rolling a bunch of
> JS crypto.
>
> Some of these sites are arguing that they're *more* secure by *not* using
> https o_O
>

Ah, but HTTPS works better against passive attacks then against active
attacks! If there are cracks, as you're using a weak ciphersuite for
example, then still cracking takes time. If it's too much time your attack
will be *very* noticable. If there's a 5 minute time until any HTTPS
website first loads (the time it takes "them" to crack it) and HTTP
websites load just fine, you'll know what time it is.

So, most attacks against SSL/TLS would be offline! But if there's attacks
it should only reveal you JS crypto outputs. They couldn't rewrite the
document (the JS) because their attack is "passive".

SO: Use the "safe for a minute" HTTPS connection to deliver the JS that
makes it practically uncrackable after delivery.
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