[Cryptography] Definition of useful life?
Bob Wilson
wilson at math.wisc.edu
Mon Jul 10 12:43:13 EDT 2017
In digest volume 51, issue 11, there was a mention of
> There's a twenty-year-old HSM, IBM's 4758
which inspired me to review what that device did. Present day
descendants are described by IBM at
> http://www.ibm.com/security/cryptocards/pciecc/pdf/PCIe_Spec_Sheet.pdf
That in turn includes a statement (which resembles a great many warranty
statements)
> During the final manufacturing step, the coprocessor generates aunique
> public/private key pair, which is stored in the device. The tamper
> detection circuitry is activated at this time and remains active
> throughout the useful life of the coprocessor, protecting this private
> key, as well as all other keys and sensitive data.
Doesn't that use of "the useful life" amount to a tautology, i.e. "when
it no longer does what you bought it for it is no longer useful"?
I don't think this is really off-topic since something equivalent to
that tautological usage is probably contained or implied in what a
manufacturer says about any of the products we work on!
(It's like a "lifetime guarantee" that the maker implements by killing
you if the product breaks...)
Bob Wilson
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