[Cryptography] Two physics experiment questions

[Jon Callas]

> On May 27, 2026, at 03:09, Ralf Senderek <crypto at senderek.ie> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, 26 May 2026, Jon Callas wrote:
> 
>>> Take the total silence on this list to Peter's posting about copy fail.
>> 
>> What about it? It's a kernel bug. It's not cryptography at all, and strictly speaking off-topic
>> for the list.
> 
> That's exactly the wrong mindset you're promoting.
> 
> Cryptography is not (only) about algorithms and math, it matters most when it 
> comes to actually building secure systems that we use. And if (failed)
> cryptography in the kernel is off-topic for this list, then you've had some
> kind of success.

Fair enough, but I disagree just a bit.

If you don't have a secure kernel, then everything is insecure, and yes cryptographic keys are part of everything. 

I think there are some things we acknowledge as threats, but they aren't precisely cryptography.

Example, what if you could read someone's mind from far away. That totally ruins end-to-end encryption in messengers. No need to read the traffic, you read the person's mind.

That doesn't mean I don't think we need secure kernels -- I was a secure kernel person long before I did any cryptography. We need secure kernels, and among the reasons we need them is confidentiality.

	Jon