Re: getross - email privacy /security of system

Ryan Barrett <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.mail.pine.general
Message-ID <[email protected]>
On Sat, 4 Nov 2006, RossARR wrote:

> As for secure emailing only with other computer literate People, as we
> learn, we teach others, then they will follow - so we lead by example.
> "If you build it they will come."

i wish that was true! unfortunately, history would argue otherwise. encrypted
email has been around for decades, but it hasn't caught on with the masses.
most non-techies don't know that email is sent and stored in the clear. when
they're told, it doesn't usually motivate them enough to jump through all
through the PGP hoops, especially since none of their friends have it.

it's a couple of classic adoption problems:

- first, users won't use it until their friends use it, and vice versa.

- second, users likely won't use it unless it's bundled with their client and
   on by default, like SSL in browsers. the big clients - yahoo, microsoft
   (hotmail/outlook), google - won't add it until enough users demand it.


> IBE by email address? Sounds interesting. If I send an email, the receiver
> uses their email address to unencrypt, by typing it in? Anybody that
> intercepts the message could then type in the email address & breach
> security. Maybe I am asleep here. I will followup on that, interesting in

no, it's an asymmetric key system. the email address determines their *public*
key, which is only used to encrypt email. they decrypt email with their
*private* key, which they keep secret, like a password.

-Ryan

--
http://snarfed.org/
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