Re: Opportunistic signatures - a proposed design

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On Sun, 29 Aug 2004, Jonathan Morton wrote:

> What the bank really wants is not a signature, but a certificate, at 
> least by my terminology.
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i'll go with that.


> And this is why the PGP folks have their heads up their arses, to use a 
> colloquialism.  There are so many other gaps in the system that there 
> really is no point in forcing people who don't actually need it to use a 
> "perfect" but hugely overcomplex system.
>
> To abuse an analogy, this is like an airliner with a dodgy engine, a 
> drunk First Officer, cracks in the rudder, and a malfunctioning 
> starboard aileron, returning to the gate...  because there weren't 
> enough "refreshing towelettes".
===========

if one is using pgp on windoze, then i agree with that analogy.

i would also agree that pgp signatures, with 1024+ bit keys is complete 
and total overkill *if* it's being used an an anti-spam measure... but if 
it's being used for other reasons, and it just so happens to be useful in 
bypassing a spam filter, then that's a different story. i think that 
conventional asymmetric keys in the 256-512 bit range would be adequate 
for the purpose of automatically signing an email, *if* the intended 
purpose is to bypass a filter, *not* to prove authorship. HOWEVER, the 
more i think about that type of system, the more i like hashcash better.


  	...atom

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 	"Unthinking respect for authority
 	 is the greatest enemy of truth."
 		-- Albert Einstein
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