Cyphernomicon Top
Cyphernomicon 13.9

Activism and Projects:
"What Could Make Crypto Use more Common?"


   13.9.1. transparent use, like the fax machine, is the key
   13.9.2. easier token-based key and/or physical metrics for security
           - thumbprint readers
           - tokens attached to employee badges
           - rings, watches, etc. that carry most of key (with several
              bits remembered, and a strict "three strikes and you're
              out" system)
   13.9.3. major security scares, or fears over "back doors" by the
            government, may accelerate the conversion
           - all it may take are a couple of very large scandals
   13.9.4. insurance companies may demand encryption, for several
            reasons
           - to protect against theft, loss, etc.
           - to provide better control against viruses and other
              modifications which expose the companies they ensure to
              liability suits
           - same argument cited by safe makers: when insurance
              companies demanded better safes, that's when customers
              bought them (and not before)
   13.9.5. Networks will get more complex and will make conventional
            security systems unacceptable
           - "Fortress" product of Los Altos Technologies
           - too many ways for others to see passwords being given to a
              remote host, e.g., with wireless LANs (which will
              necessitate ZKIPS)
           - ZKIPS especially in networks, where the chances of seeing a
              password being transmitted are much greater (an obvious
              point that is not much discussed)
           - the whole explosion in bandwidth
   13.9.6. The revelations of surveillance and monitoring of citizens
            and corporations will serve to increase the use of
            encryption, at first by people with something to hide, and
            then by others. Cypherpunks are already helping by spreading
            the word of these situations.
           - a snowballing effect
           - and various government agencies will themselves use
              encryption to protect their files and their privacy
   13.9.7. for those in sensitive positions, the availability of new
            bugging methods will accelerate the conversion to secure
            systems based on encrypted telecommunications and the
            avoidance of voice-based systems
   13.9.8. ordinary citizens are being threatened because of what they
            say on networks, causing them to adopt pseudonyms
           - lawsuits, ordinary threats, concerns about how their
              employers will react (many employers may adopt rules
              limiting the speech of their employees, largely because of
              concerns they'll get sued)
           + and some database providers are providing cross-indexed
              lists of who has posted to what boards-this is freely
              available information, but it is not expected by people
              that their postings will live forever
             - some may see this as extortion
             - but any proposed laws are unlikely to succeed
             - so, as usual, the solution is for people to protect
                themselves via technological means
   13.9.9. "agents" that are able to retransmit material will make
            certain kinds of anonymous systems much easier to use


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