At 01:59 PM 1/14/02 -0800, Eric Rescorla wrote: >Saying that SSL without certificates is fine as long as you >don't have active attacks is kind of like saying that leaving >your front door open is fine as long as noone tries to break >in.
No, its more. SSL sans certs is like using envelopes to write to Dear Abby. You have no authentication on who Dear Abby "really is" but your communications are private. Since the entity who claims to be Dear Abby also gives a communications address, writing to Dear Abby at that address is sufficient. (Modulo MIM attacks) [Moderator's note: Except that's precisely the point: "Modulo MIM attacks" is like saying "we're all immortal, modulo death". The question isn't some sort of mystification of identity -- it is being able to know that you're talking to the same "Dear Abby" your friends have talked to and that you talked to last week. Now that MIM attacks have been automated they don't even need sophistication to conduct. --Perry] When you call a phone number listed with an advert, and give them your credit card number, you have less confidentiality (you're speaking plaintext), but its the same model. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
