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Message-ID: <200310300349.h9U3nx9X009384@turing-police.cc.vt.edu>
From: Valdis.Kletnieks at vt.edu (Valdis.Kletnieks@...edu)
Subject: [Bogus] Microsoft AuthenticodeT webcam viewer plugin
On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 10:55:01 +1300, Nick FitzGerald <nick@...us-l.demon.co.uk> said:
> amount of "trust" a truly good CA can add to the equation, or that MS
> did not understand (or, more likely, was unprepared for marketing
> reasons to admit) that Authenticode is really just a sham adding
> nothing of significant value to the security of mobile code.
I've made variants of the following description of the distinction between
authentication and authorization:
Authentication: Yes, your drivers license says you're Jeffrey Dahlmer.
Authorization: You say you'd like to borrow a steak knife?
I remember that I originally made that analogy during an e-mail exchange with
Michael Howard (of "Writing Secure Code" fame). Unfortunately, I can't quote
an exact date for it, but it was certainly before mid-1999. It was apparent to
me at the time that at least Michael understood the distinction quite well, but
that the Official Party Line said otherwise even then.
I seem to recall that at the time, we both still had an underlying assumption
that the CAs for the PKI were both competent and honest. Looking back at it
from 5 years later, that does seem somewhat naive....
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