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A Simpler, More Personal Key to Protect Online Messages

  • 07-07-2003 9:47am
    #1
    dahamsta
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 16,659 ✭✭✭✭


    A Simpler, More Personal Key to Protect Online Messages
    By JOHN MARKOFF

    ALO ALTO, Calif., July 6 — A Silicon Valley start-up company on Tuesday plans to unveil a new approach to sending secure electronic messages and protecting data, a simpler alternative to current encryption systems, which use long digital numbers, called public keys.

    The new company, Voltage Security, which is based here, instead uses another unique identifier as the public key: the message recipient's e-mail address.

    Under the Voltage system, the sender of a message uses software that converts the recipient's e-mail address into a number and then encrypts the message using a mathematical formula. The recipient can then use a similar formula in conjunction with a secret key to decode the message. The company says it would be almost impossible for an eavesdropper to use the formula. The software can be used with several existing PC e-mail programs.

    [...]


Comments

  • #2
    Druid
    Closed Accounts Posts: 117 ✭✭Druid


    It will never catch on....





    - dru.


  • #3
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 92,550 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Did not read article - reg. needed.

    What is the point ? - your email address is hardly a secret ...

    And even if the address is encrypted in the message header - I'm guessing the email servers will both have public keys exchanged so they can decrypt the header - but if someone is snooping they can grab all the email addresses when you communicate to a server that does not use this system...

    And then there is always social engineering...

    And just how much cheaper is this system going to be.....


  • #4
    ecksor
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 10,501 Mod ✭✭✭✭ecksor


    You can learn about it here: http://crypto.stanford.edu/ibe/


  • #5
    Gavin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,676 ✭✭✭Gavin


    www.ibe.dcu.ie

    The email address is the public key. A corresponding private key is generated, using several elliptic curve parameters and a secret master key. The system utilises key escrow, and as such does not really target Internet users in general.

    www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~gavin/user.pdf &
    www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~gavin/tech.pdf have a bit more info too.


    --

    These are my personal views and not those of employer.. yada yada.


  • #6
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 92,550 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Says it all really..


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