Cryptography Forum

scojones

I propose a Cryptography forum in Sci/Tech => Science section. Should discuss all crypto stuff, plus the crypto we are learning in college. I just picked up Applied Cryptography (again) by Bruce Schneider and that's what gave me this idea I'm aware that _some_ crypto stuff could be posted in the mathematics forum, but i think a seperate one is needed! What do the rest of you think?

logic1

Linux Gaming last week, Cryptography this week, you really are an eager beaver.

I think Crypto is covered by Security judging by the amount of topics that come up on the subject.

.logic.

ecksor

This is covered by Security and Mathematics.

GuanYin

Hrmmmm
I think I'd prefer to see Biology chemsitry and Physics forums added first.

I do think that for the amount of cryptography threads you will get the maths forum should suffice.

Still, the way things are going with science and the attempts to get people interested, it would be an interesting sponsorship angle....

scojones

Eager beaver? lol Nay. I just think the forum is needed. Granted at present it may be covered by other forums, because it does not exist. If Security forum didn't exist it would be covered in the Technology section. Da?

ecksor

Well, I don't think that Technology is a good fit for cryptography posts any more than, say, posts about data compression.

Cryptography implications and implementation are directly relevant to security, and cryptographic algorithms are directly relevant to mathematics. I mean, if you want someone to explain the finer points of the discrete logarithm problem (and I wish someone would ) or give you a quick primer on finite fields, then maths is the natural forum ...

ecksor

Ah, I misread you.

No, Technology doesn't cover security, but that's another day's rant.

scojones

Originally posted by ecksor
Ah, I misread you.

No, Technology doesn't cover security, but that's another day's rant.

You misread me again

Originally posted by sjones
If Security forum didn't exist it would be covered in the Technology section. Da?

ecksor

No, I didn't, but I'll rephrase for you.

No, Technology wouldn't cover Security, but that's another day's rant.

scojones

If there was no Security forum then Technology would have to cover it. Just like there is no Cryptography forum so Security and/or Mathematics has to cover it. Granted Cryptography has to do with security and math (duh) but i feel that since it is such a wide topic, it deserves its' own forum. Take this example:
"Johnny wants to ask a few questions on crypto. He sees there is no crypto forum, but there is a math and a security forum. He's unsure which of these forums covers the questions he has about crypto, because some of the questions are about the different levels of security crypto provides, and others are about the mathematics behind it, others are asking how to implement it, and which ciphers to use, people's good/bad experiences with crypto, how to implement OpenSSL, the history of crypto, any upcomming conferences regarding crypto(toorcon has just past), the speeds of the different ciphers, what the difference between the ciphers are, how to go about encrypting your hard disk - not so your sister can't read it - so your government can't read it. Splitting his query into seperate forums seems trivial, a crypto forum would solve little johnny's problem."
I do realise that the first two parts of johnny's query are covered, but i don't feel that the others are. Hense the request.

ecksor

Originally posted by sjones
If there was no Security forum then

Some security questions would be on topic there, others not. This has been covered in some threads linked from the FAQ on the Security forum.

He sees there is no crypto forum, but there is a math and a security forum. He's unsure which of these forums covers the questions he has about crypto, because some of the questions are about the different levels of security crypto provides, and others are about the mathematics behind it,

Ok, I think we are covered up to here ...

others are asking how to implement it, and which ciphers to use, people's good/bad experiences with crypto, how to implement OpenSSL, the history of crypto, any upcomming conferences regarding crypto(toorcon has just past), the speeds of the different ciphers, what the difference between the ciphers are, how to go about encrypting your hard disk - not so your sister can't read it - so your government can't read it.

Those are different threads, and they all live on the Security forum, with the possible exception of the speed question.

Splitting his query into seperate forums seems trivial, a crypto forum would solve little johnny's problem." I do realise that the first two parts of johnny's query are covered, but i don't feel that the others are. Hense the request.

Well, I don't see why you would feel that.

This sort of thing has come up before. I don't know why people don't realise how broad the charter for the Security forum is, but if you can enlighten me then perhaps we can make people aware.

scojones

Originally posted by ecksor
This sort of thing has come up before.

I didn't realise that, but if i'd have bothered to check around, i'd have seen that, right ecksor? Was worth a shot IMO. Tune in next week........

MarcusGarvey

I don't think this is a matter of nomenclature more the fact that theres not enough interest for now to create a new forum for it.

davej

If there was no Security forum then Technology would have to cover it.

How far are you willing to go with this logic ? Taken to the extreme one could argue that every forum is ultimately covering for a potential sub category.

I think there has to be a balance between how specific and how general forums should be. The natural progression of any online community is to diversify and specialise.

However a judgement has to be made on whether there is a user base to support a new "specialisation". Linked to this is the risk that creating a new forum could, in the long run, cause damage by splitting up an already small group.

IMO there is no such case for a crytography forum right now. There isn't a big enough user base to support it.

Unless you can push for the "activism" or "boards cryptography project" angle which seems to be a popular way to get useless forums created around here

davej

scojones

I thought there would have been enough interest for it, considering alot of the people who post here are either CS students/graduates/work in the IT area/study sci/study math. Oh welp.

ecksor

I don't doubt that there is interest, although the cryptography threads up to now have been relatively sparse. But, there have been some interesting questions on occasion on Security.

But, the natural home for cryptography is the aforementioned forums. I welcome discussion in those places, and we can see how well or badly it does.

I have a feeling that constant postings of the latest vulnerability, the latest piece of malware floating around, and "Help, my computer is being h4x0red" threads make some people feel that the forum is restricted to those areas.

If boards is lacking anything in this area, it's probably a computer science forum, although nobody has requested one of those!

scojones

Computer Science is covered by the Technology and Science forums

Victor

Should "Security" be renamed "Electronic Security" or are burly men at the front door covered by the charter?

PrecariousNuts

Out of interest where are you doing the cryptography course? It's an area that really interests me now after reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.

ecksor

Originally posted by Victor
Should "Security" be renamed "Electronic Security" or are burly men at the front door covered by the charter?

The spirit of the thing is more like 'information security' but I'm not sure how to give a precise definition. If burly men at the front door want to discuss methods of keeping the peace in the face of unwarranted abuse by some punters, then it probably isn't the place to do it, but if you are discussing physical security and controls, then guards are conceivably on-topic.

The various theories that come out of computer science regarding access control models, and attacks against electronic systems or computers are naturally on topic, but here's a selection of interesting issues that I think would be interesting and would live quite comfortably there:

- What is the government doing wrt protection of critical infrastructure. What should it be doing? What could go wrong?
- What are the privacy implications for the proposed DNA databank that Minister McDowell is seeking to introduce? Will information be adequately protected? Why is a society that is so keen to debate the merits of a ban of smoking in places of work apparently disinterested in this?
- How well does the current e-voting system match the letter and the spirit of existing voting legislation and the requirements of the Irish constitution? How well assured are we of the quality of the system? What is the potential for a foreign government to interfere with the outcome of an election?
- How does your business survive if you are targetted by an arsonist or bomber and you lose your main place of business? How do you prepare for that?
- What are the potential implications for the effective lifetime of RSA keys if the current research by Daniel Bernstein into hardware factoring techniques bear fruit?
- Does the technique discovered last year for testing primality in deterministic polynomial time have a substantial effect upon the effective lifetime of RSA keys? Why?

DeVore

Denied. Soz.

DeV.