Perversity of Section 13

David Swarbrick david at swarb.demon.co.uk
Mon, 2 Aug 1999 18:13:35 +0100


In message <kpiu6yljfm.fsf@utip376.cs.utwente.nl>, Jaap-Henk Hoepman
<hoepman@cs.utwente.nl> writes
>On Thu, 29 Jul 1999 20:39:09 +0100 David Swarbrick <david@swarb.demon.co.uk> 
>writes:
>> Which is another way of saying that the distinction between the two is
>> unsafe. How can software be written which safely falls into one camp but
>> not the other?
>> 
>> A digital signature involves the encryption of something, some secret.
>> Is it not then encryption vis a vis that element?
>
>Yes, but it is an `encryption' which can be `decrypted' by everybody; 

The secret remains implied in the encrypted text. Only the author has
teh secret required to produce that encrypted text
>moreover, 
>the thing signed is not secret (or else the signature could not be verified).

It can also be encrypted so that only the intended recipient can read
it.



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