How are spoof decryptions prevented?

Ian BROWN I.Brown at cs.ucl.ac.uk
Tue, 03 Aug 1999 10:16:37 +0100


>This may seem unduly simple minded, but in a situation where enforcement to
>provide clear text is imposed upon me, how would the LEA know that I did the
>decryption truly, rather than substitute some censored alternative?
>Presumably they would wish to see me going through the decryption process
>itself, or have some other contextual evidence that would assure them - not
>always either practical or foolproof.

It's the reason, as I think Adam said, why providing a session key to the LEA 
is a fair compromise for both sides. They don't get to decrypt all your 
previous and future messages with your private key, but can be sure you aren't 
substituting a random cover message.

Ian :)