Wired: Echelon Furor Ends in a Whimper

[Owen Lewis]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukcrypto-admin@chiark.greenend.org.uk
> [mailto:ukcrypto-admin@chiark.greenend.org.uk]On Behalf Of David Wagner
> Sent: 22 July 2001 01:35
> To: ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk
> Subject: Re: Wired: Echelon Furor Ends in a Whimper
>
>
> Owen Lewis wrote:
> >The real problem with "universal end to end encryption" is that its
> >universality must depend on:
> >	a. Universal adoption of a single PKC.
>
> I think it might not be so hard as you imagine, in some contexts.
> Consider what it would take to institute universal end-to-end
> encryption for cellphones to protect against passive eavesdropping.
> The technological infrastructure is well within our reach, and it doesn't
> require a global PKI where every cellphone user must have a certified
> public key.

You are thinking of using Diffie-Hellmann for the session key exchange? OK,
but how on a *universal* scale does one make the system proof against
spoofing? Voice authentication? I don't think so.

As I see it, a single all-purpose (+universal) PKI with certified keys could
provide what is necessary.

Owen