Letsencrypt doesn't help with email security as it issues TLS certificates 
only. There is no need to worry about it's funding though as they are backed by 
all the big names in internet tech - https://letsencrypt.org/sponsors/

I'm not aware that they ever had government funding.


Hamish

Sent from Nine
________________________________
From: David <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, 8 November 2021 13:17
To: Link
Subject: [LINK] Public keyrings for Joe Blow in AU?

I'd like to canvass the Link Institute's views on the best source of generally 
recognised, well authenticated, and cryptographically secure keys for private 
citizens of this Wide Brown Land. 

As things stand, emails from private citizens to most doctors, lawyers, and 
other professionals must be sent in plain text unless prior arrangements exist. 
 Some organisations do offer secure-mail on their website, but their IT&C 
infrastructure is probably off-shore, which isn't a plus, and it doesn't solve 
the more general problem anyway. 

I know of an Australian bank (not one of the big four) which advises customers 
wishing to transfer amounts larger than the usual maximum ($20,000) to download 
a PDF form and email the completed request to the appropriate department (yep, 
as a simple PDF attachment to a plain-text email).  This form specifies account 
numbers and account holders at both ends of the transaction and of course must 
be signed by the customer! 

The Federal Government is beginning to market a keyring for access to Federal 
government agencies. 

ACSC suggests IP Domain owners should apply for a certificate from Let's 
Encrypt, which I understand is an initiative of the US Government and 
interested stakeholders.  Its certificates are well supported and it ensures 
they remain valid using a certbot and the ACME protocol, but I think someone 
here suggested they'd lost funding?  However the biggest issue is that Let's 
Encrypt certificates apply to domain-name owners, not individuals AFAIK. 

So is our Wide Brown Government going to blunder into the 21st century with FAX 
as the most secure option open to private citizens? 

David Lochrin 


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