Pretty much anybody can host a download mirror by sending Harald an email, 
so requiring https to download files doesn't mean much. 


On Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 6:32:26 PM UTC+2, William wrote:
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 9:12 AM Emmanuel Charpentier <
> [email protected] <javascript:>> wrote:
>
>> During the [discussion](
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/sage-devel/fE45025Wphs/mKdCAeNhAgAJ) of 
>> the inclusion of OpenSSL, a few remarks were mafdeabout the security of our 
>> distribution infrastructure.
>>
>>
>> It has been noted that http is ridiculously easy to hijack 
>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/sage-devel/fE45025Wphs/3dfTByrIAQAJ>,  
>> and some have remarked 
>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/sage-devel/fE45025Wphs/FheYtjBWAAAJ> 
>> that this potential threat also applied to the  http downloads from our 
>> mirrors.
>>
>> *I think we should consider this issue, an plan to post (Real Soon Now) a 
>> call for discussion about this.* What is the relevant list ?
>>
>> Others remarked 
>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/sage-devel/fE45025Wphs/podOAX89AAAJ> 
>> that a non-SSL-enabled pip, which impedes, for example, downloading from 
>> Pipy, sort-of enhanced security by suppressing a possible source of attack. 
>> No comments...
>>
>> I have a few questions :
>> * Would it be difficult/onerous/cumbersome to ask our mirrors to switch 
>> to https-only service ?
>> * Would such a measure significantly lower the possibility of attacks of 
>> a Sage user/developer machine via "http hijacking" ?
>> * what is the likelihood of such an attack ?
>>
>
> I would estimate the likelihood that some Sage users is attacked in this 
> way at 99.99%. It's probably already happened. Done right it would not be 
> detected.   There are many extremely smart people whose jobs are related to 
> crypto, and Sage is one of the standard tools of choice for cryptographers, 
> which makes it a very natural target.  If your fulltime job involved 
> gathering intelligence about cryptanalytic techniques, with bonus points 
> for anything not publicly known, it's not too much of a stretch to imagine 
> you might like access to all private files on the computers of cryptography 
> researchers (e.g., papers/research in progress/private ideas).  All it 
> would take would be one slightly modified "sage -i" to install something on 
> a sage-user's computer, and you would own all their data.
>
> It is irresponsible of us (me) to distribute Sage without full 
> https/openssl support, at a minimum.   I really appreciate everybody's help 
> to resolve this...
>
> William
>
>
>>
>> Your inputs, please...
>>
>> --
>> Emmanuel Charpentier
>>
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> -- 
> -- William Stein
>

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