Re: the return of key escrow?
On Thu, Feb 16, 2006 at 06:54:21PM +1300, Peter Gutmann wrote: Steven M. Bellovin [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: According to the BBC, the British government is talking to Microsoft about putting in a back door for the file encryption mechanisms. That's one way of looking at it. It's not really a backdoor, it's a way of spiking DRM. This is exactly it. For years Western governments have been worried that terrorists might build a secure distribution network for information and orders, and now Hollywood is building one. A fake record label would be a fantastic front for such a thing; each subscriber device (such as a PC or mobile phone) can be uniquely identified, so when your agent downloads the latest hit single he actually gets four minutes of orders etc; nobody can tell from the outside, it's wiretap-resistant, the agent can't have the key beaten out of him because he doesn't know it, it's difficult and time-consuming to extract it from the device, and because everyone has one it's quite hard to use traffic analysis alone to pick out suspects. There is no way Microsoft is going to build in a back door to Vista for Special Branch - once they do that for one government and it becomes known all hell breaks loose and they get banned from half their markets. Some form of crazy overcomplicated key escrow system might happen; might as well tie people's TCPA keys to their biometric identity cards, right? Pete -- Peter Clay | Campaign for _ _| .__ | Digital / / | | | Rights! \_ \_| | | http://www.ukcdr.org - The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending unsubscribe cryptography to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: the return of key escrow?
Steven M. Bellovin [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: According to the BBC, the British government is talking to Microsoft about putting in a back door for the file encryption mechanisms. That's one way of looking at it. It's not really a backdoor, it's a way of spiking DRM. If the UK government can be scared into requiring that Windows Vista not be fully DRM-enabled (by whatever means necessary), then that's a good thing. Waving the four horsemen at them is a good way of achieving this - the horsemen have been used for years to justify restrictive computer laws, now (for once) they're being used to try and combat restrictions. So we hould be supporting this, not condemning it. Maybe someone with a congresscritters ear in the US could get the same thing adopted over there. The horsemen are bigger than Hollywood. Peter. - The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending unsubscribe cryptography to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: the return of key escrow?
Ok the lurker posts...Can someone explain to me why security specialists think this:The system uses BitLocker Drive Encryption through a chip called TPM (Trusted Platform Module) in the computer's motherboard. is going to stop authorities from retreiving data?I ask this question on the basis of their encrypted hard drive on the old xbox. It supposedly used a secure key so the hard drive couldn't be upgraded, yet this fact didn't slow down the modd scene. Its not as if they are hardware encrypting tightly is it? Just curious I guess.-ChrisOn 15/02/06, Steven M. Bellovin [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: According to the BBC, the British government is talking to Microsoftabout putting in a back door for the file encryption mechanisms. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4713018.stm--Steven M. Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb -The Cryptography Mailing ListUnsubscribe by sending unsubscribe cryptography to [EMAIL PROTECTED]-- -GThe knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it. He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it...We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. Famous Quotes written by Douglas Adams,(British comic writer, 1952-2001)http://hitchhikers.movies.go.com/
Re: the return of key escrow?
Chris Olesch wrote: Ok the lurker posts... Can someone explain to me why security specialists think this: The system uses BitLocker Drive Encryption through a chip called TPM (Trusted Platform Module) in the computer's motherboard. is going to stop authorities from retreiving data? I ask this question on the basis of their encrypted hard drive on the old xbox. It supposedly used a secure key so the hard drive couldn't be upgraded, yet this fact didn't slow down the modd scene. Its not as if they are hardware encrypting tightly is it? The old XBox didn't encrypt the data on the hard drive - instead, it used a password on the drive firmware that almost all modern hard drives support (your home pc's drive almost certainly supports the same thing, even if your bios doesn't) Defeating the password requires one of: a) obtaining the password b) replacing the drive bios or controller c) using an already unlocked drive d) defeating the os on a running system to allow writes to the drive all known xbox hacks used method c) or d) - using a game to bypass the write protection, or disconnecting the ide cable after the drive was unlocked and using a standard usbide adaptor to write to the drive. - The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending unsubscribe cryptography to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
