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PGP/MIME vs. S/MIME vs. MOSS
I have heard/read conflicting information on S/MIME and MOSS.
I know that PGP/MIME, after reading the INternet Draft, allows one to
encrypt and send the file/message and the digital signature together. This
is obviously a more secure method than leaving the signature open to be read
by any snooper or sniffer out there. I.E. you have to decrypt before
analyzing the digital signaure/message digest.
My questions are:
1. Does S/MIME leave the signature open? I.E. is there any provision in
S/MIME to include the signature in the encryption?
2. Does MOSS allow for including the signature in the encryption in order to
protect it?
I quickly read through our "IETF EDIINT Working Draft" document and the
comparison matrix, but could not find anything other than a statement in the
matrix that MOSS messages could be identified as signed or unsigned.
Also, I would appreciate some more dialogue on Robert's cryptanalysis
concern with S/MIME:
>But the biggest concern I have of the strength of S/MIME is the presence of
>any known text. All of those imbedded MIME headers. This is exactly the
>attack that got Microsoft's WFW .pwl files! (If you know that starting in
>position 10 you will find the string 'application', the crypto analysis is
>very easy).
>
BTW - I agree very much with Robert's other concern with S/MIME:
>The other problem with S/MIME is that it will tend to restrict product to
>those that can afford to pay RSA.
>
Appreciate any comments!
Regards,
dave_d
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| David Darnell
| SysTrends, Inc.
| Arizona EC/EDI Roundtable
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| Tempe, AZ 85284
| Tel (602)838-5316
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