Re: Draft Minutes of OpenPGP

[Len Sassaman <rabbi@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 4 Aug 2005, Ian Grigg wrote:

> Currently, IM is mostly unsecured (there is this thing
> to do with SSL to the server, but as the threat is on
> the node, that's ignorable).  The way to approach
> securing chat (IMHO) is to layer OpenPGP over the
> top in a transparent fashion.

OpenPGP has a lot of characteristics that one wouldn't particularly want
in an IM privacy protocol. You might want to take a look at the "Off The
Record Messaging" system designed by Goldberg and Borisov. Their WPES
paper addresses the rationale behind ditching the OpenPGP threat model.

http://www.cypherpunks.ca/otr/#docs

(More generally, I agree with the sentiment that ASCII-armored OpenPGP is
important for use with other protocols besides email, and should be the
canonical format for OpenPGP, email and otherwise.)