Re: the 8-bit dilemma
Barton E. Schaefer (schaefer@z-code.ncd.com)
Wed, 28 Feb 1996 16:20:27 -0800
On Feb 28, 2:21pm, Michael Elkins wrote:
} Subject: RE: the 8-bit dilemma
}
} > Do you mean signing the fact that this is an audio object for example?
} > So I would know if someone changed the type from audio to video? That
} > seems like a fairly esoteric benefit [...]
}
} It _is_ a big deal for any automated message processing, and even for a lot
} of MUAs. You could receive an altered piece of mail that gets ignored...
I don't think a denial-of-service argument flies here; if I can intercept
the message and alter the type, I can just as easily intercept the message
and destroy it entirely. You'd have to postulate a change of type that
actually resulted in some harm to the recipient's system or the sender's
credibility.
} > I always thought of transport security as being handled by Secure Socket
} > Layer.
}
} This would be nice, but alas, not everyon has SSL availible. I suspect
} it will be quite some time before we can ignore connection insecurity.
It's worse than that; Internet email is by definition a store-and-forward
process, so it isn't sufficient to secure the channels. It's important
to secure the data itself.
--
Bart Schaefer Vice President, Technology, Z-Code Software
schaefer@z-code.com Division of NCD Software Corporation
http://www.well.com/www/barts