Ethereal-users: Re: [Ethereal-users] Web Site security (OT reply)

Note: This archive is from the project's previous web site, ethereal.com. This list is no longer active.

From: Thorsten Fischer <thorsten@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 12:15:33 +0000
This is not related to using etheral, but I need to say it :) Granted,
my reply is off-topic, and maybe a little rant-ish.

alias alias wrote:
> My problem is that I'm trying to encrypt the user data on the client to make sure
> that the user data travels the internet encrypted without using SSL or
any other
> SSL-like mechanism. I think the code I've developed is working [...]

What is wrong with using SSL? Browsers and servers support it, and it works.

If you encrypt on the client side using your own code, then the client
must know the algorithm and more important: the key. If they are not
built into the client, both need to traverse the network in the clear
since there is obviously no encryption there in the first place.

But if I can sniff that from the wire then I will be able to decrypt the
traffic that I sniff afterwards, since I know the algorithm and the key.
 If I cannot sniff it, then there is no reason to encrypt it in the
first place.

It might be that you implemented public key cryptography, but I doubt
that you did, because then you could just as well have used SSL.

Also, proper cryptography is difficult to implement properly. I have
seen many 'encryption' mechanisms passed around in JavaScript and the
like, along with the 'secret' keys and nonces and what not. It never works.


Cheers

t

-- 
Thorsten Fischer
Information Security Consultant
IRM PLC

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