what is the use of signing keys?

[David Shaw]

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On Sat, Oct 13, 2001 at 03:07:44AM +0100, Mark Brown wrote:
> On Sat, Oct 13, 2001 at 02:02:22AM +0100, Owen Blacker wrote:
>=20
> > So I have a signing key, with no encryption component, so I know that it
> > can't be seized under any circumstances.
>=20
> Is there anything technical preventing the signature key from being used
> for encryption other than stuff like option flags?

Depends on the key algorithm.

With RSA, there is no particular reason (and you can change the flags
by changing your self-signature).  You can do it with ElGamal as well,
but there is some controversy whether an ElGamal signing key is a good
idea in the first place.

David

--=20
   David Shaw  |  dshaw@jabberwocky.com  |  WWW http://www.jabberwocky.com/
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   "There are two major products that come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX.
      We don't believe this to be a coincidence." - Jeremy S. Anderson

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