what is killing PKI?

[Mark H. Wood]

On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 03:14:50PM -0400, Landon Hurley wrote:
[snip]
> I do have a question about where you talk about backups though. How
> does PKI prevent back up loss?

If I can prove that I possess my password without ever disclosing that
password to my correspondent, he never has my password and can't have
it lost or stolen.  "Three can keep a secret, if two of them are
dead."

It doesn't prevent backup loss; it eliminates the cost to me should
some vendor's backups go astray.  No one can learn my secrets from
people who never had them.  I only have to disclose my public key,
which is not secret, to my correspondents; my private key never leaves
my equipment unless someone penetrates *my* system or steals *my*
backups.

-- 
Mark H. Wood, Lead System Programmer   mwood at IUPUI.Edu
Asking whether markets are efficient is like asking whether people are smart.
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