can someone verify the gnupg Fingerprint for pubkey?

[david at gbenet.com]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On 07/06/12 00:15, Sam Smith wrote:
> yes, impersonation of the UID [Werner Koch (dist sig)] is what I'm trying to guard against.
> 
> My efforts to verify the fingerprint are the best way to do this, correct?
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2012 21:54:01 +0200
>> From: peter at digitalbrains.com
>> To: gnupg-users at gnupg.org
>> Subject: Re: can someone verify the gnupg Fingerprint for pubkey?
>>
>> On 06/06/12 17:58, Mika Suomalainen wrote:
>> >> D869 2123 C406 5DEA 5E0F 3AB5 249B 39D2 4F25 E3B6
>> > Looks correct.
>> >
>> > ``` % gpg --recv-keys D8692123C4065DEA5E0F3AB5249B39D24F25E3B6 gpg:
>> > requesting key 4F25E3B6 from hkp server pool.sks-keyservers.net gpg: key
>> > 4F25E3B6: public key "Werner Koch (dist sig)" imported
>>
>> I agree it appears he has the correct key. I did a local sig on it after what
>> checking I seemed to be able to do without meeting people in person.
>>
>> But it's a bit unclear to me on what basis you decided it looked correct? Your
>> mail suggests to me that you decided that based on the fact that the UID on
>> that key is "Werner Koch (dist sig)". But that would be the very first thing a
>> potential attacker would duplicate in his effort to fool our OP. Even if he's
>> using MITM tricks to subvert his system, he can still post his personally
>> generated key to the keyserver with this UID.
>>
>> Peter.
>>
>> PS: I briefly considered signing this message, because the attacker might MITM
>> my message to the OP. Then I realised what good that signature would do :).
>>
>> --
>> I use the GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) in combination with Enigmail.
>> You can send me encrypted mail if you want some privacy.
>> My key is available at http://wwwhome.cs.utwente.nl/~lebbing/pubkey.txt
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Gnupg-users mailing list
>> Gnupg-users at gnupg.org
>> http://lists.gnupg.org/mailman/listinfo/gnupg-users
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Gnupg-users mailing list
> Gnupg-users at gnupg.org
> http://lists.gnupg.org/mailman/listinfo/gnupg-users

Sam,

You are a little confused - you ask ask "can some one verify the gnupg fingerprint for
pubkey" and you use Verners key to verify gnupg. Then you worry about impersonation - now
clearly Verner and gnupg have different keys. Or don't you know that?

Clearly you failed to follow my link and clearly you failed to check the public key for
gnupg. Now being a little confused try and get a clear question in your mind - is it
Verner's key that you have such a passion to verify or gnupg?

Verner's had about three keys two of which have expired - to the best of  my knowledge he's
a real person - he even maintains this list. You could always try encrypting  an e-mail to
his public key asking him if he's a real person. I'd suggest you not do the same for the
public key of gnupg.

People generate a private and a public key imaginary people don't do this - granted some one
can set up a false ID and create a set of keys - but though they have created a false ID to
do so they are nevertheless real people.

If you are so concerned about Verner's key why not take a trip to Germany and arrange to
meet him? You can't meet the gnupg (as its a bit of software) but you can verify it's
running on your computer.

All your keys are "untrusted." Everyone of them - apart from your own public key. They all
remain so until you actually meet that person and verify that they are who they say they
are. You carefully check their passport their driving licence.

But gnupg has not got a passport or a driving license. The only way you can check if gnupg
is real is to check if it's running on your computer gpg --version - this will tell you if
you have the software installed. If it's installed and working correctly it must be real.

What if that fails? Well you do the same thing gpg2 --version and hope that Verner does not
pop up and say "Hello."

David


- -- 
“See the sanity of the man! No gods, no angels, no demons, no body. Nothing of the
kind.Stern, sane,every brain-cell perfect and complete even at the moment of death. No
delusion.” https://linuxcounter.net/user/512854.html - http://gbenet.com
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/

iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJP0CzCAAoJEOJpqm7flRExrRoH+gIVpmZ+pLRh3iT13AzX7oUn
qcJ8F9WT8RvfpTEK4gWPmu6MXmSVLbIvzJPcQswVFCGSgHeisIxkKSdZzXzsV1Ay
Yge0MPrZIxR/xA8ZJFC2+Oirx7ERPf615neoIAFwGu6Ern4XHWS7D2iCpfdknFfe
B2zmQGHhHmonZG99MOUyAAO9ndDxeXtBMxcTFFPn3ilSqErQ3Xhc9uDOaSWG5uc+
prgXt8E9Ku4sptk7vDnArxri5i5xs6QAxP7JzGYZda/9vqyDfj5ZniIht+8VAu3x
eugnoPGyyBiJJ/blmeRoizbqG2xwwxkpb9lE8/cCPKw/4pdUo+638IGd2LXYkp8=
=5tt8
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----