Re: Wifi Security

["Steven M. Bellovin" <smb () cs columbia edu>]

In message <Pine.LNX.4.44.0511212148070.25860-100000 () server2 tcw.telecomplete.n
et>, "Stephen J. Wilcox" writes:
> we relay security information and hope
> the user clicks 'yes' when they are told the host key has changed
>
> you dont have to break the code if the endpoints trust sessions with you and 
> share their encryption keys

Put another way, security is as much a matter of proper usage as proper 
algorithms and proper code.  See http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/heath.pdf
for a story of how the NSA and the US Navy got that wrong.  For that 
matter, read Leo Marks' wonderful memoir "Between Silk and Cyanide".  
He's telling a story, not trying to teach, but the message is there 
nonetheless.

As technologists, of course, it's incumbent on us to design security 
systems that help the user understand consequences of actions, and to 
help avoid dangerous situations.

                --Steven M. Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb