Politech mailing list archives
FC: Usenix notes: PGP usability, road trip, Freeh, Palms, etc.
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () vorlon mit edu>
Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 12:34:20 -0400 (EDT)
[A few notes from the 1999 Usenix security symposium. Complete text at URL below... Reply to declan () well com. --Declan] http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/21484.html Tales From the Crypto by Declan McCullagh 3:00 a.m. 28.Aug.99.PDT DUMB CRYPTO: Talk to any non-geek who's struggled to puzzle out secure encryption programs like PGP, and you'll hear that they're just too darn difficult to use. But Carnegie Mellon University researchers have found that usability problems are worse than expected. ROAD TRIP: What do a bunch of security geeks in town for Usenix do for a good time? Answer: A road trip to the National Cryptologic Museum. HACKING HOTELS: When the JW Marriott on Pennsylvania Avenue dropped Ethernet connections into each of its hotel rooms, it also installed a system to charge guests $10 a day for the service. But the hotel never anticipated hosting a convention of Unix security experts. PASSWORDABLE PALMS: Worried about thieves nabbing a copy of the private encryption key saved on your hard drive? If you have a PalmPilot, some Princeton researchers have a solution. SPIES ON US: The FBI's unrelenting drive to spy on all of our supposedly private communications is because bureau director Louis Freeh takes encryption personally, a Usenix speaker said. Sun researcher Susan Landau said Freeh and other agents-turned-bureaucrats grew up on wiretaps and can't quite kick the habit. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe: send a message to majordomo () vorlon mit edu with this text: subscribe politech More information is at http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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- FC: Usenix notes: PGP usability, road trip, Freeh, Palms, etc. Declan McCullagh (Aug 30)