ietf-openpgp
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Re: [openpgp] mailing list: managing the subscriber list

2016-01-13 09:50:52
Hi Werner,

At Tue, 12 Jan 2016 08:19:50 +0100,
Werner Koch wrote:
On Mon, 11 Jan 2016 23:46, neal(_at_)walfield(_dot_)org said:
There are two types of re-encryption that I think are inappropriate:

  - when the mailing list software decrypts and reencrypts each
    message before forwarding it on to the list of subscriber, and,

As soon as you are in the need for a mailing list you have severe opsec
problems which I consider not solvable: You not only need to fully trust
all participants but also need to make sure that _all_ their boxes are
properly secured against attacks.

As we discussed recently offline, I respectfully disagree and I find
this position difficult to resolve with your stated position of trying
to bring GnuPG and encrypt in general to a wider audience.  This is
also why I'm working on this project in my free time and not on the
clock.

Even if people aren't sufficiently careful, ready-to-use encrypted
mailing listings can hinder mass surveillance (similar to the way
OpenPGP can, I think).  Further, for those who do have the opsec
background and need this protection, a solution that is easier to use
than GnuPG groups + manually updating the subscriber list, is probably
safer.

Adding another box to reencrypt the messages does not change the picture
much more than adding another subscriber.

I disagree with this as well.  Someone who hosts many mailing lists
(e.g., google or sf) could abuse their position in a much more
substantive way than a single user.


Thanks,

:) Neal


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