ietf-smime
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Re: RSA vs. DSA MUST

2000-11-28 18:39:27
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Jueneman" <bjueneman(_at_)novell(_dot_)com>
To: <pgut001(_at_)cs(_dot_)aucKland(_dot_)ac(_dot_)nz>; 
<ietf-smime(_at_)imc(_dot_)org>; <em(_at_)who(_dot_)net>
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2000 1:22 AM
Subject: Re: RSA vs. DSA MUST


Although it isn't strictly interactive in the sense that SSL is,
the SMIMECapabilities attribute allows the originator of a message
to indicate his preference as to encryption algorithms, including
40-bit RC4 vs. 56-bit DES > vs. 128-bit whatever vs. 196-bit
triple-DES (and soon, presumably, 256-bit AES).

Yes, but on the open Internet most certificates are sent as part of the
message (presently in PKCS#7 format), not retrieved from global directories
as the X.500 folks initially hoped. In that context, the recipient would
have to send an initial signed message to the sender to indicate the user
agent's capabilities: and in most cases (like one I mentioned of the mailing
list) that's just not viable.

Enzo



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