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"discourage" such an euphemism. You can write crypto code and not rewrite all the primitives, I certainly think that any good software engineer could write his
by doe88 14y ago
"discourage" such an euphemism.
You can write crypto code and not rewrite all the primitives, I certainly think that any good software engineer could write his own implementation of operations on GF(2^n) but if it's a good software engineer he will also prefer to pick the right primitives, use the right libraries and write the right crypto glue code. It's not all or nothing. You can be a professional software engineer and write crypto code.
- jiggy2011 14y agoIt seems that some are claiming that crypto written in pure javascript inside a browser is very unlikely to be "good" crypto.
- tptacek 14y agoExactly the wrong perspective; most crypto vulnerabilities stem from the "glue code".
- doe88 14y agoI understand, I Must Not Write Crypto Code™. However I choose to write whatever I want anyway, crypto experts must not be the only ones writing crypto flaws, so can i.
- tptacek 14y agoI don't care what you write, but if you go into it thinking that the dangerous stuff is in the primitives like the AES core, and if you just stick to the glue you'll be safe, you're gonna have a bad time.
- stouset 14y agoPeople hear "don't roll your own crypto", and think that it means "don't invent your own encryption algorithm". Really it should be reprhased, "don't ever touch crypto directly".
- politician 14y agoPlease do not ship crypto software or, especially, crypto protocols (e.g. Alice does this, then Bob does that) that haven't been publicly audited. It's an unnecessary liability to your company, your customers, and the public when there are alternative solutions that do not have the flaws that a) you think that you don't have but do, or b) don't know that you have. This is really not an area for hotshot lone developers to contribute to, the stakes are just too high.