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While you are correct that a server can serve me malicious Javascript encryption code that discloses my keys, there's a big difference: the act cannot be hidde
by geertj 12y ago
While you are correct that a server can serve me malicious Javascript encryption code that discloses my keys, there's a big difference: the act cannot be hidden.
If my secret keying material instead is on some company's servers it can be taken surreptitiously (by court order or not).
- geertj 12y agoI'm not sure why HN doesn't let me reply to danielweber's comment. Thread is getting too deep? I admit that in practise you're not going to check the Javascript. But from the point of view of someone trying to get their hands on private material, the difference is huge. If the private material is on a server, a simple court order (or not) can give you access to potentially millions of customer records. But if you wanted to do dragnet collection when client-side crypto is in use, you now have millions of small but non-zero risks to get exposed. [EDIT: spelling]
- danielweber 12y agoWhile it may be mathematically impossible for the server to give you hostile code with no way at all of you detecting it, in practice you are not going to check the JavaScript you download each time. Nor does the browser have any way of doing version control for you, or of verifying what's actually running.