[148226] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
[Cryptography] (no subject)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ralf Senderek)
Sat Nov 23 19:09:06 2013
X-Original-To: cryptography@metzdowd.com
Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 21:45:18 +0100 (CET)
From: Ralf Senderek <crypto@senderek.ie>
To: stephan.neuhaus@tik.ee.ethz.ch
In-Reply-To: <20131123202915.8E1D62B090@laptop.kerry-linux.ie>
Cc: Cryptography <cryptography@metzdowd.com>
Reply-To: Ralf Senderek <crypto@senderek.ie>
Errors-To: cryptography-bounces+crypto.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@metzdowd.com
On Sat, 23 Nov 2013, Stephan Neuhaus wrote:
> And if any geek is reading this, and if you
> think that you have this wonderful metaphor that is so simple that
> surely any grandmother will understand it, please do actually try it out
> on an actual grandmother. You might be surprised.
>
> In my opinion, massive user-controlled email encryption will not happen.
> Not now, and not in the next ten years.
You seem to have identified the three reasons for the epic failure of
email encryption:
1) The concept of asymmetric key is unexplainable to your granny.
Despite the fact that your granny is perfectly capable of making
informed decisions in the similar complex fields like financial
transactions and the assessment of her cancer treatment options,
it's a pointless excercise to explain the concept of a public
key in a comprehensible way.
2) All cryptographic software is designed by geeks and ridden with
complexity.
3) Every secure email encryption has to take place on the grannie's
laptop, not a well-maintained secure server.
I doubt all three assumptions.
-- Ralf
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