IETF Logo Mail Archive

Re: Why are mail servers not also key servers?

Yoav Nir <ynir.ietf@gmail.com> Thu, 20 April 2017 14:36 UTC

Return-Path: <ynir.ietf@gmail.com>
X-Original-To: ietf@ietfa.amsl.com
Delivered-To: ietf@ietfa.amsl.com
Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by ietfa.amsl.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id CB023127B60 for <ietf@ietfa.amsl.com>; Thu, 20 Apr 2017 07:36:10 -0700 (PDT)
X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at amsl.com
X-Spam-Flag: NO
X-Spam-Score: -1.999
X-Spam-Level:
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.999 tagged_above=-999 required=5 tests=[BAYES_00=-1.9, DKIM_SIGNED=0.1, DKIM_VALID=-0.1, DKIM_VALID_AU=-0.1, FREEMAIL_FROM=0.001, HTML_MESSAGE=0.001, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE=-0.0001, SPF_PASS=-0.001] autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no
Authentication-Results: ietfa.amsl.com (amavisd-new); dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=gmail.com
Received: from mail.ietf.org ([4.31.198.44]) by localhost (ietfa.amsl.com [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id yiXVFOXLefPl for <ietf@ietfa.amsl.com>; Thu, 20 Apr 2017 07:36:08 -0700 (PDT)
Received: from mail-wr0-x230.google.com (mail-wr0-x230.google.com [IPv6:2a00:1450:400c:c0c::230]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by ietfa.amsl.com (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 8B24D129543 for <ietf@ietf.org>; Thu, 20 Apr 2017 07:36:07 -0700 (PDT)
Received: by mail-wr0-x230.google.com with SMTP id z109so37070699wrb.1 for <ietf@ietf.org>; Thu, 20 Apr 2017 07:36:07 -0700 (PDT)
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20161025; h=from:message-id:mime-version:subject:date:in-reply-to:cc:to :references; bh=/Ao1SJBElU7GJykXu3E8EOxuUzss4/3zdADxGdAUYYo=; b=OvNACYQ9QfAvhY6YaFQMAX8MXK2FvFJGNR5tIg82VRjuXQCnsQaLiMMujIGNnQqcTt bg5TqRb1MAYRMGmvZPC4alONBi+cV0GeFUZsTroMfS40ZdtrvuKjqi0/DKEkKBS8B3OK nC8wnDwjZ9JJRyMZ2sebxnveicQrD6YFtcMzge/I4wJs1ajEhFtDzrEwp3Agjr4XeLuI g7/7fYIJdCYuYGWHnKUbHJdjT/NDUMEERn7ftGc8shLMtv0q5YLqzybeunvNdNjXEx2J VDRl1LpADjUJXwDCH1Z1jQre0EzeiSL8k6XqTkxckNwEmatabquRgGB5Kh7h8RjuRLUj Hceg==
X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20161025; h=x-gm-message-state:from:message-id:mime-version:subject:date :in-reply-to:cc:to:references; bh=/Ao1SJBElU7GJykXu3E8EOxuUzss4/3zdADxGdAUYYo=; b=rMTnhSLzyvw9sZij3cBnRFEynMoklMzlBw8AqglRQPBj3pqZdQnVKC4+qURYGQ20s+ 7NFu8oA0raYek9IJPQr4oUCrCKhY5BVIQJZgzh/ViV+9VJCDwb6OFFPrV7JVUtUSfqjJ M+sNVvTggmD9KgRfiQMnemPB37ut/CAz6Xv/8bbqOJ3GJZpQHq6TuVYdsS6afYSKiP/S wGIFsth9eiWxJ9g61p9ouPmvUmWWsxkkqdigGc1wPk0SrEl00VfaUMAZZybI5U3abEd6 alkOuA4+u2fqU6yasmNQU4tW74nDAmWkoXBxJxpQ13V0mcLiQiwJNsG3tuSToicr6EJS 6jFA==
X-Gm-Message-State: AN3rC/633WGvA4hiy2mtuJVZOaArZaSdkWBHYkWCujOcgHQ/Wed3K2yI LRH9rl5iSR8MUQ==
X-Received: by 10.223.150.179 with SMTP id u48mr2186741wrb.195.1492698966117; Thu, 20 Apr 2017 07:36:06 -0700 (PDT)
Received: from [172.24.251.229] (dyn32-131.checkpoint.com. [194.29.32.131]) by smtp.gmail.com with ESMTPSA id w10sm23784677wmw.14.2017.04.20.07.36.04 (version=TLS1_2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128/128); Thu, 20 Apr 2017 07:36:05 -0700 (PDT)
From: Yoav Nir <ynir.ietf@gmail.com>
Message-Id: <FC831208-97A3-4F1B-A37C-F8646C3FB208@gmail.com>
Content-Type: multipart/signed; boundary="Apple-Mail=_DBD20EB7-086A-442F-A1AE-431628FC611E"; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; micalg="pgp-sha512"
Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 10.3 \(3273\))
Subject: Re: Why are mail servers not also key servers?
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 17:36:03 +0300
In-Reply-To: <alpine.LRH.2.20.999.1704201016120.518@bofh.nohats.ca>
Cc: Jon <jmoroney@hawaii.edu>, ietf@ietf.org
To: Paul Wouters <paul@nohats.ca>
References: <849511c0-6526-ecbe-2b56-7b459eaf010b@hawaii.edu> <alpine.LRH.2.20.999.1704201016120.518@bofh.nohats.ca>
X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.3273)
Archived-At: <https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ietf/It16xwwaFZ9xfg8Ylq3Cu62Q0vo>
X-BeenThere: ietf@ietf.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.22
Precedence: list
List-Id: IETF-Discussion <ietf.ietf.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <https://www.ietf.org/mailman/options/ietf>, <mailto:ietf-request@ietf.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/ietf/>
List-Post: <mailto:ietf@ietf.org>
List-Help: <mailto:ietf-request@ietf.org?subject=help>
List-Subscribe: <https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf>, <mailto:ietf-request@ietf.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 14:36:11 -0000

On 20 Apr 2017, at 17:22, Paul Wouters <paul@nohats.ca> wrote:

> 
>> generate a key pair on registration, store those keys on the server (in
>> an encrypted archive), and make the public key available. A little
>> coding later and we've got key exchange and message confidentiality.
> 
> SMTP servers could be key servers without having the private key of
> individuals?

Sure. If they double as HTTPS servers.

I want to send you an email, so I type “paul@nohats.ca <mailto:paul@nohats.ca>” in the To: field, and my MUA goes to https://mail-public-keys.nohats.ca/.well-known/mail-pubkeys/paul <https://mail-public-keys.nohats.ca/.well-known/mail-pubkeys/paul> and that gets your public key.

And now my MUA can encrypt.  And it all works, as long as we trust nohats.ca <http://nohats.ca/> (and conversely gmail.com <http://gmail.com/>) and as long as you have a copy of your private key on every single MUA that you use.

Small assumptions, no?

Yoav

v2.23.0 | Report a Bug | By Email