Re: [TLS] EllipticCurveList is not expressive enough

[Kyle Hamilton <[e-mail]>]

 On 7/23/10 10:14 AM, Brian Smith wrote:
> 1. The NSA suite B profile contains the following requirements: "For cipher
> suites at the 128-bit security level, secp256r1 MUST be used.  For cipher
> suites at the 192-bit security level, secp384r1 MUST be used." and "For
> certificates used at the 128-bit security level, the subject public key MUST
> use the P-256 curve and be signed with either the P-384 curve or the P-256
> curve.  For certificates used at the 192-bit security level, the subject
> public key MUST use the P-384 curve and be signed with the P-384 curve."
>
[...]
> Also, does the Suite B profile really need to be that strict? As far as I
> can tell, it should be acceptable (if wasteful) to use the secp384r1 curves
> at the 128-bit security level, but the Suite B profile doesn't allow that.
The NSA does not answer questions.  The NSA simply dictates what reality
shall be.  Yes, the Suite B profile really does need to be that strict,
because the NSA says that it needs to be that strict.  The Suite B
profile is the set of encryption and authentication schemes that the NSA
has deemed acceptable to encrypt classified data.

-Kyle H