Re: User authentication

Kee Hinckley (nazgul@utopia.com)
Sun, 28 May 1995 16:26:31 +0500

At 10:21 AM 5/10/95, Martin Hamilton wrote:
>Rick Troth writes:
>
>| I don't see any way to do "real authentication" without
>| using public key electronic signatures, and I question whether or not
>| we need something that strong to eliminate news and mail forgery.
>
>I suspect SMTP and NNTP are still an authentication free zone for the vast
>majority of Internet users. > Best shot is to have a browser that can be
>configured to refuse to send messages unless _it_ is happy > with your
>credentials ?

I'm confused. Are you advocating a central registry of all browser owners,
where the browser checks that registry, asks me to match the password, and
then lets me send mail? I think a public key system would be simpler,
safer and more private.

Kee Hinckley Utopia Inc. - Cyberspace Architects=81 617/721-6100
nazgul@utopia.com http://www.utopia.com/

I'm not sure which upsets me more: that people are so unwilling to accept
responsibility for their own actions, or that they are so eager to regulate
everyone else's.