[colug-432] Keysigning Party at OLF

[Steve VanSlyck]

Except for the last part, is this somehow different from generating the 
keys on my computer then moving the files to my USB flash drive?

----- Original Message -----
From: Joshua Kramer <josh at globalherald.net>
To: Central OH Linux User Group - 432xx <colug-432 at colug.net>
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 15:22:11 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: [colug-432] Keysigning Party at OLF

> 
> > Why does one need to do that? Why not just use the computer's hard 
drive?
> 
> At the hobbyist level, it's mostly academic.  If you really need high 
> security (i.e. you guard valuable corporate secrets, you are a political 
> dissident in a dangerous country, etc.) then the following apply.  Also, 
I 
> could imagine a case in a household where you live with someone else who 
> is not so friendly to your interests... you don't want them to get your 
> private keys, even though they have access to your computer.
> 
> If someone gets access to your computer and private keys, then if they 
can 
> somehow cajole your password out of you (or a browser cache, or 
> unencrypted swap space) then you are toast.
> 
> When you generate a private/public keypair on a smart card, the private 
> key always stays on the card.  And, most cards nowadays are set up such 
> that if someone attempts to open the case surrounding the chip, it will 
> zero out all of the private keys.  Furthermore, some cards are set up so 
> that they won't allow use of the private keys unless you enter a PIN on 
> the smartcard reader.
> 
> Having said that, the following applies:
> 
> http://xkcd.com/538/
> 
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