Re: [atlarge-discuss] Jeff Williams is really Jeff Holt

[Jan Siren <sirenj@earthlink.net>]

Albert Brickel wrote:
> 
> Jeff Williams has been revealed!
> 
> It has been determined that Jeff Holt of Grapeland, TX, is Jeff Williams of
> 
> Grapevine, TX.
> 


What took you so long?   :-)


I suppose I should to apologize to everyone on this mailing list for doing 
what I deplore when *others* do it:  reacting to personalities, instead of 
keeping to the topic of Internet governance.

But there is an irreducible serious core to all this, and that is the problem 
of establishing identities of people we meet on the Internet.  Something I 
had habitually brushed off as trivial, but which I have since come to realize 
has the potential to swamp organizations such as ours if they don't exercise 
due diligence.

I don't much care for the "solutions" proposed so far - using Paypal (easy to 
defeat), Thawte (too expensive and cumbersome), F2F (OK if you're in the 
same town as the next person, even then subject to error; ask Sotiris about 
"Joe Sims" {a.k.a. Mike Roberts}).  However, I'm not smart enough to 
invent something better.

Having said all that I'd like to set out a new topic for discussion:  
Combined Access Card, "CAC" for short.  This is something the U.S. military 
has started to issue to each member.  Each such CAC contains a unique 
microchip and is protected by a user-selected 8 character password.  It 
serves three purposes: (1) To give the owner physical access to a restricted 
facility; (2) to give the owner access to a restricted computer network; and 
(3) to allow the owner to authenticate his/her e-mail with an encrypted 
signature.  It uses somehing called "Public Key Infrastructure" (PKI).  Card 
readers will be installed at each entrance of a restricted facility, and 
attached to each computer on a restricted network. It will *not* be used to 
transfer classified material over the Internet, or to computers that are not 
certified for classified processing.   And that's all I know about it so far.

My employer is going to start issuing these to employees at my facility.  I 
will have to drive up to Patrick Air Force Base to have it activated with my 
password.  I suppose I will have to establish my personal identity in the 
process.

Does anyone on this mailing list know enough about this to answer these 
questions:

Can these CAC readers be installed in people's home or laptop computers so 
they can access their e-mail remotely?

If so, can I get my employer to pay for it?  :-)

If I get one, can I use it also to certify my identity in non defense-related 
venues - such as membership in icannatlarge?

Obviously, these are questions that I have to pursue on my own but I'd like 
to find out what others know.


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