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