Re: To Jonathan [backdoor]

[Anton Tagunov]

Anton>    I've got an anti-hijack system in my car.
Anton>    there's a 10 minute emergency procedure.

Jonathan> What prevents a hijacker to use that procedure?

A combination of factors:

* he needs to find the hidden button
* to know the exact procedure
* to break the console so that he would be able to touch
  ignition wires together the needed number of times
  (it's part of the procedure)
* to have 10 minutes of time - after he's already broken the console!
* Also the alarm emits funny sounds as he waits

I think every anti-hijack system manual I've seen mentioned a variation of this.

Anton>   P.S. The talk is about *safe defaults* actually.

Pierre>  I think the backdoor is an *unsafe* default, actually.

You're quite right.

We should decide what is more dangerous to an average Joe:
data loss/vendor lock-in or data disclosure?

However I ask you to kindly wait for my next mail.
I'll describe my backdoor design in detail.
Then we shall discuss a proposal not an abstraction.

cheers,
Anton