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Re: [Wlug] encrypted files

by Stephen C. Daukas

Chuck hit the nail on the head... The general question that is best to begin with is 'what do you want to protect and what is it worth?' The common metaphor used in security is 'how much does it cost to build the wall versus the value of what the wall protects.' In other words, long keys and the time to encrypt/decrypt, etc., etc., is probably not what you want for your everyday files. It this really is required for everyday files, you are into a model similar to what government agencies do (google "Orange Book" - the nickname for the US standards for computing security - at least when I was into this stuff - but the concepts remain the same). If there are a few things that are really vital, then compartmentalize them and apply lots of security to them (i.e., don't keep them on a hard drive that is on a network - physical security - or encrypt them on removable media - soft and physical security). Depending on what the value is, you can start getting into all kinds of systems that are a real pain to use (and that is another reason why they are more secure). There are lots of other ways to make security easier and still useful. Another approach is "something you have and something you know" - that is how ATMs work. You could put your rings on a thumb drive (like the ATM card) that you unlock with a simple key (pin) that gets you to the next step - using the ring for the encryption you were after to begin with. Retinal and finger print scanners (biometrics in general) are essentially this model. If you loose either piece of the system, the other is no longer useful. Another approach is a so-called "smart card" - these are used in Europe for money, but variations are also used to turn the "key" into something approaching a "one time pad"... The card calculates a decay sequence of some sort (a non-linear countdown with a seed you select) that is also calculated on the system you want access to. You type in the calculated value as *part* of the password (valid for say 5 seconds to allow for boundary conditions) and if the system has the same pattern - your are in. I personally think encrypting entire file systems is far less secure than you might think - it is better to protect several areas with several different methods so that compromise of the entire system with one successful attempt doesn't happen. To be honest with you, my bias is towards physical security - I use a thumb drive and then only parts of it are encrypted. Steve Chuck Anderson wrote: >On Wed, Jan 11, 2006 at 06:22:53PM -0500, Bill Mills-Curran wrote: > > >>Symmetric? (gpg -c) This seems the most secure and flexible, but I'm >>getting tired of typing the key so often. >> >>Public/private? This seems enticing, because encryption is done >>without needing to type a password. However, the keyring is on the >>same system as the encrypted file, and thus is vulnerable. >> >> > >Symmetric keys may be more secure with a caveat: you have to pick a >very good key. This is harder than it seems, since it should be long >and have lots of entropy. English text doesn't have much entropy per >character. So in practice, using a passphrase to unlock a good, long, >randomly generated key that you would never remember is better. You >can always store the keyring on a removable device, like a USB flash >drive and keep that in your safe... >_______________________________________________ >Wlug mailing list >Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org >http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > >

Jan. 14, 2006

Re: [Wlug] RedHat ISOs

by Theo Van Dinter

On Thu, Jan 12, 2006 at 08:02:45AM -0500, Jeff Kinz wrote: > > Friends, any idea where can I download the isos for RHEL AS 4, ES 4 ? > You probably can't, since those are RedHat's "for money only" releases. > Yes, they are still open source, You can download the source, but no > ISOs are available. Yeah, that's pretty much it. My understanding is that the ISOs are only available via RHN's Easy ISO area. I don't recall if you can get a RHN account without purchasing some version of RHEL, but I'd guess not. > Another option is White Box Linux, a distro based on the RedHat source > code. There's also CentOS. I believe both of them essentially take the source rpms, change any appropriate bits, and redistribute. -- Randomly Generated Tagline: Futurama is brought to you by Thompson's Teeth, the only teeth strong enough to eat other teeth.

Jan. 14, 2006

Re: [Wlug] google video...

by Clint Moyer

Oh god! I thought that had finally died... ---- "Keller wrote: > Last night I had mentioned the Christmas light display. > Open Browser > Goto google video and search for "Christmas Lights" it'll be the first > result returned. > > Tim. > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

Jan. 13, 2006

google video...

by Keller, Tim

Last night I had mentioned the Christmas light display. Open Browser Goto google video and search for "Christmas Lights" it'll be the first result returned. Tim.

Jan. 13, 2006

Re: [Wlug] RedHat ISOs

by Bill Mills-Curran

On Thu, Jan 12, 2006 at 08:02:45AM -0500, Jeff Kinz wrote: > On Thu, Jan 12, 2006 at 10:50:53AM +0700, Aramico wrote: > > > > Friends, any idea where can I download the isos for RHEL AS 4, ES 4 ? > > You probably can't, since those are RedHat's "for money only" releases. > Yes, they are still open source, You can download the source, but no > ISOs are available. > > Closest you can come would be FC4 (Fedora Core 4) or FC5 now in final > test. > > Another option is White Box Linux, a distro based on the RedHat source > code. Dunno if its really equivalent to the RedHat Enterprise products > you are asking about but that seems to be their goal, whereas the FC > series are not intended to be the same as the enterprise products. > The FC series goal is to be a leading edge, community development > platform for RedHat, ie - free labor pool for RedHat. :-) > > > -- > Jeff Kinz, Emergent Research, Hudson, MA. <snip> Another vendor is centos.org. The take the RH source rpm's and build a free distro. Bill

Jan. 12, 2006

Re: [Wlug] RedHat ISOs

by Jeff Kinz

On Thu, Jan 12, 2006 at 10:50:53AM +0700, Aramico wrote: > > Friends, any idea where can I download the isos for RHEL AS 4, ES 4 ? You probably can't, since those are RedHat's "for money only" releases. Yes, they are still open source, You can download the source, but no ISOs are available. Closest you can come would be FC4 (Fedora Core 4) or FC5 now in final test. Another option is White Box Linux, a distro based on the RedHat source code. Dunno if its really equivalent to the RedHat Enterprise products you are asking about but that seems to be their goal, whereas the FC series are not intended to be the same as the enterprise products. The FC series goal is to be a leading edge, community development platform for RedHat, ie - free labor pool for RedHat. :-) -- Jeff Kinz, Emergent Research, Hudson, MA. speech recognition software may have been used to create this e-mail "The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding." - Brandeis To think contrary to one's era is heroism. But to speak against it is madness. -- Eugene Ionesco

Jan. 12, 2006

RedHat ISOs

by Aramico

Friends, any idea where can I download the isos for RHEL AS 4, ES 4 ? cheers, Aramico

Jan. 12, 2006

Re: [Wlug] encrypted files

by Andy Stewart

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Bill Mills-Curran wrote: > I have a question about using gpg to encrypt private files on my > system. > > Which encryption is the preferred for file storage? > > Symmetric? (gpg -c) This seems the most secure and flexible, but I'm > getting tired of typing the key so often. > > Public/private? This seems enticing, because encryption is done > without needing to type a password. However, the keyring is on the > same system as the encrypted file, and thus is vulnerable. Why not use an encrypted file system? One passphrase unlocks the entire file system. Later, Andy - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA, USA http://www.wlug.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFDxbP8Hl0iXDssISsRAgo5AJoDvWtovKVEPxE8P1prRrag1EGH/gCcC3eM mk1g81CYnoNF5BdDqndWN60= =Q7Ok -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Jan. 12, 2006

Re: [Wlug] encrypted files

by Andy Stewart

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Bill Mills-Curran wrote: > I have a question about using gpg to encrypt private files on my > system. > > Which encryption is the preferred for file storage? > > Symmetric? (gpg -c) This seems the most secure and flexible, but I'm > getting tired of typing the key so often. Your typing will get faster with repetition. Or, maybe you shouldn't have picked such a long key. Oh yeah, I forgot, longer keys are more secure, now aren't they? ;-) - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA, USA http://www.wlug.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFDxapXHl0iXDssISsRAizbAJ90yHj66nmE9XLJwpjubhKSOoGGGwCfYQzK 6gJJFb9kjg+Sm15b9z0hm5I= =z8Bh -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Jan. 12, 2006

Re: [Wlug] server outage

by Andy Stewart

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Frank Sweetser wrote: > In case anyone noticed any problems with the mailing list, the server hosting > it ate yet another hard drive. It's been restored from backups, though (which > I may do as a meeting topic one month, if there's interest) and everything > should be back up now. > Thanks for taking care of this, Frank! Andy - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA, USA http://www.wlug.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFDxanIHl0iXDssISsRAnxeAJ0TIRYiC7RuHPquCiFoPu4CCny6ZgCeI/0M 3ZVP1707eXm+nWDdMSMuaqU= =h06k -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Jan. 12, 2006