X.509 CA third party validation service

Josh josh@mercuryfs.net
Sat, 13 Oct 2001 16:03:17 -0700


One of the changes I'm making to the file system design/sketch is the design
of it's central network. I've thought of a method to utilize X.509 as the
primary means of authentication where the central network does little more
than record who the certificate authority is for your own network. Thus if
you receive my files from somebody else, you can contact the central network
to verify who I use as my certificate authority. Then you can contact that
CA and verify the authenticity of the files. I believe this method could
work well for the location independence feature.

This makes the design more politically and financially feasible. Since my
goal is a maximum of $10 per year, I think this is a much more realistic
means of security.

My question is this: does anyone know if there is already such a service, or
if anybody has already thought of this?

- josh