Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

internetworkers - Re: [internetworkers] CryptOS

internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Tanner Lovelace <lovelace AT wayfarer.org>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] CryptOS
  • Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 01:00:33 -0500

Alan MacHett wrote:

The closest I've come to finding what I have in mind is the project of
this fellow in Dublin. He calls it CryptOS, but what he means is
CryptNetwork:
http://www.cs.tcd.ie/Christian.Jensen/research/CryptOS/
And there are also various (smart) card cryptographic operating systems
and various cryptographic USB dongles.

There's also this excellent article about making a secure OS:
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031125S0045

...but I'm not just thinking about a secure operating system or even an
operating system that integrates strong cryptography --
http://www.openbsd.org/crypto.html -- I want a cryptographic operating
system. Ideally, even the hardware for the system would be built with
crypto in mind. Then the OS itself would run encrypted. Only authorized
users could have access to the desktop. And if you forget your password
... oh well; none of this administrator level reverse-engineering hashes
or whatnot to regain access -- you lose, start over. Undeniably secure: no way to hack it, crack it, reverse-engineer it, electron spectroscope
it, or anything else that anyone might dream up...

It's extreme and not economical, I know, much like my dream of seeing Mech
Warriors duke it out on battlefields. Still, I suspect a CryptOS would
have more use and popularity...

Well, I don't think you'll have any luck right now with the hardware,
but as far as the software goes, have you looked into SELinux? It
was created by the NSA to be a secure version of linux. Linux
Journal just ran an article recently about someone who put an
installation of it on the net, gave out the root password, and
people still failed to be able to crack it. It secures everything,
even from root. Google should know where it is. :-)

Cheers,
Tanner





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page