CONIKS is an new easy-to-use transparent key-management system:
CONIKS is a key management system for end users capable of integration in end-to-end secure communication services. The main idea is that users should not have to worry about managing encryption keys when they want to communicate securely, but they also should not have to trust their secure communication service providers to act in their interest.
Here's the academic paper. And here's a good discussion of the protocol and how it works. This is the problem they're trying to solve:
One of the main challenges to building usable end-to-end encrypted communication tools is key management. Services such as Apple's iMessage have made encrypted communication available to the masses with an excellent user experience because Apple manages a directory of public keys in a centralized server on behalf of their users. But this also means users have to trust that Apple's key server won't be compromised or compelled by hackers or nation-state actors to insert spurious keys to intercept and manipulate users' encrypted messages. The alternative, and more secure, approach is to have the service provider delegate key management to the users so they aren't vulnerable to a compromised centralized key server. This is how Google's End-To-End works right now. But decentralized key management means users must "manually" verify each other's keys to be sure that the keys they see for one another are valid, a process that several studies have shown to be cumbersome and error-prone for the vast majority of users. So users must make the choice between strong security and great usability.
And this is CONIKS:
In CONIKS, communication service providers (e.g. Google, Apple) run centralized key servers so that users don't have to worry about encryption keys, but the main difference is CONIKS key servers store the public keys in a tamper-evident directory that is publicly auditable yet privacy-preserving. On a regular basis, CONIKS key servers publish directory summaries, which allow users in the system to verify they are seeing consistent information. To achieve this transparent key management, CONIKS uses various cryptographic mechanisms that leave undeniable evidence if any malicious outsider or insider were to tamper with any key in the directory and present different parties different views of the directory. These consistency checks can be automated and built into the communication apps to minimize user involvement.
Tags: academic papers, cryptography, encryption, keys, security engineering, usability
Posted on April 6, 2016 at 10:27 AM
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