On Mon, 6 Jun 2005, bruce wrote:
matt, i unsderstand what you're saying...
but i still don't see how this protects/allows a user to 'know' that th site he's on is the correct site...
as an example. i go to the verisign site (www.verisign.com) i can select the verisign logo, which displays a pop-up. i read it, it looks good.. i think i'm secure...
however, there's nothing that i look at, that couldn't be forged/faked by you or i with the right web app knowledge...
No, that's the point, the cert is infeasible to forge.
i understand that the 'ssl/lock' is a function of the browser and is supposed to be used to present details of the ssl certificate employed... i also understand that the lock function is a component of the browser... however, this asumes the user knows to click on the 'lock'. if i were to provide a fake 'picture/icon' for the user to select, such that it displayed the fake ssl information, in all likelyhood, the user wouldn't know the difference..
Social engineering is something that can only be prevent through vigilance.
-bruce
-----Original Message----- From: fedora-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:fedora-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Matthew Miller Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 6:16 AM To: For users of Fedora Core releases Subject: Re: how can you verify that the site you get is not a fake?
On Mon, Jun 06, 2005 at 06:05:58AM -0700, bruce wrote:but you still haven't addressed my problem/issue/question... and that's how do i as a user (not an app) know that this is the right site for the url i entered... my fear is that a malicious site, could simply fake the information he's providing, to 'look' like the actual/real site... and as of yet.. i can't craft a solution to this issue...
You could trust us that it's very hard to fake the SSL information, and then you could inspect that. (Double click on the little lock icon.) You'll see something like:
Web Site Identity Verified
The web site www.bu.edu supports authentication for the page you are viewing. The identity of this web site has been verified by Thawte Consulting cc, a certificate authority you trust for this purpose.
In the Firefox advanced preferences, you can manage which certificate authorities you trust.
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