From: Phil Fraering        <pgf@tyrell.net>
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 95 19:25:04 PDT
To: fc@all.net
Subject: a hole in PGP
In-Reply-To: <9508010103.AA06094@all.net>
Message-ID: <199508010220.AA08136@tyrell.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


   From: fc@all.net (Dr. Frederick B. Cohen)
   Date: Mon, 31 Jul 1995 21:03:49 -0400 (EDT)

   More accurately, you cannot prove a forall statement about an infinite
   set by demonstrating examples - but you can disprove it with a single
   refutation, however, your argument is incorrect in this context.

   Since computers current digital computers (and programs) are (close to)
   finite state machines, we can prove many forall statements.  But even

We can prove some "forall" statements; however, it is hard to tell
in advance whether any "forall" statement is one of these easily
provable or disprovable problems.

This is informally known as the halting problem.

   more to the point, it is the job of the person asking you to trust them
   to justify that trust.  If you trust them with a less-than-adequate
   basis, you have only yourself to blame when you get burned. 

Most of us consider the release of possibly imcriminating source code
to be a sign that the persons involved are worthy of trust.

Phil