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| -rw-r--r-- | trust.mdwn | 15 |
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diff --git a/trust.mdwn b/trust.mdwn new file mode 100644 index 00000000..fe2ca5f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/trust.mdwn @@ -0,0 +1,15 @@ +The word trust is used in a number of contexts with different technical meanings. +Sometimes it is used to confuse, for instance trusted computing is rarely about +providing users reason to trust that software they are running does not violate +their intents but about providing a mechanism for a third party to verify +that software that runs on a remote computer obeys him or her rather than the +user. + +When we say that a program trusts another, we mean that [[correctness]] of the +former depends on the cooperation of the latter. For instance, when a user runs +ssh, the user's intention is that all communication is encrypted. In this case, +the user trusts that the ssh binary respects this intent. In Unix, a program's +[[trusted computing base]] consists not only of the kernel (and all the drivers, +file systems and protocol stacks that it contains) but every program running +under the same UID; it is impossible to protect against +[[destructive interference]] from programs running under the same UID. |