Fri, 18 Jun 2004

Email Technology Conference - Day 2
posted by Chip Witt

Today's events got off to a good start. Woke up on time, despite being tired, and managed to catch the 6:45AM ferry into SF. Had time to grab a lovely venti soy mocha on my walk to the Palace Hotel, and was able to enjoy a complementary breakfast.

One of the nicest things about most conferences these days (especially ones focused on technology) is that one can stay connected to the Internet via wireless networking throughout the day. The ESSID of the Wi-Fi network is published in the conference collateral, and one seldom has to deal with cumbersome WEP key issues. Set the ESSID for the client, then open a browser to initiate a network connection, and voila. You're in business. Despite this seemingly simple process, things can go wrong...and typically they do. This morning I discovered that someone had re-configured one of the access points being used in one part of the hotel, and the published net required a WEP password (key)...something that was not provided to attendees. Luckily, I was able to use my Kismet software to scan for other networks, and found a suitable replacement for my after-breakfast emailing needs.

I was eager for this morning's keynote presentation, as it was being delivered by one of my favorite icons of Intenet security, Phillip Zimmerman. Mr. Zimmerman is the designer of Pretty Good Privace (PGP), software used to sign and/or encrypt email messages using public key infrastructure (PKI) mechanisms instead of relying on Certificate Authorities like S/MIME. PKI allows for users to build a "web of trust" among those with whom they must communicate securely. Despite my excitement to hear him speak, I found his presentation to be a bit flat, and disorganized.

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