[Cryptech Tech] arm

[Warren Kumari]

On Sat, Jan 10, 2015 at 3:14 AM, Randy Bush <randy at psg.com> wrote:
> [ repost to tech ]
>
> so we're starting to spec the next gen, an alpha, cryptech board.  a
> custom job with only what we need on it.  the first sketch is at
>
>    https://wiki.cryptech.is/wiki/Hardware
>
> which may move as i edit wiki today.

One question I had was the "Master Key Memory contains the
*asymmetric* key used to encrypt the Keystore" (emphasis added).

Why is this an asymmetric key? I'm guessing I missed something in one
of the meetings, but I thought that this was simply the key that
encrypted the keystore (and was never used outside the envelope). Why
not simply generate a symmetric key, and use that internally?

W

>
> bunnie sez the board desiners in singapore and taiwan come in flavors
> based on the arm type.  so we kinda have to learn arm types to make a
> decision.
>
> we think we want
>   o no or minimal magic blobs because it's inside the security boundary
>   o support for booting, flash file system, and usb
>   o some speed, but the crypto is done in the fpga
>   o rtos components without rms virus
>
> internal gossip is that joachim is using, or has used, coretex + mbed.
> joachim, care to be specific and assert any preferences?
>
> general clue, advice, ...  or pointers to where we might find same?
>
> thanks.
>
> randy
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-- 
I don't think the execution is relevant when it was obviously a bad
idea in the first place.
This is like putting rabid weasels in your pants, and later expressing
regret at having chosen those particular rabid weasels and that pair
of pants.
   ---maf