Lightweight encryption for email

  • Authors:
  • Ben Adida;Susan Hohenberger;Ronald L. Rivest

  • Affiliations:
  • MIT;MIT;MIT

  • Venue:
  • SRUTI'05 Proceedings of the Steps to Reducing Unwanted Traffic on the Internet on Steps to Reducing Unwanted Traffic on the Internet Workshop
  • Year:
  • 2005

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Abstract

Email encryption techniques have been available for more than a decade, yet none has been widely deployed. The problems of key generation, certification, and distribution have not been pragmatically addressed. We recently proposed a method for implementing a Lightweight Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for email authentication using recent developments in identity-based cryptography and today's existing Internet infrastructure. While this solution works well for email authentication, email encryption exhibits a different threat model that requires special treatment. In this work, we discuss how to achieve email encryption and present a realistic deployment and adoption process, while respecting the current functionality and expectations of email.