- From: Kingsley Idehen <kidehen@openlinksw.com>
- Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2011 07:59:03 -0500
- To: public-xg-webid@w3.org
- Message-ID: <4EF32997.5080601@openlinksw.com>
On 12/22/11 5:05 AM, Henry Story wrote: > On 21 Dec 2011, at 19:08, Kingsley Idehen wrote: > >> On 12/21/11 12:55 PM, Mo McRoberts wrote: >>> On 21 Dec 2011, at 17:47, Kingsley Idehen wrote: >>> >>>> I used to think so until Henry expressed questionable suggestions about URI handling that breaks the abstraction re. WebID verifiers. >>> I’m think it was actually Peter initially, but I could be wrong; Henry just revisited the issue, and took a safe (from a security perspective, if broken from a web arch angle) default position. >>> >>> I’m not sure why that prompted this whole thread. Just saying “redirection (and indirection!) are a fundamental part of web architecture, we just need to settle on how they’re handled from a security perspective” would’ve been a perfectly decent answer to Henry’s question… >>> >>> M. >>> >> Here is how I would frame a security problem (something I've done in the past). >> >> An owl:sameAs relation exists in a graph somewhere along the de-reference trails. A verifier follows the link and finds match. Or said verifier applies inference and makes a union and then gets a match. In either case, one deftly placed relation have tipped the apple cart. >> >> Solution: implementers of WebID verifiers have to factor in crawl depths and relation semantics. Suggestion could go as far as seeking signed claims for specific relations. BTW -- this doesn't have to be part of the WebID spec, it's just a note for engineers. > I think following owl:sameAs relations is better left to the authorisation part. I never implied it needed to be part of the WebID spec. I said, we can add cautionary notes for engineers re. implications of follow-your-nose data navigation and the transitive nature of owl:sameAs. Net effect: alleviating concerns about redirects. > Requiring it of the Authentication part, makes the entry point into WebID harder, as it adds a bit of a reasoning layer. Again, I never said it should be part of the Authentication part. This is for an engineer implementing a verifier. A spec is a spec. It isn't a document about how to program. > The spec states that the WebID should point to a WebID Profile and that this should contain the key. > > Now it is true that the spec currently has a pointer from the html to other representations too. > > Anyway I have not implemented this part, and I wonder how many people have. This is also not something we have discussed. Perhaps we should open an issue on this one. I can see that there are other things to follow up on here. What about seeAlso links, or alternative relation links, or what perhaps a movedTo relation? But should someone still be using that WebID if they have a new WebID somewhere else? So this opens up a lot of interesting questions. The semantics of predicates determine the meaning expressed in an eav/spo based relation. The issue of concern re. owl:sameAs is transitivity. Kingsley > >> The ultimate challenge for WebID is this, you are going to have variation re. product quality. That's fine, a spec can't control actual engineering, it can only provide the specs for the act of engineering. >> >> The Internet was broken security wise before the WWW came along. WebID has a great shot of fixing this problem, but it really has to understand and honor the age-old practice known as separation of powers. >> >> The WebID spec shouldn't be about encouraging implementations that are fundamentally technology Camels -- the usual product of attempting innovation by committee. A spec must sit distinct from implementation engineering. > ok. > >> -- >> >> Regards, >> >> Kingsley Idehen >> Founder& CEO >> OpenLink Software >> Company Web: http://www.openlinksw.com >> Personal Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen >> Twitter/Identi.ca handle: @kidehen >> Google+ Profile: https://plus.google.com/112399767740508618350/about >> LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kidehen >> >> >> >> >> >> > Social Web Architect > http://bblfish.net/ > > > -- Regards, Kingsley Idehen Founder& CEO OpenLink Software Company Web: http://www.openlinksw.com Personal Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen Twitter/Identi.ca handle: @kidehen Google+ Profile: https://plus.google.com/112399767740508618350/about LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kidehen
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Received on Thursday, 22 December 2011 12:59:26 UTC