Re[4]: Secure Chrome

Hi Phillip,

Great analysis, and great info.

You said (I think?) that you believe chrome has the biggest potential
for immediate return.  I've noticed that swathes of businesses don't
allow their workers near XP (they stick to older "trusted" platforms).
I notice that that Vista, if it even has a release date, looks to me
at least "years" away still, and ditto for InfoCard - and even if it
arrived, much larger swathes of people won't have it for half a decade
or more to come. There's also half a dozen or more browser vendors,
none of whom seem to be able to agree either on the most basics of
compatibility, nor on good standards compliance.

Why do you think there's a potential for "immediate return" in that
quagmire?

If I were to put aside my disagreement with most of ideas presented
relating to browser chrome, I still don't think I'd be convinced that
all those vendors are going to (A) start talking and working together,
and (B) get it right - at least not in any timescale relating to
"immediate" ? 

The *problem* that I think everyone is overlooking, is that
authentication is NOT the kind of problem that *can* be broken down
into nice tidy discreet solutions.  You can't have Chrome as a single
solution - chrome is just a small part of a solution - and no part
of the chrome component can be developed in isolation from the rest
(2-way identification, multifactor authentication, identity handling,
etc etc).  I know this is ugly, an administrative nightmare, a lot of
work, a privacy nightmare, and irritating to have to explain to
non-techies - but whatever bit you leave out will be the weak link
that brings you down in the end.

Kind Regards,
Chris Drake

Received on Monday, 12 June 2006 21:58:56 UTC