Re: Request for feedback: DOMCrypt API proposal

This spec is also incredibly vague:

https://wiki.mozilla.org/Privacy/Features/DOMCryptAPISpec/Latest

There's no description of what these functions do.  There's no way
this spec can be used to create a second interoperable implementation.

Adam


On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 4:19 PM, Adam Barth <w3c@adambarth.com> wrote:
> Why only SHA256?  Presumably sha1 and md5 are worth exposing as well.
> Also, pk and sym appear to be algorithm agonistic but hash isn't.  In
> addition to hashing, it would be valuable to expose HMAC modes of the
> hash functions.
>
> In the pk API, there doesn't seem to be any way to install a
> public/private keypair from another location (e.g., the network).
> Also, the encrypt and decrypt functions don't let me specify which
> public key I want to use.  Consider introducing a keyID concept to let
> me refer to keypairs.
>
> What is a cipherAddressbook ?
>
> When I use generateKeypair, how long dose the keypair persist?  Is are
> their privacy implications?
>
> Finally, this all should be on the crypto object, not on a new cipher object.
>
> Adam
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 3:54 PM, David Dahl <ddahl@mozilla.com> wrote:
>> Hello public-webapps members,
>>
>> (I wanted to post this proposed draft spec for the DOMCrypt API ( https://wiki.mozilla.org/Privacy/Features/DOMCryptAPISpec/Latest ) to this list - if there is a more fitting mailing list, please let me know)
>>
>> I recently posted this draft spec for a crypto API for browsers to the whatwg (see: http://lists.whatwg.org/htdig.cgi/whatwg-whatwg.org/2011-May/031741.html) and wanted to get feedback from W3C as well.
>>
>> Privacy and user control on the web is of utter importance. Tracking, unauthorized user data aggregation and personal information breaches are becoming so commonplace you see a new headline almost daily. (It seems).
>>
>> We need crypto APIs in browsers to allow developers to create more secure communications tools and web applications that don’t have to implicitly trust the server, among other use cases.
>>
>> The DOMCrypt API is a good start, and more feedback and discussion will really help round out how all of this should work – as well as how it can work in any browser that will support such an API.
>>
>> This API will provide each web browser window with a ‘cipher’ property[1] that facilitates:
>>
>>    asymmetric encryption key pair generation
>>    public key encryption
>>    public key decryption
>>    symmetric encryption
>>    signature generation
>>    signature verification
>>    hashing
>>    easy public key discovery via meta tags or an ‘addressbookentry’ tag
>>
>> [1] There is a bit of discussion around adding this API to window.navigator or consolidation within window.crypto
>>
>> I have created a Firefox extension that implements most of the above, and am working on an experimental patch that integrates this API into Firefox.
>>
>> The project originated in an extension I wrote, the home page is here: http://domcrypt.org
>>
>> The source code for the extension is here: https://github.com/daviddahl/domcrypt
>>
>> The Mozilla bugs are here:
>>
>> https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=649154
>> https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=657432
>>
>> Firefox "feature wiki page": https://wiki.mozilla.org/Privacy/Features/DOMCryptAPI
>>
>> You can test the API by installing the extension hosted at domcrypt.org, and going to http://domcrypt.org
>>
>> A recent blog post updating all of this is posted here: http://monocleglobe..wordpress.com/2011/06/01/domcrypt-update-2011-06-01/
>>
>> The API:
>>
>> window.cipher = {
>>  // Public Key API
>>  pk: {
>>   set algorithm(algorithm){ },
>>   get algorithm(){ },
>>
>>  // Generate a keypair and then execute the callback function
>>  generateKeypair: function ( function callback( aPublicKey ) { } ) {  },
>>
>>  // encrypt a plainText
>>  encrypt: function ( plainText, function callback (cipherMessageObject) ) {  } ) {  },
>>
>>  // decrypt a cipherMessage
>>  decrypt: function ( cipherMessageObject, function callback ( plainText ) { } ) {  },
>>
>>  // sign a message
>>  sign: function ( plainText, function callback ( signature ) { } ) {  },
>>
>>  // verify a signature
>>  verify: function ( signature, plainText, function callback ( boolean ) { } ) {  },
>>
>>  // get the JSON cipherAddressbook
>>  get addressbook() {},
>>
>>  // make changes to the addressbook
>>  saveAddressbook: function (JSONObject, function callback ( addresssbook ) { }) {  }
>>  },
>>
>>  // Symmetric Crypto API
>>  sym: {
>>  get algorithm(),
>>  set algorithm(algorithm),
>>
>>  // create a new symmetric key
>>  generateKey: function (function callback ( key ){ }) {  },
>>
>>  // encrypt some data
>>  encrypt: function (plainText, key, function callback( cipherText ){ }) {  },
>>
>>  // decrypt some data
>>  decrypt: function (cipherText, key, function callback( plainText ) { }) {  },
>>  },
>>
>>  // hashing
>>  hash: {
>>    SHA256: function (function callback (hash){}) {  }
>>  }
>> }
>>
>> Your feedback and criticism will be invaluable.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> David Dahl
>>
>> Firefox Engineer, Mozilla Corp.
>>
>>
>>
>

Received on Thursday, 2 June 2011 23:22:22 UTC