Re: [math-fun] How to protect computer versus malware
Code signing can be pretty good at certifying that code hasn't be altered since it was created, but the process of vetting signers and issuing certificates is a complete charade. Certificate authorities all the way up to ultimate trust have been compromised, and day-to-day issuing authorities' "due diligence" consists of little more than cashing your check. Once issued, there's no control over how certificates are stored, used, misused or stolen. On a more fundamental level, we know that code and data are interchangeable. If you allow a signed lisp interpreter to run, every piece of text on your computer is now a program. Many exploits start by breaking the code in some way - buffer overruns put unexpected data in play for example. All the trust in the world is useless if the trusted program has a bug. I'm not saying that code-centered security measures are useless, only that they are always going to be fallible.
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Dave Dyer