Re:21: An Open Source Library for the Machine-Payable Web
by witty_username on Saturday June 11, 2016 @11:56AM
(#11883896)
> In addition, the "curl | sh" type of installation has a bad reputation among developers, for security reasons. Which is especially critical when payment is involved. And which is even more critical when it is about automatic payment.
It's through HTTPS, so it's secure.
Re:21: An Open Source Library for the Machine-Payable Web
by SkyMarshal on Saturday June 11, 2016 @12:23PM
(#11884019)
That only secures the transport, not necessarily the source. Especially without a checksum or digital sig to verify the source, it's a little weird of an oversight for a company like 21.
Re:21: An Open Source Library for the Machine-Payable Web
by witty_username on Sunday June 12, 2016 @04:42AM
(#11887252)
How would that checksum or digital signature be distributed?
HTTPS checks for authenticity of source (it uses digital signatures). Now, I guess there could be a rogue CA which creates another certificate for 21.co, but excluding that it's fine.
Re:21: An Open Source Library for the Machine-Payable Web
by sysadminkyle on Saturday June 11, 2016 @01:05PM
(#11884224)
woosh
It seems that at least in Python the library is hence named "two1", not "21".
I guess they did it because the short domain (21.co) was available for their installation command:
Not sure why the authors think anybody would type that in by hand, rather than just copy & paste it, though. So the short name doesn't help here, either.In addition, the "curl | sh" type of installation has a bad reputation among developers, for security reasons. Which is especially critical when payment is involved. And which is even more critical when it is about automatic payment.
At least they prove a docker image in addition to that. But even here, no separate checksum is provided. Also, I can't see any digital signature. Or anything else to ensure integrity through a separate channel.