Re:How can PrivateSky not see your data?
by bribriinlondon on Sunday April 01, 2012 @08:05AM
(#3783455)
I can confirm we use the secure execution environment of the HSM, we say VMs in a general sense because of the limited knowledge of HSMs, makes it easier for people to understand. But it is actually compiled C code running in the tamper proof / tamper resistant part of the module doing the share issuance and the multiparty computation protocols.
Awesome. Thales/nCipher or SafeNet or something else? I'll assume that since you're in the UK and doing HSM stuff it's ex-nCipher people from Cambridge...
Overall this is quite an impressive application, especially on the backend/server side. I wish more people used HSMs in a productive way (I've done some stuff with them in the past, and am working on related things now)
There isn't anything inherently browser based about this.
I'm not a huge fan of browser based security (I know just enough appsec to be terrified).
If they had an API, it would be fun to do a secure mobile client for it (I trust iOS security way more than PC browsers..). There is less point when you have a client (just as easy to build some kind of key server with locally stored keys), but being able to send messages to future users is a nice trick.)
It looks like an interesting use of HSMs. I'm curious if they do real crypto in the HSM or just use it to protect a bootable VM. If it is just a VM, there are a lot more attacks possible.