Larry Lessing, ever the technodeterminst, thinks that the solution for our neverending tragedy of the trust commons called phishing is in Microsoft’s hands. The next elixir is a new method of encrypting messages, layered in the upcoming version of Microsoft Windows. But how about reviving the idea that stealing and cheating is wrong…
Wired 14.03: Posts
The InfoCard system will first be distributed with Vista, Microsoft’s newest Windows OS, set for release this year. The system effectively adds an “identity layer” to the Internet, accomplishing what security companies have been promising for years: making it difficult to falsify an identity and easy to verify your own. Here’s how it works: Users’ computers (and potentially cell phones and other devices) will hold files called InfoCards that give encrypted sites access to authenticated information about the user. An American Express InfoCard, for example, might carry your name, address, and account number, all authenticated by American Express. When a Web site requests personal data, you choose whether to release that information, securely and with the verification of the card’s issuer.