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Re: [Full-disclosure] Five Ways to Screw Up SSL



I was referring to the CA that signs it. It was implied that
freessl.com, who gives out trial certificates, is an unreliable CA. I
do not understand why their certs would be any less valid than
anothers.

Not less valid, less trusted. SSL is a heirarchical "web of trust".

As long as the website listed on the cert is the website you are
visiting, why should it matter who issued the cert?

Because how can I know that a certificate issued to "A" is really entity "A", unless I trust a central authority to do the homework.

Phishing attacks love this trick. If anybody could get a cert for "www.chase.com" that was valid to the browser, then anybody that could do DNS foo to the client could spoof the real Chase.

/mike.

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