From 47c0d7ea974b89fc889d3dddeeeffa06390f11e0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: inference Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2022 01:52:14 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Add Blog #2 - Untrusted: The Issue with Decentralisation. --- ...usted-the-issue-with-decentralisation.html | 129 ++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 129 insertions(+) create mode 100644 blog/untrusted-the-issue-with-decentralisation.html diff --git a/blog/untrusted-the-issue-with-decentralisation.html b/blog/untrusted-the-issue-with-decentralisation.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1252fe2 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/untrusted-the-issue-with-decentralisation.html @@ -0,0 +1,129 @@ + + + +Inferencium Network - Blog - Untrusted: The Issue with Decentralisation + + + +

Blog - #2

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Untrusted: The Issue with Decentralisation

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Posted: 2022-06-29 (UTC+00:00)

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Updated: 2022-06-29 (UTC+00:00)

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+

Introduction

+

A recent trend is seeing people move towards decentralised services and
+platforms. While this is reasonable and I can understand why they are doing
+such a thing, they are seemingly doing it without thinking about the
+possible consequences of doing so. The issue with decentralisation is
+trust; there is no way to pin a key to a specific person, to ensure that
+you are communicating with the same person you are supposed to be
+communicating with. In this article, I will discuss some of the security
+issues with the decentralised model.

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+

Example: Messaging

+

When it comes to messaging your contacts on a centralised platform,
+such as Twitter or Facebook, the keys are pinned to that user account,
+using the user's password as the method of identification. This approach
+makes it impossible to log in as a specific user without their password,
+should it be strong enough to not be guessed, whether via personal guessing
+or exhaustive search. The trust in this centralised model is the high
+security these platforms have. It is extremely unlikely that anyone other
+than a government would be able to access the accounts stored on such
+platforms' servers, which makes the physical security trusted. As for
+remote security, should a user's password be compromised, it can typically
+be reset if the user can prove they are the owner of the account via some
+form of identification; this is where the trust issue of decentralisation
+occurs.

+
+In the decentralised model, keys are kept on the users' devices, in their
+possession. While this soveriegnty is welcomed, it indroduces a critical
+flaw in the security of communicating with anyone via a decentralised
+platform; should a user's device be lost, stolen, or otherwise compromised,
+there is no way to know it happened and what the new keys really are, and
+if the same user generated those keys. There is no centralised point where
+anyone can go to check if the compromised user has updated their keys,
+which means there must already have been at least one other secure channel
+in place before the compromise occurred. Even if there was, the security
+of endpoint devices, especially typical users, is much lower than a well
+protected corporation's servers, making even those secure channels
+questionable to trust. Should all secure channels be compromised, there is
+literally no way to know if the person you are communicating with is the
+real person or an imposter; there is no root of trust. This point is fatal;
+game over. The only way to establish trust again would be to physically
+meet and exchange keys.

+
+

Solution

+

I'll cut to the chase; there isn't a definitive solution. The best way
+to handle this situation is to design your threat model and think about
+your reasoning for avoiding centralised platforms. Is it lack of trust of
+a specific company? Is it the possibility of centralised platforms going
+offline? Only by thinking logically and tactically can you solve both the
+issue of centralisation and decentralisation. Often, one size fits all is
+never the correct approach, nor does it typically work.

+
+In order to avoid the issue of loss of trust due to lack of root of trust,
+all users' keys must be stored in a centralised location where all contacts
+are able to go to in case of compromise or to periodically check the state
+of keys and to see if they have changed. This centralised location requires
+some sort of identification to ensure that the user changing their keys is
+really the same person who initially signed up for the platform, using a
+trust-on-first-use (TOFU) model, which isn't much different than what
+today's centralised platforms are already doing; the only difference is who
+is controlling the location; trust is still present and required.

+
+In order to have a root of trust, I have posted my keys to my website,
+which is protected by multiple layers of security:
+
+1. I have provided identification to my domain name registrar, to ensure I
+can access the website I rightfully own, should it be compromised, by
+providing identification to the domain name registrar.
+
+2. I have provided identification to my virtual private server host, to
+ensure I can access the virtual private servers I rightfully rent, should
+they be compromised, by providing identification to the virtual private
+server host.
+
+3. I have pinned my website to a globally trusted certificate authority,
+Let's Encrypt, which is a trsuted party to manage TLS certificates and
+ensure ownership of the domain when connecting to it.
+
+4. I have enabled DNSSEC on my domain, so it is extremely difficult to
+spoof my domain to make you believe you're connecting to it when you're
+actually connecting to someone else's. +
+While not the most secure implementation a root of trust, but it is the
+most secure implementation currently available to me. While the domain
+name registrar or virtual private server host could tamper with my domain
+and data, they are the most trustworthy parties available.
+In its current form, decentralisation would make this impossible to
+implement in any form.
+
+

Conclusion

+

Do not demand anonymity; demand privacy and control of your own data.
+It is possible for someone else to hold your keys, without them taking
+control of them and dictating what you can and cannot do (Twitter's
+misinformation policy comes to mind). If a platform is not listening to
+your or other people's concerns about how it is run, show those platforms
+that you will not stand for it, and move to a different one. This may not
+be ideal, but it's not different to moving from one decentralised platform
+to another. Centralisation isn't what is evil, the people in control of the
+platforms are what is potentially evil. Carefully, logically, and
+tactically, choose who to trust. Decentralisation doesn't do much for trust
+when you must still trust the operator of the decentralised platform, and
+are still subject to the possibly draconian policies of that decentralised
+platform. If government is what you are trying to avoid, there is no
+denying it is feasibly impossible to avoid it; a government could always
+take down the decentralised platform, forcing you to move to another,
+and they could also take down the centralised key storage site mentioned
+earlier in this article. A government is not something you can so easily
+avoid. Decentralisation does not solve the government issue. In order to
+live a happy, fun, and fulfilled life, while protecting yourself against
+logical threats, there are only two words you must live by: Threat model.

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+Back + +