opened 01:12AM - 16 May 23 UTC
Enhancement
Topic: Privacy
Topic: Security
Currently we make wide use of ed25519 keys (via [`ed25519-zebra`](https://crates… .io/crates/ed25519-zebra)), except on the web where we use RSASSA-PKCS1-v1_5 (via the [Web Crypto API](https://w3c.github.io/webcrypto/)).
ed25519 has various virtues (small public key size, speedy verification time among them), but also comes with some baggage:
- It's not in broad use in Web Crypto API, so we _have_ to use Web Crypto's RSA there ([implementation status](https://github.com/WICG/webcrypto-secure-curves/issues/20))
- [There are issues when verifying signatures across implementations](https://hdevalence.ca/blog/2020-10-04-its-25519am)
Both ed25519 keys and Web Crypto RSA keys are supported "out of the box" in the [`rs-ucan`](https://github.com/ucan-wg/rs-ucan) project, which is the basis for using these as the defaults in Noosphere.
For CIDs, we currently use [blake2b-256](https://www.blake2.net/) everywhere. Blake2b's main virtue is its speed compared to most plausible alternatives.
Recently, there was some thought provoking discussion of the default schemes used in Bluesky: https://staging.bsky.app/profile/gtank.bsky.social/post/3jvsidg6mgh2f
And less recently, some discussion on Bluesky about usage of the [BLAKE3](https://github.com/BLAKE3-team/BLAKE3) hash by n0 computer: https://staging.bsky.app/profile/b5.bsky.social/post/3jv2zaqze5s2x (see also this [screencast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk4nefmguZk)).
This issue is intended to kick off a discussion weighing the pros and cons of our default cryptography in use before we get too comfy with our priors. Some provocations to kick off the discussion:
- There is compelling evidence that we should switch to BLAKE3 for hashing; what is the counter-arguement?
- Compatibility across ed25519 implementations seems like it count be a real problem; is it worth blessing a (possibly less popular / less available) alternative as our favored default?
If there are folks with a cryptography bent and opinions about what a new protocol ought to consider when picking curves, hashes etc. it would be great to get your input here.
Noosphere is an emerging ‘protocol for thought ’.
system
August 14, 2023, 8:54am
2
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