convergence notary
Mon, 05 Sep 2011 21:14 - Daniel - Other - Comments (0)
Convergence is distributed replacement for the CA system used by SSL. Instead of trusting a central CA to validate sites it relies on (multiple) notaries to verify that you are seeing the same SSL cert as anyone else. A user can choose which notary he wants to trust, and a failing notary wont affect users that aren't using it. The convergence site as a good overview about the features of convergence. If you want a more detailed overview about convergence you can watch Moxie Marlinspikes talk on Black Hat 2011 about SSL And The Future Of Authenticity.
To use convergence you have to install the convergence Firefox add-on. Convergence replaces the SSL system in your browser and when you visit an SSL encrypted page it will validate the certificate using your trusted notaries.
My own notary is hosted on notary.pew.cc. If you have the Firefox add-on installed this link allows you to add my notary to your trusted notary list.
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