Post B1mF2L5Fusy8czSuSe by pemensik@fosstodon.org
 (DIR) More posts by pemensik@fosstodon.org
 (DIR) Post #B1mF2IQPnl70NkLGWe by soatok@furry.engineer
       2025-12-30T13:17:06Z
       
       3 likes, 0 repeats
       
       We should talk about Werner Koch's response https://gpg.fail on the oss-security mailing list.https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/12/29/9Yes, and actually the only serious bug from their list.Koch either didn't watch the talk, he is in such defense of his own ego that he can't see how serious the bugs were, or he's tacitly admitting that PGP is not a serious recommendation.Can you distinguish between these three explanations?Could it be all of them are true?ImpactWhile this may allow remote code execution (RCE), it definitively causes memory corruption.Good research.I think this sarcastic quip is what reveals Werner Koch's opinion about the security researchers and their work.The rest of his email is measured (and partly responding to other mailing list participants rather than the disclosure directly).
       
 (DIR) Post #B1mF2K5DdXLTWaRMlU by soatok@furry.engineer
       2025-12-30T13:27:42Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       I think 2026 should be the year that we make PGP irrelevant.Not just GnuPG (Koch's implementation), but the entire OpenPGP ecosystem.Most cryptographers I talk to gave up on PGP over a decade ago.(After seeing the arrogance and dismissiveness that bled through Koch's oss-security email, who can blame them?)If you're a country whose government mandates the use of PGP, even in obscure places, let's talk about how to replace PGP.
       
 (DIR) Post #B1mF2L5Fusy8czSuSe by pemensik@fosstodon.org
       2025-12-30T13:38:10Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @soatok what is the replacement for email encryption then?
       
 (DIR) Post #B1mF2M0KUgcfU0AUQC by soatok@furry.engineer
       2025-12-30T13:39:58Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @pemensik We replace email itself with a protocol that doesn't have a plaintext fallback mode, but has the same UX and can optionally yeet ciphertext (without meaningful metadata) over IMAP/SMTP if necessary.
       
 (DIR) Post #B1mF2MizocLriX4A2i by DaveMWilburn@infosec.exchange
       2025-12-30T14:35:17Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @soatok @pemensik It is absolutely maddening that the answer to the question, "how do I send an encrypted email in 2025?" is, "you don't."And that when pressed further, the best workaround one can offer is, "just use Signal chat in lieu of email."But that's somehow where we are.Truly the worst and dumbest timeline.
       
 (DIR) Post #B1mF2NJ9eBH7Wfz2P2 by soatok@furry.engineer
       2025-12-30T14:36:39Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @DaveMWilburn @pemensik It's like asking how to safely shoot oneself in the foot.Email has too many failure modes. Too many people reply to encrypted emails with plaintext, often with a quote-reply of the email sent.Signal doesn't have a plaintext mode. That's the primary reason it's superior to Matrix / XMPP.
       
 (DIR) Post #B1mFSc1LZGlWgbAI1w by dequbed@mastodon.chaosfield.at
       2025-12-30T13:22:42Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @soatok I wish I was surprised but no this entirely tracks. PGP in general and GnuPG specifically are the masters of “that's not a bug, you're just holding it wrong”.To which I will just quote Maxim 62 of Schlock Mercenary:“Anything labeled "This end toward enemy" is dangerous at both ends.”To wit, if you can hold it wrong it's dangerous even if held right. Cryptography is too important to only be available in dangerous tools.
       
 (DIR) Post #B1q7nDyw7JD7D9C98S by arcanechat@fosstodon.org
       2025-12-30T22:07:25Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @soatok there has been so many projects wanting to replace email or claiming "email is dead" at the end of the day there is only one survivor, and it is not themyou can't kill email, it is undead@pemensik