[thelist] Verisign's 128 bit SSL Certs $995?

[Shawn K. Quinn]

On Wed, 2005-11-23 at 23:11 -0500, Maisha Walker wrote:
> Thank you Joshua and Shawn - and thanks for the link - very helpful!
> 
> One of my clients is very interested in having the VeriSign seal on his Web
> site and purchasing an SSL cert from them is his idea for getting that.  
> 
> Their 40 bit encryption cert is "only" $395.  
> 
> Do you think it would be a disservice to him and his customers to use only
> 40 bit encryption?

To the question as asked, my answer is an emphatic "yes" as 40 bit
cracks like an egg with any decent amount of computing power thrown at
it. It's comparable to a cheap padlock; it will keep honest people
honest.

However, you should read the page about SGC that Joshua posted; what
Verisign calls a "40 bit" certificate can still be used for 128 bit or
higher.

-- 
Shawn K. Quinn <skquinn at speakeasy.net>