6.857 Computer and Network Security
October 22, 2002
Lecture Notes 13 : Palladium, Zero Knowledge
Lecturer: Ron Rivest
Scribe: Baratz/Gavacs/Sen/Sudan
[These are the initial scribe notes. The 鏗乶al version will appear with updated 鏗乬ures. Namely, the
鏗乬ures will have larger fonts.]
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Outline
- Palladium discussion
- Zero Knowledge Proofs
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Palladium discussion
Prof. Rivest:
What did people like / dislike about Palladium?
Student:
I think it鈥檚 interesting to think about the various other organizations that are a鏗€ecting
Palladium, like Hollywood, etc.
Student:
I don鈥檛 think Palladium is going to 鏗倅. They haven鈥檛 really come up with a killer-app and
the cost is going to be too high. What is the killer app? Movie and music distribution?
Prof. Rivest:
Could movie distribution be the killer app? That really seems to be their driving
motivation.
Student:
It seems as though the only way they can justify this initiative is if they envision PCs
becoming the center of a home theater system. Using PCs to control DVD players, TVs, etc.
Prof. Rivest:
A very useful way of thinking about it is as a virtual embedded set top box.
Student:
How can they use this system for DRM if it isn鈥檛 physically tamper-resistant? Maybe due
to the DMCA it would be illegal to install dual-ported memory. Hardware attacks could probably
be carried out for hundreds of dollars or less. A movie could be extracted and then distributed.
Prof. Rivest:
Besides DRM, what could this be used for?
Student:
Possibly subscription services, software licensing, or piracy control.
Student:
The whole TCPA framework provides a lot of functionality to enterprises.
Student:
It seems as though the right-hand side of Palladium won鈥檛 really be used that much and
isn鈥檛 robust enough to run complete applications like Word, etc.
Prof. Rivest:
This reminds me of how we drew the distinction between user and kernel space, and
then with Microsoft operating systems and plug-and-play people have been able to insert drivers,
etc. into kernel space. Now all they鈥檝e done is draw another line and are daring outsiders to cross
that line. After a while all sorts of code will have found its way into the Palladium zone and then
what do we do? Draw another line and make Palladium 2?
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May
be freely reproduced for educational or personal use.
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