Although passwords are
sometimes still an acceptable solution on single machines and
local networks, we expose the most prominent reasons why that
credential type is sorely inef?¬?cient on the modern Internet.
The section ???The Babel of Cryptography??? provides a gentle
introduction to concepts and terminology of modern cryptography,
framing the notions as answers to the problems mentioned
so far. As the explanation goes deeper into the capabilities of
those tools, it becomes evident that cryptography is an important
instrument, but not a silver bullet that can alone solve the
problem of identity propagation. A quick glimpse at the number
of the standards and products in use today will give you an
idea of the challenges that prevent prompt and resilient
interoperability.
The section ???The Babel of Web User Interfaces??? brings human
behavior into the picture, showing how the tightest
cryptographic protocol can be completely ineffective if its usage
is not intuitive. The current Internet protocols, by their very nature,
do not promote a user-friendly credential-gathering stage.
Facts supporting this statement are presented, together with the
most obvious and the more subtle effects on user con?¬?dence
and pro?¬?ciency when dealing with digital identity.
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