Re: [tlug] cacert question

[Darren Cook <darren@example.com>]

> I see your point.  That I go to Amazon [for example] because I trust
> Amazon because of their reputation and not because I trust the Root
> CA.  I guess Amazon went to that Root CA because they trust it though;
> for a company that earns as much money as Amazon, going to a Root CA
> may not be a lot of money.
> 
> If I understand the system correctly...Amazon could have created their
> own certificates and thus be their own Root CA.  But they go to
> Verisign or whoever because ... I don't know why? ...

AFAIK, because it is one of the root CAs trusted by all browsers. So the
user doesn't get a security warning.

However, go to Firefox Preferences, Advanced, Encryption, and View
Certificates, and you'll see there are hundreds of built-in
certificates. So lots of choice for websites to avoid that security warning.

Darren


-- 
Darren Cook, Software Researcher/Developer

http://dcook.org/work/ (About me and my work)
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