[OTR-dev] Clever logging for weechat_otr plugin (+ log management discussion)

Daniel ".koolfy" Faucon koolfy at koolfy.be
Wed Mar 13 17:40:30 EDT 2013


On Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:43:12 -0400
Greg Troxel <gdt at ir.bbn.com> wrote:

> 
> "\"Daniel \".koolfy\" Faucon\"" <koolfy at koolfy.be> writes:
> 
> > It's not up to the OTR protocol to define logging policies, so we
> > must make sure OTR implementations behave responsibly.
> 
> I'm not sure I agree with this.  I think it's entirely reasonable for
> the protocol to say that clients MUST NOT log, and if so MUST send a
> "i-am-logging" notification to the other parties.  Of course, there's
> no guarantee, but the protocol spec might as well define the expected
> behavior.

I know it can be tempting at times, but I think it's actually a bad
idea.

The thing is: it's too easy to cheat with that.
Even with such a notification, you can't prevent a copy/paste or a
screenshot.

You could argue that against a malicious interlocutor, we're screwed
anyway, and that thus mechanism would be aimed at distracted or clumsy
people, and I almost agree.

My biggest problem is that the protocol would try to provide an
information on something it has no real control of. And by doing so, it
will create a false sense of security between the parties. The bottom
line is: whatever happens, both parties engaging in OTR conversations
should at all times evaluate the risk of being logged without consent.

What a clean log management across OTR implementation does, is minimize
the frequency at which this assumption is true. Without altering the
user's perception of the "logging state" of the other interlocutor.

The last thing we want is out encryption protocol being deceptive about
the state of the exchange. This is when everything starts to fall
apart :(

-- 
Daniel ".koolfy" Faucon

Tel: France : (+33)(0)658/993.700
PGP Fingerprint : 485E 7C63 8D29 F737 FEA2  8CD3 EA05 30E6 15BE 9FA5
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