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Comment by Hedja

HTTPS ensures the data isn't tampered during transport, but it doesn't ensure the integrity of the data itself. That's why there's things like Subresource Integrity (which doesn't apply to top-level resources like HTML).

However, there's no way to ensure the files we download are created by who they say they are. A domain for example can change hands and existing links say on HN can be loaded with unexpected, potentially malicious, content. Same for hacked servers.

IMO we need some form standard page signing to enforce actual integrity of information, not just transport. I made a proof-of-concept Web Extension to show how that might be possible using PGP [1]. Of course PGP has its own issues but it's just an experiment.

[1] https://webverify.jahed.dev/

parent Hedja 5 years ago

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