Re: [ISN] E-mail can have dire consequences

From: mea culpa <jericho_at_dimensional.com>
Date: Wed 17 Jun 1998 - 19:12:16 CDT
Reply From: "Jay D. Dyson" <jdyson@techreports.jpl.nasa.gov>

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On Tue, 16 Jun 1998, mea culpa wrote:

> E-mail can have dire consequences
<snip>
> Trouble is, those casual messages sometimes get misdirected, or they can
> have healthy lifespans, hibernating for years on a computer backup in the
> company's basement. Sometimes, like old soldiers, old e-mail messages
> never die. 

	I don't know if I buy this argument entirely.  E-mail can be too
readily altered and/or forged.  What's to stop anyone from claiming that
_most_ of the message is theirs, but that they "cannot recall" ever having
written the crucial bits?  (You know, "the timestamps are right, the
headers are right, but gee whiz, I don't remember giving those orders"
sort of thing.)

	Without digital signatures, it's one person's word against
another.  Given that, e-mail "evidence" is circumstantial at best.  Any
technology-minded judge would likely dismiss it as such.

   (    (                                                        ______
   ))   ))  .- "There's always time for a good cup of coffee" -.  >===<--.
 C|~~|C|~~| [> Jay D. Dyson - jdyson@techreports.jpl.nasa.gov <] | =   |-'
  `--' `--' `-------------- Nemo impune lacessit --------------' `-----'

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Received on Wed Jun 17 21:07:24 1998
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