Raise the bar

At this security meeting, Jules had requested everyone. Vernes was concerned as this had never happened before. He decided to go see his brother few minutes before the offical meeting.

"What's happenning Jules? Why do you need me?" Vernes asked.

"One of us will get physically attacked. We have to find a solution" Jules started.

"Or stop the whole thing all together" Vernes completed, "I get it. You have my full support."

"Thanks Vernes" Jules said.

5 minutes later, the meeting started.

"I want us to reconsider the risks for our root CA" Jules started, "Especially, I want us to consider that one of us could get physically threatened to steal it."

Everybody stayed silent for a few seconds, shocked by the request.

"First of all" Vernes start, "Let me be clear. If anything like this ever happens, please do not do anything stupid! Nothing is worth risking your life and this company is no exception! That's true for Jules and myself too. Don't even think twice. Do what you are told to do and be safe."

The atmosphere was heavy, nobody expected that. Not a word was said for the next two minutes.

Then Jules added, "Here's another way to think of the same problem: imagine that someone successfully corrupted me. Consider me as the attacker."

"And why don't we consider that we are all corrupted? Or at least more than one of us?" Leiko asked.

"That's a good point. However, we cannot protect ourself against an opponent with an overwhelming amount of resources like a state. Let's start with one bad agent, if we find a way to scale things up then all the better, but it shouldn't be the goal. We have to stop somewhere." Jules replied.

"Let's all take the rest of the day to thing about it calmly." Vernes said, "Then, starting tomorrow, please consider this when thinking about the security of our root CA."

"Thanks everyone" Jules concluded.