SSL?

[blackLion]

Hi,

I was wondering if there were SSL ports. If so, which server? Thanks.

blackLion

[Beige]

Hi,

I was wondering if there were SSL ports. If so, which server? Thanks.

blackLion

Sadly, no EFnet server offers SSL presently. This could well change in the future, though, as CPU power keeps getting cheaper.

I must stress, however, that if you're genuinely concerned with privacy (say, for example, you're a baker starving to keep your favourite cake recipies secret), SSL via middle-man servers will still not be without weaknesses (and if IRC servers along the way aren't supporting cryptlinks, information about your tasty truffle tarts will still travel in plaintext between the servers).

It might be an idea to look for client-side encryption solutions (afaik there is at least one PGP-like assymetric encryption script for IRC out there). With a competent client-client encryption solution, you're most likely to guarantee that the intended pie recipe recipient is the only one who gets it (get it?).

Happy baking,

Beige

[blackLion]

Hi Beige,

Thanks for the info. My dorm connection will not allow me to connect to networks without SSL. It takes a long time and luck on whether I can connect regularly.

blackLion

[Beige]

My dorm connection will not allow me to connect to networks without SSL. It takes a long time and luck on whether I can connect regularly.

What you may be experiencing is simply a side effect of (due to the dorm networking setup) inaccessible identd. On connect, EFnet servers will try to connect to your machine and access an identd service on your machine (on a multi-user unix machine, this would tell the IRC server which user is trying to connect, allowing multiple users to share the same IP). If this connection attempt hangs, the IRC servers will typically wait for 20-40 seconds before giving up, resulting in a slow login for the user.

The real downside of not having remote-accessible identd is that some IRC servers will reject your connection altogether. I'd recommend identifying 2-3 servers which will let you on (if you are .edu, chances are one of the .edu servers will be well suited), and stick to those (not to play favourites, but at least irc.blessed.net and efnet.demon.co.uk should generally allow unidented connections to connect).

The next time you're connected, feel free to /msg Beige for some thoughts re your setup (it's easier to make appropriate recommendations once I actually see what network you're connecting from ).

Good luck in any case!

Beige