Explain why asymmetric key (public) is passed off-band (and why not pass symmetric keys) about simplex-chat HOT 8 CLOSED

@juev Hi, apologies - it seems we recently moved that doc to a different folder, here's the link:

https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplexmq/blob/master/rfcs/done/2021-01-26-crypto.md#why-handshake-has-to-be-with-asymmetric-keys

The explanation there is not the clearest really, it was more of a not very formal proof of a thought experiment for ourselves at that moment.

Also we plan to switch to different cryptographic primitives in near future - this explanation is going to be outdated soon. You may want to check out the draft of a new technical document, available here.

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@efim-poberezkin is it done?

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@epoberezkin yep.. I'm not sure the draft in description has to do smth with the explanation, but it's explained differently here:
https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplexmq/blob/master/rfcs/2021-01-26-crypto.md#why-handshake-has-to-be-with-asymmetric-keys
I've checked the logic, seems good to me, please double check

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oh well.. re-reading the desciption it actually seems to do explain the same thing.. still it's better when it's semi-formal and I believe explanation is more complete / accurate in rfc.

E.g.

If an active attacker ..., the real sender won't be able to create a simplex channel...

seems wrong

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what should we do with it? A bit lost :)

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to do - copy explanation from https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplexmq/blob/master/rfcs/2021-01-26-crypto.md#why-handshake-has-to-be-with-asymmetric-keys to protocol

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These links is not working: 404 :-(

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Thank you!

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