[thanksgiving]

They will own 30%of digicert.

I think this deal should put digicert on a "one strike and you're out" zone as well.

I don't understand what's going on. Digicert will give Symantec 800M+ cash and a 30% equity?

And Symantec will generously allow the current digicert CEO to continue as the CEO of digicert? Doesn't look like Symantec is selling anything. Looks like Symantec is buying digicert from the owners of digicert.

[justinjlynn]

Indeed. Classic reverse buyout to escape a bad name. It's complete bullshit and the browser vendors should see right through it.

[tptacek]

It would be a "classic reverse buyout" if DigiCert was going to continue to operate the Symantec CA infrastructure. If it is not, then Google and Mozilla will have accomplished their most important objective, which is the elimination of insecure certificate issuers in current operation.

You clearly have other objectives you would like Google and Mozilla to accomplish for you, and I probably agree with many of them, but let's try to stay focused here.

[justinjlynn]

And now the same people who made that shitty infrastructure will control a large chunk of the business that created what was once (probably) a perfectly good one -- and likely make the same shit decisions that made their old one shit as well making digicerts' infrastructure worse, and eventually probably shit as well.

[tptacek]

I'm pretty sure the Symantec CA people aren't coming along or taking over Digicert.

[justinjlynn]

With 30% control, you can bet there are Symantec CA business people coming into Digicert.

[tptacek]

Would you like to make that bet more explicit? I would be game.