November 1992 - cypherpunks-legacy

PGP to SMTP mailer
by McGrath, James 19 Nov '92

19 Nov '92

Gudday, People were suggesting that someone write a mailer with PGP support, and because my site uses lots of PCs connected to an internet host, I was thinking of using an SMTP-client based system. That much I think I can do. However, I am also now trying to learn to program for Windows, and the idea of a windows based PGP is quite nice, and with an integrated mailer it would be great. Is anyone else working on either of these two things? What are the implications (security wise) of using something like windows where tasks aren't really that hidden from each other and that swaps to disk? I notice that PGP bothers to erase its stacks and work areas. It seems that this would be a lot less possible under windows. Comments? Jim McGrath

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Request for more detail
by edgar＠spectrx.Saigon.COM 18 Nov '92

18 Nov '92

On Nov 15, Phil Karn wrote: After reading the details of that (formerly) secret back-room agreement between NSA and SPA, I don't think I'll *ever* trust a commercial encryption package, especially one for which source code is unavailable for scrutiny. Could Phil or anyone give more details about that agreement and/or where one could read more about it? -- edgar(a)spectrx.saigon.com (Edgar W. Swank) SPECTROX SYSTEMS +1.408.252.1005 Silicon Valley, Ca

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Re: a patently false rumor
by Judith Milhon 18 Nov '92

18 Nov '92

uh oh: i gave the wrong contact info with that Irresponsible emission: it was spozed to be cypherpunks-request(a)toad.com. HOWEVER: here you are, d00d. you've landed in the midst of a multistrand technical argument about the logistics of applied cryptography... >jude<

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damn: sorry
by Judith Milhon 18 Nov '92

18 Nov '92

my column in the current issue of mONdo pointed readers to this list, rather than -request. the final line edit didn't correct that, and the issue is now on the stands. if there ARE any readers, they may blunder in here cluelessly, and it's all my fault. damn sorry. >jude<

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Re: Random Numbers Boxes and Cypher Processers
by George A. Gleason 18 Nov '92

18 Nov '92

Why do encryption in the modem instead of the host cpu? Because then you have a product which will work with any computer, and all you need is software to make it adapt to whatever you're using. Might make it easier to encrypt and decrypt on the fly also, though this point is of debatable merit. -gg

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re:
by Tom.Jennings＠f111.n125.z1.FIDONET.ORG 18 Nov '92

18 Nov '92

U> From: huntting(a)glarp.com (Brad Huntting) U> two public PGP keys if your interested: Why did you sign your key? --- ReadMail * Origin: tomj(a)fidosw.fidonet.org / World Power Systems (1:125/111) -- Tom Jennings - via FidoNet node 1:125/555 UUCP - ...!uunet!hoptoad!kumr!fidogate!111!Tom.Jennings INTERNET - Tom.Jennings(a)f111.n125.z1.FIDONET.ORG

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No Subject
by Brad Huntting 18 Nov '92

18 Nov '92

Please add me to the cypherpunks mailing lists. Here are my two public PGP keys if your interested: brad -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.0 mQBNAir99E4AAAECALCo19KN/eLnMKicKH9NK9uY3gpaNAZ3vMPpiIAOH5sWOfxK t0bv/T0NnUC0kGr+kJsYAx7dTGc4C/Rx3rZuO/8ABRG0JkJyYWQgSHVudHRpbmcg PGh1bnR0aW5nLjUxMkBnbGFycC5jb20+iQBFAgUQKv32PjNoJjtQO7sNAQHQPAF/ TK1mO9Bpm0JCtxqYvCilvMEYohlDmC6pTl6XPxViil8WXOs04nkq+vy26+QCrgd4 =T+VL -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.0 mQA9Air9nn0AAAEBgNK6vPMg3KFzZxuB4llRoKEOxJvlO/TE0NNObgpRFs+px45+ 3z4YQbgzaCY7UDu7DQAFEbQiQnJhZCBIdW50dGluZyA8aHVudHRpbmdAZ2xhcnAu Y29tPokAVQIFECr99nML9HHetm47/wEB6OMCAK82O/iSxEK6PzUd4Y0FXvfoJRKD F/h+6NvbIf2tt0b7IARoLL2e/fw0AaR0TY2U+47s3NBWEAL1Iy+5AV16qyc= =cpUM -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

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Re: Rander box and other stuff
by George A. Gleason 18 Nov '92

18 Nov '92

Eric (Hollander; my last post was to Eric Hughes)- Your "small laptop with (goodies)" was EXACTLY what we were trying to go for in 1983/84. This was the "Cryptex CS-3" project. Remember that there was no such thing as a laptop at the time. What I was proposing was a self-contained portable encryption terminal. It would have measured about a foot wide by 10" long by about 2-3" thick, had an LCD for about six to eight lines of text at a time, two 3-1/2" FDDs, a pair of sockets for "Codepacks" (hardware key storage devices which would have been tamper-resistant and password protected), a good quality keyboard, a modem with modular jack and optional acoustic couplers (for payphones: low-tech anonymity)... the Tempest feature would have been achieved by putting 100dB of white noise on the metal housing, which would have been imperfect but decent enough. There was no plan for a hard drive; the operating software would have been a simple line editor and the crypto routines, all burned into ROM and part of the main processor board. No plans for thermite linings at the time either, though we did have a password routine with a duress option, which would have erased anything on the FDDs or the Codepacks. My first intended market for this thing was the political dissident community, where communication has always suffered to a small but noticeable degree by the "we can't talk on the phone" factor. It never got going because the market was too small. Now it would seem the time has definitely come... though whatever ultimately arises out of the cypherpunk scene will be many many times more sophisticated and versatile. -gg

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a patently false rumor
by erodenbeck 17 Nov '92

17 Nov '92

all right so i got it from MONDO. accepting that the world has already been taken over and that if its not on tv it doesn't happen I submit and propose to you that it is for the taking but of course you already know that

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Any suggestions on what to do with this junk?
by O'Hara Walter 17 Nov '92

17 Nov '92

Hi, I'm new to this list so pardon my ignorance/naivete I'm a systems admin type who is upgrading a bunch of desktop computers next month. As a consequence, about half a dozen computers of the XT vintage will fall under my wing with instructions to "find something useful to do with them." Are there any good suggestions out there about what I could do with old 8-bit technology vis-a-vis crypto? Thanks, Walt

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