November 2000 - cypherpunks-legacy

CDR: Re: PipeNet protocol
by Adam Back 07 Nov '00

07 Nov '00

Wei writes: > > [...] if many web servers supported > > connections from the freedom cloud using freedom protocol, and nodes > > in the network did per hop padding using a modified PipeNet scheduling > > algorithm where you would try to use PipeNet scheduling, but instead > > of delaying, if a packet didn't arrive in time, you would send some > > cover instead on a hop by hop basis. [...] > > I don't think that works very well. When you send some hop by hop > padding, every node downstream would be able to tell that some delay > occured somewhere upstream in the connection. I think I phrased that badly. The hop that didn't receive enough packets on a link would create padding, but the padding would be end-to-end between that hop and the end hop (the recipient node, be that client or freedom enabled web server). Clearly if you compromise enough exit nodes, you can then selectively DoS links and observe the padding as the exit node must see it. With freedom and to some extent with the freedom on servers variant (my earlier comment quoted above) I think 3 hops is roughly the maximum useful number of hops. This is because it's a real-time protocol and it's not end-to-end padded. In the case of freedom it's simply not end-to-end padded, with the servers variant it could be end-to-end padded, but the attacker could compromise other nodes, induce delay and therefore persuade the node to pad and then correlate the padding with the compromised exit node. Hence in either case two compromised nodes gives you a lot of info. With PipeNet's synchronous mix-net you don't have this problem, but you have the performance and DoS problems. > So if either the receiver (the last node) or the next to last node > is compromised, the attacker would be able to trace the caller by > correlating between delays in the network and where hop by hop > padding occurs. I agree with this conclusion despite the ambiguous explanation -- the attack is a little more active, and requires more compromises, but still holds I think. So this type of network is not secure against too many node compromises, where-as PipeNet's synchronous mix-net has more mix-net like properties. However it offers reasonable security, it should have reasonable performance, be resistant to widespread DoS and have similar bandwidth overhead to PipeNet. You could use traffic shaping (in any of the networks we discussed) to reduce the bandwidth consumption in quiet periods as Lucky described in the past based on slowly moving average, typical period fluctuations etc. There is another parameter in the previous comparison I missed off: 4. Bandwidth Cost With the server variant of freedom you could also mix different classes of traffic -- some with end-to-end padding and some with no padding. The padding is fairly expensive in bandwidth. Also one could have different route create and destroy rules -- PipeNet create and destroy mixing will make route setup quite slow. In this way you could build a network which supports different performance, cost, DoS resistance and security trade-offs. You could presumably allow PipeNet in the same network also. There is some advantage to having more people using the same protocol, because there will be limits to the cover provided to each other of different traffic classes. Weaker things could be eliminated from the picture for example with higher level threat models, if the threshold of compromised nodes or capability of attacker is above the weaker higher performance routing protocol, but below that required to compromise the high security protocol. Adam

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CDR: Re: Courts interfering with election
by George＠orwellian.org 07 Nov '00

07 Nov '00

George(a)orwellian.org wrote: > >TimMay was entirely silent on why he objects to this time extension. TimMay Moroned: # You lying sack of shit. I've made my objections very, very clear. Yeah, you said urbanites are mutants. Whatever that means in your mind. TimMay Moroned: # I need to find out who you are and where you live. What, has your wife refused to service you after you buried lots of gold in the ground awaiting the end of civilization? Ha: Gore will take California. All your words meant nothing.

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CDR: Re: election
by No User 07 Nov '00

07 Nov '00

anonymous lisped: > The women in Michigan did it, the women in Penn. did it, > the women in Fla. did it. Wake up punks, it's the wimmens. > They rule. > MacN > They need raping. So do you, right up the ass. With a lot of women around to cheer him on.

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CDR: Check out this video!
by VidBot 07 Nov '00

07 Nov '00

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CDR: Re: Courts interfering with election
by George＠orwellian.org 07 Nov '00

07 Nov '00

TimMay Moroned: # And what is wrong with simply closing the lines at the closing time. # Put a cop or other official at the end of the line and say: "You # arrived at 8:01. Polls are closed. Everyone ahead of you will be # allowed in to vote, but you are too late." Why, that's already been answered. See text about woman who tried to vote all day, starting at 10AM. Any more questions?

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CDR: RE: Courts interfering with election
by Tim May 07 Nov '00

07 Nov '00

Ernest Hua has asked me to call him a numbskull directly. Apparently he did not like my "someone" reference. So I am obliging. >And he says he will not send me anything he doesn't mind having >shared with the rest of the list. And in a later message he defended >the St. Louis legal action by saying "The new rules do not say >"Republicans not allowed during those two hours". His message follows: At 5:44 PM -0800 11/7/00, Ernest Hua wrote: >Look, if you want to call me a "numbskull" feel free to do that to >me directly. And, I will surely not send you something I am not >willing to share with the rest of the list. You aren't that special. > >Ern Retardation is a dangerous thing. --Tim May -- ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, "Cyphernomicon" | black markets, collapse of governments.

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CDR: Re: Courts interfering with election
by George＠orwellian.org 07 Nov '00

07 Nov '00

commerce wrote home.com # The obvious complaint is that only select polling areas were # given extended hours, when it would have been just as easy to # extend voting hours for the entire region.... If all polling places had their hours extended, does TimMay withdraw his objections? And on what factual basis was he so taken back anyway? As if the unexpectedly heavy turnout couldn't cause problems somewhere in the nation. Yea heavy turnout. It's a good thing.

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CDR: Coping With Filtering Law
by anonymous＠openpgp.net 07 Nov '00

07 Nov '00

Librarians Running Into Trouble Monitoring Net Use The Associated Press B E R K L E Y, Mich., Nov. 6 Q Librarians trained in opening doors to knowledge must find ways to slam some of those doors shut, agitating many who donUt appreciate laws requiring them to censor Internet use. JJJJ RLibrarians are in the business of giving people information, not preventing them from getting it,S said Carol Windorf, Royal OakUs library director. RItUs an uncomfortable position and it makes it tougher for us to do our job.S JJJJ A state law approved last spring requires public libraries that offer Internet access to keep children from inappropriate sites by installing filters, monitoring behavior or requiring parents to be present. Not Alone Minnesota, Arizona, Utah and Colorado have laws similar to MichiganUs and at least 19 other states are considering legislative action. More than 75 libraries nationwide placed filters on computers last year, bringing the total to about 1,000. JJJJ The American Library Association has raised First Amendment concerns with the laws. But most of MichiganUs libraries are complying, with filters on at least some of their computers, said Stephen Kershner, executive director of the Michigan Library Association. JJJJ Some librarians have decided not to use filters Q calling the software unreliable and an inconvenience to everyone. JJJJ RThe filters can block computer users from obtaining completely acceptable information theyUre looking for on the Internet,S Oxford Library Director Judith Doublestein told The Detroit News for a Sunday story. JJJJ Doublestein said some computer users were denied football statistics from Super Bowl XXX because a filter confused the Roman numerals with a triple-X-rated pornographic Web site. JJJJ Moreover, Doublestein said, children are so adept at computer use that they can often easily get around the filters to look at questionable sites. Surrogate Parents? The American Library Association said it sees little merit in filters and believes libraries are more comfortable forming their own Internet policies. Some librarians said the law forces them to act as parents. JJJJ RIdeally, each person should be able to search the Internet on their own,S Windorf said. RIn the case of children, we feel parents are the best guide.S JJJJ In Berkley, where filters arenUt in use, itUs up to staff members and library visitors to decide what is objectionable. JJJJ In Birmingham, which has only one filtered computer, a patron was arrested during the summer after he ignored repeated warnings and downloaded photos from pornographic sites. JJJJ In Livonia, computers in the adult area donUt have filters and are equipped with privacy screens. Parents must accompany minors under 18 who wish to use them. Unaccompanied children must use computers with filters near the childrenUs area. JJJJ RI guess the filters are getting better, but we had a case where a patron was unable to research RMars ExplorerS because the TsU in Mars and the TexU in explorer triggered to the word sex,S said Livonia Library Director Barbara Lewis. Tips for the Home Some tips for parents and children on Internet use: JJJJ DonUt give out personal information such as addresses, phone numbers or school names and location without parental permission. JJJJ Tell parents right away about any information or message that causes discomfort. JJJJ Never agree to get together with an online contact without checking with parents. JJJJ Never send a personal photo to a person without parental knowledge. JJJJ Decide with parents on the length of time that can be spent online and appropriate sites to visit. JJJJ Install software filters on home computers to block inappropriate sites, although they canUt bar access to everything parents might not want children to see and may block information that is helpful. JJJJ Place computers in the kitchen, family room, or living room so an adult can see the child using it. JJJJ DonUt let young children surf the Web alone. JJJJ Q The Associated Press Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. [ :-) ]

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CDR: WELCOME to imail-html@lists.ifilm.com
by imail-html-help＠lists.ifilm.com 07 Nov '00

07 Nov '00

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CDR: Codebreaking with a multi-Teraflops network: one technique
by Ray Dillinger 07 Nov '00

07 Nov '00

Let's say you're a high-level spook, and you've got a bunch of encrypted intercepts of uncertain origin. Gigabytes and gigabytes of them. Maybe they came with partial keys, maybe they are only 40-bit or 56-bit keyed in the first place. Maybe you have partial keys on some of them (from the "work reduction fields" or whatever on lotus notes for example). You don't have any knowledge that would link a particular one of these with a particular case, but you strongly suspect that somewhere in there are a few dozen that bear on cases you're investigating, and maybe a few dozen more that would be good leads into cases you ought to investigate. You'd like to focus a few dozen Teraflops of processing power on it, but most of your machines are taken up with higher-priority projects pertaining to identifiable cases, or to projects that have better odds of near-term success. What can you do? It should be childs play to set up a "front", as a scientific or charitable organization. Dream up a CPU-intensive task that engages people's imagination or sense of wonder, but which nobody would expect results from anytime soon. Write pages and pages about having written the kind of software you'd need to run to work on that problem -- the Great Idea, the problems, the triumphs and tribulations, the agonizing decisions and occasional design compromises and limitations, and the satisfaction with the end result. All fiction, but hey, this is just a front, right? Now, take your code breaking software and add some pretty graphics to it. Graphics and messages that have to do with the fake project you dreamed up. Arrange it so it runs as a screensaver. Set up a server that breaks the keyspaces and intercepts you need to check into chunks, and let people download chunks to work on and upload results. Set up elaborate tracking stuff that tells how many CPU- hours, how many work units, etc, each contributor has contributed. Hire a bunch of people at the front organization who sincerely believe that all these cycles are expended on the fake project, and let them effusively thank all the people who download and run the software. Explain that you can't release the source, because then people would modify it and your scientific data might be corrupted. It could work. >From the outside, it would look a lot like the SetiAtHome project. Just a thought. Bear

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