December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: cybergangs?
by Eric Wilson 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 06:47 PM 8/9/96 +0100, you wrote: > > > > Okay, so this is a bit Gibsonish but after reading that piece on cybergangs > and some of the ecash issues what I wanna know is this: > > There are no laws in cyberspace right? No one to enforce them as such > shall we say? What happens if a group of hackers/crackers/cypherpunks > set up shop and started offering their services to the highest bidder? > > Let's say that the US Government bans strong crypto and attempts to > enforce is using the many, conventional, means at its disposal... > what happens if the cypherpunks group raises the money to pay a group > or individual to hack/destroy/grind to a halt milnet? Or some such > government network? Or all of them? > > How come this hasn't happened yet? Okay maybe not at such a grand scale, > but ya know? > > Hey it's just an idea, > > Zaid > > >"The wave is already gathering; one day it will wash us away." - Hermann Hesse > A kind of Cybermilitia! Can we still wear green uniforms and camouflage face paint? Eric

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Another thing the Net is being blamed for...
by Deana Holmes 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Yet another thing that we're being blamed for. FYI, the temple ceremony has been reproduced many times since it was first exposed in the 1840s. The most recent revision (1990) was kept secret for only a short time before notorious former members got ahold of a tape and transcript of the ceremony. (I have a good idea of how they got it.) As far as I can tell, it didn't actually make it on to the Net until about 1994. This particular Mormon churchman (Russell Ballard) gave a speech a year or so ago warning Mormons in vague terms about the evils of the Internet. I suppose this is part of it. ===== >From this morning's Rolley&Wells column in the Salt Lake Tribune (without permission): "During a press tour this week of the LDS [Mormon] Church's new Mount Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, a member of the news media asked why a writtem copy of the temple ceremony was not given to members with temple recommends so they could study it in the privacy of their homes. Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles informed the reporter that there was no need. A church member had 'broken the covenant' -- taped the ceremony, transcribed it, and put it on the Internet for all to read." <end> Deana M. Holmes April 1996 poster child for clueless $cientology litigiousness alt.religion.scientology archivist since 2/95 mirele(a)xmission.com

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Re: e$: Watching the MacRubble Bounce
by Chris Adams 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On 9 Aug 96 01:54:52 -0800, deviant(a)pooh-corner.com wrote: >> If you accept that, then doesn't that make writing crypto software for >> any Unix platform *even more* of a waste of time? Because last time I >> checked, there were way more Macs on mom-and-pop's desks than Unix >> machines, counting *all* vendors. >Pardon my French, but you mus be fucking stupid or somehing. How many >universities use UNIX platforms? How many companies use UNIX platforms? >Sun, DEC, and SGI don't stay in buisiness by building cheap Windows boxes >ya know. There are 13948 _registered_ LINUX machines, not to mention the >unregistered ones. Don't tell me that Cray's were designed to run MacOS >or Windows 95. UNIX isn' NEARLY as dead as Apple is. I think the numbers have escaped you: there are far more Macs than Unix machines. It doesn't matter that Unix has a larger market with universities or Internet weenies, merely that overall more people use Macs than Unix. Also, FWIW some of those Unix machines are Macs running A/UX (Apple's Unix). One last thought: Sun, Dec, SGI, etc all make RISC Unix machines. Apple is the largest RISC vendor on the planet... Given that the Amiga is still around (and may be revived) despite the fact that the Mac:Amiga ratio is probably the same as the PC:Mac ratio, I'd say that it's quite likely Apple will stay around. Inspite of the hype about loses, Apple posted tens-of-millions-of-dollars profits last quarter - rare for a dead company... <g> They still cannot meet the demand for the PowerBooks - probably the best notebook available at any cost. # Chris Adams <adamsc(a)io-online.com> - Webpages for sale! Se habla JavaScript! # Automatically receive my resume or PGPKEY by sending email with a subject # of 'send PGPKEY' or 'send resume'. Capitalization counts so be careful! # Web site: http://www.io-online.com/adamsc/adamsc.htp

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Re: Massively parallel carbon-unit-based voice pattern matching
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 06:09 PM 8/9/96 -0700, Sandy Sandfort wrote: >On Fri, 9 Aug 1996, jim bell wrote: > >> Would it be possible to modify speech to remove the identifiable >> characteristics which came from the speaker, and replace them >> with those of some other person. > >Equipment exists that can remove the microtremors associated with >stress, thus defeating voice stress analysis technology. I wonder if such equipment is used on CSPAN and CSPAN-2? (And that's a serious question!) There is a relatively famous neurologist named Oliver Sacks who has written a series of books concerning odd brain disorders among his and other patients. In one book (maybe it was, "The Man who mistook his wife for a hat") he describes a scene where a group of patients with the same ailment (maybe it was called "aphasia", but it's been a few years...) were watching a speech by Ronald Reagan. As I recall, people with this ailment can't understand what's being said to them, but they CAN tell whether the person speaking is telling the truth. (or, at least, BELIEVES he's telling the truth...) All the patients laughed at Reagan's speech. Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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open diplomatic pouch
by morgan＠keilin.helsinki.fi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

According to the Economist (20 July p. 28) the Danish ombudsman has ruled that correspondence between the foreign ministry and embassies must be available to the public. -- ===================================================================== Joel.Morgan(a)Helsinki.FI http://blues.helsinki.fi/~morgan "Over the mountains there are mountains." -- Chang-rae Lee =====================================================================

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Re: Why should we trust the system?
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 07:10 AM 8/9/96 +0000, jonathon wrote: >On Thu, 8 Aug 1996, jim bell wrote: > >> Okay, I'll admit that I _never_ believed that judges actually follow the >> standards they claim to. But many other people of those who are more > > I know of a very good way to ensure that judges do follow > the standards that they claim to follow. > > It works even better at making politicians keep all the > election promises the make. > > Has one drawback --- it reduces the number of people willing > to carry out those two functions to virtually zero. OTOH, that > probably would be a very good thing. > That's odd...I know of one also! B^) Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Data Bases of Voiceprints?
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 3:26 AM 8/10/96, harka(a)nycmetro.com wrote: > * Carbons sent to: In: tcmay(a)got.net (BTW, I read the list, so no need to send carbons to me, or carbon-based units. or carbon-based citizen-units.) >Here the technical progresses made in eaves-dropping technology come in >really handy. Eaves-dropping on, let's say, apartments is these days >rather trivial and a great way of collecting voice samples of 'suspects'. >That the FBI doesn't have a voice database or at least access to one, I >seriously doubt. Most of the technologically advanced countries use >voice-recognition already to monitor phone traffic. The US does, Germany >does, the UK.... I'm skeptical. To paraphrase Dr. Strangelove, what use is such a data base if cops and agents don't know it exists? (Granted, useful in a few exceptional cases, even if field offices and agents are unaware that it exists, but not useful for many cases.) If such a voiceprint database, obtained surreptitiously through National Technical Means (tm), were to exist and be known to exist by investigators, word of its existence would leak out quickly enough. This is just my opinion, of course. But, as the Martian watchers say, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Do you _know_, that such a data base exists? (A data base of, say, more than 5% of all the adults in the U.S., in a data base that is searchable by voice print match to samples submitted by FBI or other law enforcement agents.) >The system functions 'vacuum-cleaner-like' and reacts to voice patterns >(individual voices) and trigger words. If a trigger word is said, the >entire conversation will be recorded and the telephone number on either >end determined for later review. >There are a few books out there, that deal with that kind of thing. >Unfortunately, I only remember a german one: "The RAF Phantom", written by >three journalists. But an Altavista might bring something up too... Sure, we all know--or should know--what the _capabilities_ are, technically. But capability !=! actuality. I doubt such a data base of voice prints exists. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: Oregon License Plate Site in the News Tonight!
by David E. Smith 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Date: Fri Aug 09 23:30:57 1996 > I believe that in California, you may have a PO Box on your > driver's license, but the state has to have your "real" address > in its records. As noted, some people forget to update this > information when they move, and others list their lawyer's > address with the state. Presumably, that should satisfy the > legal justifications for requiring an address. In Missouri, that's all they wanted (a PO Box). That's perfectly copacetic by them. If you want to register for voting - since we have Motor Voter - they of course need a real address. And the post office's requirements for getting a PO Box are nearly nonexistent. > > More important is ensuring that all the addresses that the > > state has on you are the same. The preference seems to be > > to have the same address as is on one's checks. > > That may be the preference, but I just use my e-mail address on > my checks. If more is required to cut a deal, I can choose to > add more information by hand if I am willing to do so to do the > transaction. I like that - email on cheques. Wish I'd thought of that before I ordered my last batch. > S a n d y > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ dave - ---- David E. Smith POB 324 Cape Girardeau MO USA 63702 dsmith(a)prairienet.org http://www.prairienet.org/~dsmith send mail of 'send pgp-key' subject for my PGP public key "Heard a lot of talk about this Jesus, a man of love, a man of strength; but what a man was two thousand years ago means nothing at all to me today ... " -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Automagically signed with Pronto Secure for Windows. iQEVAwUBMgwQmDVTwUKWHSsJAQGN1Af+LqxaOOIo/ZfMOLbUxRa09PLO5vArlZyW sKbngGrr3ZPVVxIkrrhaBTPPQ2VFkzcrx+ixUZa36+tdf0F+Q8oZBbrRy+NBFqMr D8x/5cHbXQ/1u7dZuHfDx9s0AFeijb2oNZ7XdmuoSb6evS2xuwknx15zLdHqt1LO AiJgw86Bdwa1eYBYrCLt0JtvVXA8zB5CTZs/ZawpOszlcUwbPptOFH0S6fhGwolC 4zA2qE6nyOiD3efl6Q3TPnlUcusFj3ICa8bvzz3DgRIGJMN/pWHU+A4NmtL/NOoj MGZfHGDiI27YOF6p+9p+pZ93HJuVJQOd+1US3hXBriM1lrVfNqMUlw== =oBZP -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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DMV/Public record data on CDROM
by <pstira＠escape.com> 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

There are several state's DMV data (or other public record data such as Voter Registration) available on CD-ROM, with DOS search engines. I have the demos for some of these programs on http://www.escape.com/~pstira/pi Oregon is not the only place you can obtain this type of information.

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Re: Drive the SF Central
by pjn＠nworks.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>>CBS radio news this morning: 80,000 commuters traveling the central >>f'way in SF will have information mailed to them regarding the quake retrofit >>How? Their license plates have been photographed. >You *are* making this up, right? Please say you did. In> It's possible today, and probably affordable. If not, it will be in In> 1-2 years, as Moore's law cranks down processing costs and video In> technology improves. For this application, they don't have to In> photograph every car, or read every plate successfully, or do it in In> real time. The objective is to get lots of drivers to take other In> routes or mass transit so they don't have to dump all the traffic onto In> surface streets right around the construction. Wasn't there something about these cameras in the latest 2600? (BTW, there was also alot of information on encryption in the issue, too.) P.J. pjn(a)nworks.com ... TagX Pro of Borg - "Your tagline will be assimilated." ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 [NR]

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Re: editorial: information havenots already have not
by an366601＠anon.penet.fi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--****ATTENTION****--****ATTENTION****--****ATTENTION****--***ATTENTION*** Your e-mail reply to this message WILL be *automatically* ANONYMIZED. Please, report inappropriate use to abuse(a)anon.penet.fi For information (incl. non-anon reply) write to help(a)anon.penet.fi If you have any problems, address them to admin(a)anon.penet.fi

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Nyms I'd vote for
by Jim Ray 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Rich Graves <rich(a)c2.org> wrote: >On Fri, 9 Aug 1996, John F. Fricker wrote: > >> #3) The goal is the anonymous citizen. The first step it to secure >> #the data >> currently exposed. Can this be done _without_ legislation? > >I disagree with this goal. The anonymous consumer/worker, yes; the >public has no business knowing what I as an economic actor buy, read, >and think. If I choose to participate fully in the political system, >though, in ways that go beyond votes and petty contributions to >others' campaigns, the public has an interest in my identity and >biases. Anonymous voices can and should be heard, and they can and >should be influential at times, but they don't get to run for office. [Rant -- you touched a sore spot here, Rich.] And I disagree with Rich, at least in regard to the present system. My "representative," is Ileanna Ros Lehtinen (R.). No Democrats have chosen to run against her, and the Demopublican's beloved ballot laws prevent me from running and actually getting on the ballot. I would GLADLY vote for either Lucky Green or Black Unicorn if these nyms were running against this statist woman, but I am not given that (or any other) choice by the state. She has already "won" the "election," and thus will NOT APPEAR on the ballot. The state of Florida assumes that I would rather not vote for None Of The Above [NOTA], and my state is, once again, wrong. The Florida Supreme Court is carefully ignoring the Constitution(s) they all swore to uphold in these cases, and I am trying to use any medium I can to trumpet this fact, so that solutions like Mr. Bell's (yes, Jim, I know you have one for this, too) don't start sounding better and better. <sigh> :( [End Rant] P.S. Lucky & Uni: don't worry, I plan to [try to] write in "Jim Ray." JMR Regards, Jim Ray -- DNRC Minister of Encryption Advocacy "Ray's corrolary to Murphy's Law: 'You will be spared NOTHING.'" -- P. C. Ray (my dad) Defeat the Duopoly! Vote "NOTA," not Slick/Dull in November. Harry Browne for President. Jo Jorgensen for Vice-president. http://www.HarryBrowne96.org/ ___________________________________________________________________ PGP id.E9BD6D35 51 5D A2 C3 92 2C 56 BE 53 2D 9C A1 B3 50 C9 C8 <mailto:liberty@gate.net> http://www.shopmiami.com/prs/jimray Coming soon, the "Pennies For Perot" page. Keep billionaires off welfare! ___________________________________________________________________ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMgxaBW1lp8bpvW01AQGRIQP+OZebKXfGgsKTdzIzld1vomnVqnB4nQ3L C0iDcTPqsEuEN/39nb+BinccCvjM3vvdxTVOYhs9QS1Gdf4TwkUE8+k3oWc1X7hy AtLcemGGQ+pwyMwfqd6gAboLM9oeg/QeRtaa+MXSdrl8WU/KCTWxeIQTH1/LPKLq 9KiTlgHH+2U= =tBZy -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Fw: SafE Mail Corporation
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 23:58 8/9/96, Bryan Reece wrote: >Afraid so. But they do challenge hackers to break it (the old `here's >some ciphertext, doesn't this look secure?' thing). They also offer a >`free demo version', but due to federal law they can't make it >available over the net so they do this: We showed their software to be worthless a few months ago. I am surprised they are still selling it. They are opening themselves up for some very nasty litigation. -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred. Defeat the Demopublican Unity Party. Vote no on Clinton/Dole in November. Vote Harry Browne for President.

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RLR_lsl
by jya＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

8-10-96, NYP: Peter Steinfels, religion columnist, compares the "religious right" with the "life-style left," and examines how the perjoratives are employed to oversimplify and stigmatize -- an example of the pitfall A. Mehta has critiqued on Cypherpunks: "binary thinking." The real opposite number to the religious right is the life-style left, which includes people who are religious and people who are not. It includes some welfare-state liberals and some anti-government libertarians. What unites the life-style left is the belief that In regard to the widest possible range of basic choices about how to live, the state should refrain from exerting its influence. The more basic the question, the less the role of the state. ----- http://jya.com/rlrlsl.txt (7 kb) RLR_lsl

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Re: Drive the SF Central Freeway, have your license plate photo'ed.
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 11:56 8/9/96, Bill Stewart wrote: >At 10:45 PM 8/8/96 -0700, Lucky wrote: >>At 21:55 8/8/96, i am not a number! wrote: >>>CBS radio news this morning: 80,000 commuters traveling the central >>>f'way in SF will have information mailed to them regarding the quake retrofit >>>How? Their license plates have been photographed. > >>You *are* making this up, right? Please say you did. > >It's possible today, and probably affordable. If not, it will be in 1-2 years, I know that there are video cameras on the freeway. I also know that reading license plate must be trivial, since I saw such systems abroad years ago. In fact, in Europe, where cameras are ubiquitous in inner cities, face recognition is the latest fad. -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred. Defeat the Demopublican Unity Party. Vote no on Clinton/Dole in November. Vote Harry Browne for President.

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Email Bombing
by se7en 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Two messages were sent from my account to dc-stuff having me taking credit for email bombs against certain people, namely: Jeff Slaton, Captain Crunch and the Cyberangels. I first became aware of these emails after receiving a message from Emmanuel Goldstein asking about who was doing this, as his email box was being slaughtered at that very moment. I *DID NOT* email bomb anyone. This is going to be hard to believe since those mentioned as targets of annihilation were people I have fucked with in the past very openly on dc-stuff. This combined with the current "blame everything on se7en" attitude makes it very hard for anyone to take this professed innocence seriously. I called my SysAdmin this morning at 4:00 AM PST and he ran through the logs of my account. The emails did in fact come from my account, but, the logs show unusual activity which can't be accounted for by either side. Fortunately, the logs show that the actual bombing was not done from my account. I was on IRC for several hours talking to trusted friends while this all happened. Whoever penetrated my account knew what the hell they were doing in respects to log modification. A re-install is in process as well as a tightening of overall site security, especially my account. I am not really upset other than my email account was used to take credit for something I didn't do. My account could have been used for more nefarious purposes; it wasn't. Veterans of dc-stuff know I am not afraid to take credit for the things I do. I did not do this. But I will also not lose any sleep over the Spam King being hit. Captain Crunch: well, after all is said and done, he is harmless. Same with the CyberAngels: they can talk the talk, but can't walk the walk. I have proved that many times. In the end, they are harmless also. Hitting them wouldn't accomplish anything tangible. At this time, the initial mail headers show the attack was launched via sun.dmci.com from either a netcom.com or an io.* domain. No doubt the account used to launch the attack was hacked. The identity of the bomber may never be known. All I know is that it wasn't me. Take it for what's it worth. Time will vindicate me, as time always does. I just hope it's sooner than later. Hold your judgement of me until such time. And while dis.org has been recently compromised, I wouldn't be so quick to blame this on the same people. I have had intermediary contact with Galf sufficient for me to believe he made his point and has moved on, having not been responsible for this latest wave of email impersonation. Recent logs have shown that a kind of "open season" has been declared upon dis.org by every newbie out there that has heard of recent events. I say newbie because none of the recent attempts to gain access have proved successful. I used to laugh about email bombing. But when it happens and you are caught up in it, it is not funny. If any of you out there think it is, wait until you find tens of thousands of messages in your inbox and an incoming rate of 750 per minute, every minute. Scripts will not save you. se7en

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cryptography course at WPI
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 19:19:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Christof Paar <christof(a)ece.wpi.edu> To: dcsb(a)ai.mit.edu Subject: cryptography course at WPI Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: bounce-dcsb(a)ai.mit.edu Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Christof Paar <christof(a)ece.wpi.edu> Status: U (I hope this mail is appropriate for this mailing list :) This announcment is probably mainly of interest to people in the greater Boston area. I will offer a graduate course in crypto and data security in the fall at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The focus group are on-campus students as well as people in industry. Last year, I taught exactly the same course in industry and it was a big success. I am sure that it serves industry needs very well. I will be gone for one week but promise to answer all questions about the course immediately when I return. Regards, Christof Paar PS: There will be an advanced crypto course in the spring. ________________________________________________ Christof Paar Assistant Professor ECE Department Worcester Polytechnic Institute 100 Institute Road Worcester, MA 01609 email: christof(a)ece.wpi.edu www: http://ee.wpi.edu/People/faculty/cxp.html tel: (508) 831 5061 fax: (508) 831 5491 ============================================================================ WPI EE 578/CS 578: CRYPTOGRAPHY AND DATA SECURITY Fall '96, Monday, 5:30-8:15 pm INTRODUCTION It is well known that we are in the midst of a shift towards an information society. The upcoming generation of digital information systems will provide services such as: - wireless LAN and WAN computer networks - multi-media services (e.g., high quality video-on-demand) - smart cards (e.g., for network identification of electronic purse) - electronic banking/digital commerce These and other new information-based applications will have far reaching consequences. As this happens, security aspects of communication systems are of growing commercial and public interest. Unfortunately, these aspects have been widely underestimated or ignored in the past. Today, however, there is high demand for expertise and high quality products in the field of information security and cryptography. WPI's graduate course EE 578/CS 578 provides a solid and broad foundation in the area of cryptography and data security. After taking the course students should have an overview of state-of-the-art cryptography. In industry, they should be able to carefully choose and design a security scheme for a given application. The course also serves as an introduction for students who are interested in pursuing research in cryptography. There are several opportunities for Master's and PhD theses in the field of cryptography. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course gives a comprehensive introduction into the field of cryptography and data security. We begin with the introduction of the concepts of data security. Different attacks on cryptographic systems are classified. Some pseudo-random generators are introduced. The concepts of public and private key cryptography is developed. As important representatives for secret key schemes, DES, IDEA, and other private key algorithms are described. The public key schemes RSA, ElGamal, and elliptic curve crypto systems are developed. As important tools for authentication and integrity, digital signatures and hash functions are introduced. Advanced protocols for key distribution in networks are developed. Identification schemes are treated as advanced topics. Some mathematical algorithms for attacking cryptographic schemes are discussed. Application examples will include a protocol for security in a LAN and identification with smart cards. Special consideration will be given to schemes which are relevant for network environments. For all schemes, implementation aspects and up-to-date security estimations will be discussed. PREREQUISITES Working knowledge of ``C''. An interest in discrete mathematics and algorithms is highly desirable. TEXTBOOK D.R. Stinson, Cryptography: Theory and Practice. CRC Press, 1995 SYLLABUS EE 578/CS 578 An important part of the course is an independent project. The project topic can freely be chosen by the student. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) implementation of a real-size cryptographic algorithm or protocol, a literature study on new cryptographic schemes or on legal aspects of cryptography, or implementation of an algorithm for attacking a cryptographic scheme. WEEK 1: Introduction: Principals of cryptography. Classical algorithms. Attacks on cryptographic systems. WEEK 2: Stream ciphers and pseudo-random generators. Some information theoretical results on cryptography. WEEK 3: Private key cryptography: The Data Encryption Standard DES. Brief history, function and performance. WEEK 4: Private key cryptography: Recent results on successful attacks on DES. Operation modes of symmetric ciphers. IDEA and other alternatives to DES. WEEK 5: Public key cryptography: Introduction. Some Number Theory and Algebra. WEEK 6: Public key cryptography: RSA. Function and security. Recent results on successful attacks on RSA. WEEK 7: Midterm exam. WEEK 8: Public key cryptography: The discrete logarithm problem. ElGamal crypto system. Function and security. Security estimations. WEEK 9: Public key cryptography: Elliptic curve systems. Mathematical background, function and security. WEEK 10: Digital Signatures: The ElGamal signature scheme. Message Authentication Codes (MAC). WEEK 11: Hash functions: Principals. Block cipher based hash functions. Protocols: Attacks against protocols, protocols for privacy, authentication, and integrity. WEEK 12: Key distribution in networks: Private key approaches, certificates, and authenticated key agreement. WEEK 13: Identification schemes: Challenge-and-response protocols. The Schnorr identification scheme for smart cards. WEEK 14: Final exam. ****************************************************************************** Christof Paar http://ee.wpi.edu/People/faculty/cxp.html Assistant Professor email: christof(a)ece.wpi.edu ECE Department phone: (508) 831 5061 Worcester Polytechnic Institute fax: (508) 831 5491 100 Institute Road Worcester, MA 01609, USA ****************************************************************************** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe from this list, send a letter to: Majordomo(a)ai.mit.edu In the body of the message, write: unsubscribe dcsb Or, to subscribe, write: subscribe dcsb If you have questions, write to me at Owner-DCSB(a)ai.mit.edu --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "'Bart Bucks' are not legal tender." -- Punishment, 100 times on a chalkboard, for Bart Simpson The e$ Home Page: http://www.vmeng.com/rah/

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National Socio-Economic Security Need for Encryption Technology
by Scottauge＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I was watched CBS reports a couple nights ago about how all these blue collar and now white collar jobs are going across seas. How programmers in India are taking jobs away from us, programmers and engineerss, the people pioneering them. (Actually I know some Indian based programmers and they are worked very hard, even being locked in a building until they meet some deadline. This is not conducive to quality work, just enough to get ya back home to family.) (Hmmm, the Pioneer Crypto-System, I think I like that name and it has a specific purpose....) So I was thinking, boy am I glad I am in a rather esoteric part of software development where there is not much knowledge and how we, in this particular field, have an unwritten rule about sharing knowledge with others - even those trying to get a foot into the door. (I'm a contractor and there is a supply and demand thing going on - I like low supply and high demand for my particular skill sets.) White collar jobs are basically knowledge worker jobs, and if one does not know how to do something, one cannot do it. So a possible way to protect jobs is to protect the knowledge on how to do them. >From who could be an interesting question. Obviously some companies would be interested in sharing the knowledge amongst the non-US tax paying population of the world, thereby reducing income and taxes collected and thus needing to raise taxes once again to pay for "rights" and entitlements the government "gives" away to the citizens and non-citizens of this country.... but, I am beginning to rant and rave. Perhaps there is a larger picture in the world that the cyperpunks mailing list is missing. That cryptography is not just for personal privacy, but could involve job security also - as a matter of fact, the income base for this whole country. In essence, knowledge is money, cuz that is what we usually want for it now-a-days. "Oh you want me to do that for you, hmmmm, lets see...." Maybe a discussion could happen on protection of knowledge in a socio-economic realm.

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Re: secret sharing protocol: FLUFFED
by peter.allan＠aeat.co.uk 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

OK, before you rush to tell me... Generating random shares doesn't work. Different selections of 10 out of 15 shareholders will arrive at different secrets. I've got a fix in mind, and I'll chew it over for at least a week before it reaches a keyboard. Peter Allan peter.allan(a)aeat.co.uk

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cpunks CDROM suggestions anyone?
by aba＠atlas.ex.ac.uk 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I'm downloading things to put on the CDROM that Remo Pini <rp(a)rpini.com> is organising. (I'm doing the downloading because I have better net connect than Remo, I'll simply forward my downloads on a gold CD; it's Remo's CD, he will add things, structure, re-organise, junk sections etc). If there is anything that anyone thinks is a must have please let me know, or email it to me. (PGP keys on keyserver, either encrypt to me (0x556A4A67) or Remo Pini (0x33F9B4E9), if it's encrypted to Remo, I'll just forward it on the CD for Remo's consideration). Please check that it is not already on the ftp site below. So far I am part way through a complete dump of (including all the mirrors): ftp://idea.sec.dsi.unimi.it/pub/crypt here's the top level directory: drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 1024 Jan 30 1996 LUC drwxr-xr-x 2 510 root 3072 Aug 10 09:31 PGP -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1579 Sep 2 1994 README drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 512 Jan 30 1996 SKIP drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 3072 Jan 30 1996 applied-crypto drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 2048 Feb 2 1996 bignum drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 10752 Jul 12 09:13 code drwxr-xr-x 27 root root 1024 Jun 19 23:01 cypherpunks drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jan 30 1996 docs drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 1536 Jul 29 23:02 ftp.demon-PGP drwxr-xr-x 13 root root 512 Aug 7 23:15 ftp.funet.fi-crypto drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 512 Aug 6 23:10 ftp.informatik-PGP drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 512 Apr 18 23:02 ftp.informatik-disk# drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 512 Jan 30 1996 ftp.mantis-cryptography drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 512 Jun 4 23:28 ftp.ox.ac.uk drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 512 Aug 1 08:28 ftp.pgp.net drwxr-xr-x 7 root root 512 Jun 5 23:47 ftp.psy-Crypto drwxr-xr-x 2 root staff 512 Apr 1 09:21 kerberos drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 512 Jan 30 1996 libdes drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 512 Mar 23 15:37 math drwxr-xr-x 9 root root 512 Jan 30 1996 rpub.cl.msu.edu drwxr-xr-x 15 root root 1024 Jan 30 1996 rsa.com (Amazing collection they have btw, the cypherpunks mirror seems to be very up-to-date, some files just three days old... what is this, automated ITAR violation?) 118Mb and counting... I'll be doing this today (and tomorrow if it takes that long), and hopefully blowing a gold CD monday. (Before anyone notices I've clobbered 600Mb of disk space, hopefully). Adam Key for user ID: Adam Back <aba(a)dcs.ex.ac.uk> 1024-bit key, Key ID 556A4A67, created 1993/06/08 -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6.2i mQCNAiwUXUEAAAEEAJnWEHE3juLAyMnEt3hrID3t8tblJvJPfoPz4Plg+2a5y4HA TonXBomkhm8hrRu1umruUUaeW1mxIbpvP413a2JyU7pdyfyoFVpWW5iT9pXYOgSW 65d+5GWe4g4PLrSbJZPBFIezd8xddnx5+5hbRk1K6UpfReQuOynIuJ1VakpnAAUT tBxBZGFtIEJhY2sgPGFiYUBkY3MuZXguYWMudWs+iQCVAgUQMC4WlX47g+7S34A9 AQGJ3wP9Fwcooqg1/3MYFrfbMoqGydE60ypaCXBIM8Zypqhx+64ap8FhkANqW1jx ltQMC7ZHhPiWMpNtWEGWcWFnqytyVIvGv8nuBGmiUrPJnMPWAsHTwl2tJ5WpYdPf xQRLfN5eWrjW8Ps5fQHKziBrE0HAK9FcuZ51fSBH4ulmd/2kO9+JARUDBRAv4EaG sVcwSRahJGUBARF3CACOs/Z1IpyKJqLswf979RbvfpCzi4r2vuzKdfFE+NBV7x0m m13v3Eldf/5Z5WByZ36SQjxUhIxqMdaVQafaS5oiQZrmy31K6IyAJxQwdPNZ+pAd AeASm9q1IjYIb0+As6QWdePYP9jRrHESHkDgmJANnAcU+OL9pbrqjdwIYPW1rvpI 58VCiCvQ2v/A9Lq+R4opwQ3rz4lX9/7qDnWfBe2pcaorQXAuXLSGEba/H4HUKvIr OnW3jcQzK2lebxKRDduwFOMTnrcpnRVLn21NSukYsOU1WZ4valwIFGUt88hcO8Ki f0liCzFqfvfbLPdtW/hqS/v5ukuI+y017xb3H8vWiQCVAwUQL9gNKSnIuJ1Vakpn AQHH6AP/T7dwXid03U7UM2/QzU+y6F4kHrGBuvJcyJewWbEb16ItkMngjzXP47kx gZygR4MWXsyQlvE2inSYzRJ3L+6ftaPvX8JsvVCll7JIejfmNGZYSWw9E/vPi/ls aa+pN3WqPxnzpwr8PL6b8w1fZZ47antgdZlOXgGO+hRbWV7zPcc= =iFuA -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Key for user ID: Remo Pini <rp(a)rpini.com> 2048-bit key, Key ID 33F9B4E9, created 1996/07/14 -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6.2 mQENAzHpRlsAAAEIANgw4sEL9idlZxO8UBYPluxSXI5tkDSpGAc5EfxeGsrnesEs hnfhT7uQfr2M7mdY3BIvOVGj672m+1c0Bv4jO6E56uUaElS5uaf/rpd0lRdKNwnv zokSprnUEOnXy8ZgtOqws97/I4J7gkvjhu9QJGj2CnHduQ4De1Q63kwVHuySJWvX ecPBpV8XYrYkXumPJ6L/aBnnc/mT0ZVtKszoh/IHTq3dub/cWzShLBasmcIsIjDe ZjAoxjGkN5t1fSpuUWIkzv0rIOdBNZaEYmVnhj6Q8BkrEep+3KsycJsJi3dr0Pk8 n/lPu8fD9VnpO2uMRFQVBx4vYCMkEWHLmzP5tOkABRG0GFJlbW8gUGluaSA8cnBA cnBpbmkuY29tPokBFQMFEDHpRlsRYcubM/m06QEBgwcIAI24HElAY2JED5PJ78ct R46RNWjMGQ5phP6ugE/xZzeW5zscHZChu1r8cdf+usl/qrTDPazYhcIfgiNwovdl ofvt/X5vDvlFMFqvlXB6O8x09eGWXjfS/5Wo9O4wPSEPv66CGHQ0q8pZsxtboyNH +eeYxqhSA03MDg5iWx5kakT2ShRv21oCwEZBTN8XOO4hRnfamIvOt5F8v3ypJZli w7xM398Dl0fATmNSVFiJp+l/c/+uNFLlyBU9Dp/m1w2nXXVmbVtTSJN0p4cZZ4WB 1FsNhH8yj+JURr2OtqKeZLDQz88bIiw/nawJB8mvNAr6bml5GxgCi91f9l6xYeb5 ryQ= =UhcC -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

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Police prepare stunning end for high-speed car chases
by Gary Howland 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Police prepare stunning end for high-speed car chases BY GILES WHITTELL AND NIGEL HAWKES IT COULD be the end of the car chase as we know it. With the automotive equivalent of a stun gun, science fiction is coming to the aid of law enforcement. A high-powered electrical device under development at the Pentagon's Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Maryland, is to be tested by police and border patrol agents and could be in use by next year. The car stopper works by focusing an intense electromagnetic charge on the electronic systems that manage most modern engines, disabling them and paralysing the car. In the jargon of its inventors, the 150 kilovolt charge is a nemp, or non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse. Contractors are bidding to produce a police version. Very precisely directed beams are required, but even then there will be problems. A pulse powerful enough to disable an engine at any reasonable range would also be likely to disrupt communications, damage television and radio sets, disable computers and even stop heart pacemakers. There is also the danger of loss of control when a car is being driven at high speed. Counter-measures would include using old-fashioned engines with no electronics, or perhaps surrounding the most delicate components with shielding. The best might be to get hold of one of the stun guns and use it to disable pursuing police vehicles. Original article at http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/Times/timnwsnws01022.html?1060389 Three questions come to mind: Will old fashioned engines be outlawed? Will the "stun guns" be outlawed? Will susceptible electronic systems become mandatory? (and if so, why not just put a remote control switch in all cars?) Gary

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Re: National Socio-Economic Security Need for Encryption Technology
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 12:15 PM 8/10/96, Scottauge(a)aol.com wrote: >I was watched CBS reports a couple nights ago about how all these blue collar >and now white collar jobs are going across seas. > >How programmers in India are taking jobs away from us, programmers and >engineerss, the people pioneering them. (Actually I know some Indian based >programmers and they are worked very hard, even being locked in a building >until they meet some deadline. This is not conducive to quality work, just >enough to get ya back home to family.) Where do I begin? First, what does "taking jobs away from us" mean? That we own these jobs? And who is "us"? And as for locking people in buildings until they meet a goal, I'd say that's a pretty fair description of Silicon Valley start-ups. :-} >White collar jobs are basically knowledge worker jobs, and if one does not >know how to do something, one cannot do it. > >So a possible way to protect jobs is to protect the knowledge on how to do >them. This kind of protection did not work 150-200 years ago, when the "Colonists" figured out to make fabric in mills and how to mechanize factories--they ended up "stealing" the industry the Brits thought they had sewn up. Life goes on. Essentially all of the technologies we talk about on this list work toward erasing national boundaries, much as Singapore and the U.S. might find this distasteful. >>From who could be an interesting question. Obviously some companies would be >interested in sharing the knowledge amongst the non-US tax paying population >of the world, thereby reducing income and taxes collected and thus needing to >raise taxes once again to pay for "rights" and entitlements the government >"gives" away to the citizens and non-citizens of this country.... but, I am >beginning to rant and rave. Indeed you are. I would be interested in hearing a more coherent argument for your case, though. >Perhaps there is a larger picture in the world that the cyperpunks mailing >list is missing. That cryptography is not just for personal privacy, but >could involve job security also - as a matter of fact, the income base for >this whole country. Given that our list is international, with active contributors from Sweden, India, Germany, Cyberia, and even Singapore, I rather doubt many of them see strong crytography, anonymous remailers, denationalized money, and crypto anarchy as a means of propping up the government or the economy of the United States of America. >In essence, knowledge is money, cuz that is what we usually want for it >now-a-days. "Oh you want me to do that for you, hmmmm, lets see...." > >Maybe a discussion could happen on protection of knowledge in a >socio-economic realm. ????? --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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The BBS PRNG
by janke＠unixg.ubc.ca 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Is the BBS PRNG covered by any patents anywhere? How about the probabilistic encryption public-key cryptosystem? If anyone has a BBS PRNG working on a 486 could they please send me a the clock frequency and bytes/sec they can generate for some common moduli: 512, 1024, and 2048, say. I am close to having an implementation which will run at 500 bytes/sec on a 486 DX/2 with a 1024 bit modulus and am not sure if that is competitively fast or not.

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Chemistry question please ..
by anonymous-remailer＠shell.portal.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Is there such a chemical compound as putracine ( maybe not correctly spelled ) which emulates the extreme odor of rotting corpses ? If so where can I find out how to make it ?

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test Anguilla Censors taxBomber ..... ??
by nobody＠REPLAY.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

As of immediately, the "taxBomber's Site & Internet Offshore Center" has been pulled by our Anguilla provider and will remain inaccessible for a few days. This is the work of some journalist hacks who did a major job of character assassination by claiming that we (and our provider) were involved in selling fake passports. This tactics isn't exactly new or particularly original: The Argentine press pulled a similar stunt in April, and again our provider was pressurized to cut us off from the Web without notice. Needless to say, we have NEVER EVER dealt in one single fake passport, nor have we ever offered, sold or brokered any forged, stolen or "lost" documents. Nor is there any need to do so, if you can get the real thing absolutely legally. But of course, this is a political rather than a legal issue - we were, and still are, too successful for Big Brother's liking: on our site, ordinary people (i.e. no govt. or intelligence agency personnel) got loads of free information on *legally* saving taxes, protecting their assets and reffectivel guarding their privacy. While we were and still are a commercial operation, we always made a point of being as educative and topically exhaustive as our resources would permit. But now, it seems, little Anguilla is getting "worried about its international reputation". Well, they are right, though with a vengeance: the reputation they have most certainly lost as of today is that being of one of the world's last truly liberal tax and data havens ... Now for the good news: we will set up a provisional site elsewhere soon and will announce it here on Usenet. Still - if anyone knows of an operational site provider *outside* US and EU jurisdiction, please drop us a line. Your support would be greatly appreciated and full credits given, if you so wish. We will probably either set up a worldwide network of fallback and mirror sites or continue our work in a new, truly innovative way to effectively counter any censorship and dependency on site providers. Until then, you can (still) email us at: pt(a)taxbomber.com or post your request (users permitting) to "alt.privacy", which we will be scanning regularly. Sorry for the inconvenience - hope to see you again soon! the taxBomber

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Re: Chemistry question please ..
by jfricker＠vertexgroup.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 08:53 AM 8/10/96 -0700, you wrote: >Is there such a chemical compound as putracine ( maybe not correctly spelled ) which emulates the extreme odor of rotting corpses ? If so where can I find out how to make it ? > > Why make putracine when you can just buy it? You would be amazed at what you can order from chemical supply companies. But I would recommend muriatic acid instead as it is more persistant -- a couple drops will last for months (sources say). --j

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Re: National Socio-Economic Security Need for Encryption Technology
by James A. Donald 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 08:15 AM 8/10/96 -0400, Scottauge(a)aol.com wrote: > I was watched CBS reports a couple nights ago about how all these blue collar > and now white collar jobs are going across seas. > > How programmers in India are taking jobs away from us, programmers and > engineerss, the people pioneering them. Indian engineers typically get one tenth or less of what European programmers get. Many companies, for example Informix, have campuses here and there across the USA, a campus in India, and several campuses in Europe. These campuses are linked by private televideo connections, private voice mail systems, and the internet. So theoretically a programmer in India should be much the same to them as a programmer anywhere else. Why should they care where he lives. Yet these companies continually spend vast sums of money on politicians, lawyers, and perhaps bureaucrats, in order to get their engineers out of India, so that they can pay them more than ten times as much in some foreign country. Informix has facilities in the US that are staffed mostly by Indians. Why did it not leave these teams in India, where they would cost less than a tenth as much? Clearly therefore, the same man is more than ten times as valuable to them when he is not in India. Since the communications are pretty much the same wherever he is located, what makes the difference? The power of the Indian government over that man and his work makes the difference. That man is poor because he is more subject to the power of the state, which values him no more than any other expendable slave, than he is contractually subject to those who value what he can do. Crypto relevance? When the crypto economy gets going, and government interference in the exchange of specialized labor becomes less effective, we can expect to see a radical rise in the standard of living. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd(a)echeque.com

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Re: Chemistry question please ..
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 08:53 AM 8/10/96 -0700, anonymous-remailer(a)shell.portal.com wrote: >Is there such a chemical compound as putracine ( maybe not correctly spelled ) which emulates the extreme odor of rotting corpses ? Yes. The proper spelling is putrescine. There's also another one called "cadaverine." And yet another called "skatole." ("scatology") >If so where can I find out how to make it ? Not on cypherpunks. If you want to know more, communicate with me directly. Use a penet-like remailer if you want... Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Data Havens in Anguilla About to End?
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 5:16 PM 8/10/96, Anonymous wrote: >As of immediately, the "taxBomber's Site & Internet Offshore Center" >has been pulled by our Anguilla provider and will remain inaccessible >for a few days. > >This is the work of some journalist hacks who did a major job of >character assassination by claiming that we (and our provider) >were involved in selling fake passports. "Pulled by our Anguilla provider." This says it all about the probable viability of nominally offshore providers. (I assume this is Vince Cates' site, though I haven't doublechecked...he's the only Anguilla provider of similar sites I know of. I certainly mean no criticism of Vince, if it was indeed his site. My comments are analogous to what we might say about a particular remailer site going down, even if we don't criticize the site operator for removing his remailer.) >But now, it seems, little Anguilla is getting "worried about its >international reputation". > >Well, they are right, though with a vengeance: the reputation they >have most certainly lost as of today is that being of one of the >world's last truly liberal tax and data havens ... I'm not an expert on offshort tax and data havens, but *any* country can be pressured by larger countries, and even by the glare of publicity. If a country derives very little revenue from "permitting" some service, and the costs (they believe) are much greater than the revenues, they will likely act. Thus, the negatives of allowing offshore data havens in Anguilla may easily exceed the few thousand dollars (or whatever) they get in taxes and fees (whatever they might be) from Vince and his customers. Longterm, I've never believed there is much safety in locating in *any* physical country. (By this I mean advertising and making it clear that one is in Country X, said to be "friendly" to tax avoiders, data havens, money laundering, etc. Policies can and do change overnight. Corrupt governments are, well, corrupt, and will change tunes if another piper pays them enough.) The case in Switzerland, with banking, is quite a bit different, with huge deposits and huge fees from their financial services. Even so, Switzerland has continually yielded more ground to tax collectors and various pressure groups from large nations. I'd guess that Vince has had a fun time in the Carribbean, but that he'll be closing up shop sometime soon. Once some services are yanked, confidence is lost. The interesting question will be whether the U.S. authorities and especially the Internal Revenue Service will put pressure on him if he chooses to return to the U.S. (Assuming this was Vince's service that is. But even if it wasn't, pressure on another service means pressure on all Aguillan services.) --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: Police prepare stunning end for high-speed car chases
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 01:30 PM 8/10/96 -0400, Timothy Lawrence Nali wrote: >Excerpts from internet.cypherpunks: 10-Aug-96 Police prepare stunning >end.. by Gary Howland(a)systemics.c > >[stuff about police wanting a new "stun gun" that can disable a car's >electrical systems deleted] > >1) You just noticed that your car is stolen. >2) You call the XXX security company to report your car as stolen. >3) The company beams down a signal by satellite/pager/cell-phone/etc. > telling the car's security systems that the car has been stolen. >4) This signal instructs the car to disable itself (shut down the engine, > lock the doors, etc.) and, via a GPS module and built-in > cell-phone/pager/etc., transmit it's coordinates. >5) The car is recovered and everyone is happy. > >Of course, once such systems are widespread, the XXX security company >will be "encouraged" to cooperate with local police and send that >shut-down signal to any car the police tell them to. "Car-Key-Escrow"? Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Chemistry question please .. (fwd)
by gimonca＠skypoint.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Sat, 10 Aug 1996 08:53:09 -0700 > To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com > From: anonymous-remailer(a)shell.portal.com > Subject: Chemistry question please .. > > Is there such a chemical compound as putracine ( maybe not correctly spelled ) which emulates the extreme odor of rotting corpses ? If so where can I find out how to make it ? > See Neal Stephenson's novel "Zodiac".

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GOP Security (fwd)
by Julian Assange 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: >From notes(a)igc.org Sun Aug 11 07:25:25 1996 Date: Sat, 10 Aug 1996 12:46:19 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: Moderator of conference "justice.polabuse" <bwitanek(a)igc.apc.org> From: Bob Witanek <bwitanek(a)igc.apc.org> Subject: GOP Security To: Recipients of pol-abuse <pol-abuse(a)igc.apc.org> Message-ID: <APC&1'0'a9f98b16'b93(a)igc.apc.org> X-Gateway: conf2mail(a)igc.apc.org Errors-To: owner-pol-abuse(a)igc.apc.org Precedence: bulk Lines: 201 Posted: Michael Novick <mnovickttt(a)igc.apc.org> Philadelphia Inquirer: Page One Sunday, August 4, 1996 Next security test: GOP's convention Even before the Atlanta bombing, San Diego had battened down for the Republican s' meeting. By Carol Morello INQUIRER STAFF WRITER SAN DIEGO -- For all the festive bunting and wacky elephants springing up around town, the Republican National Convention will open here in a grim atmosphere of no-nonsense security. With a week left to go, Harbor Street, six lanes sweeping past the convention center, already has been closed to traffic. Owners of boats docked in the marina adjoining the center have been notified that their vessels will be swept and boarded for ``consensual searches.'' Tall chain-link fences ring the convention center itself. But metal detectors like the ones the delegates will pass through were deemed too unwieldy for the parking lot across the street, where 65 protest groups have been assigned carefully choreographed time slots. Instead, a sign at the entrance will advise that satchels and backpacks may be searched, and police have leased 200 pieces of high-tech equipment to detect firearms and explosives. Police also have gathered floor plans and photographs of every hotel and party site where delegates will be lodged and feted, all considered potential targets. They have even pressed the Retired Senior Citizens Patrol into service, and encouraged abortion doctors to ``take a vacation.'' Authorities in Chicago, where the Democrats will meet the last week of August, are taking similar precautions. Metal detectors, bomb-sniffing dogs and surveillance cameras will be in force, along with thousands of police. Coast Guard cutters will patrol Lake Michigan. Chicago police are sealing an eight-block area around the United Center sports arena, the main convention site, to all unauthorized cars, trucks and pedestrians. As the 20th century nears an end, wary, pervasive security is as much a part of the convention scene as Old Glory and silly hats. San Diego has been preparing convention security for more than a year. Then a bomber on the other side of the country suddenly made everyone wonder if the next big public event could be free of mayhem and terror. In an emergency meeting called the day after a pipe bomb exploded at the Olympics in Atlanta, convention security planners assured Mayor Susan Golding that plans already in place were adequate. They said they neither made, nor expect to make, any significant changes. They have devised more than 100 scenarios that could threaten a peaceful convention, from an earthquake to a building collapse to a bomb like the one that twisted Atlanta's moment of glory. Carl Truscott, head of convention security for the Secret Service, said he had reached a ``comfort level'' for security within the center itself. His agents are conducting sweeps of the 800 to 1,000 sites around San Diego County where party potentates will appear. But he said the sweeps began before Atlanta's bombing. ``It certainly raised our awareness level and concern,'' said Capt. Dave Bejarano, head of the San Diego Police Department's convention security planning unit, which is coordinating the deployment of law enforcement from 18 different agencies. ``But we've made no significant changes. We'll just be more proactive. We're planning for the worst-case scenario, and hoping for the best.'' After two failed bids, San Diego fought hard for this moment in the sun. But even before it's begun the clouds are out. Television networks and party poo-bahs have groused about the convention center's puny dimensions. Protesters went to court to guarantee a demonstration zone where delegates can hear and see them after the Republicans tried to shuffle them down the street. With equal amounts of anticipation and trepidation, San Diegans are prepared to host 50,000 visitors who can charitably be described as intense -- 8,000 conventioneers, 12,000 media representatives and tens of thousands of protesters. They know the GOP gathering will showcase this city of 1.2 million people more than all previous events held here, from the Super Bowl to the World Series. Twice before, San Diego was an also-ran in the convention sweepstakes. In 1972, the convention that nominated Richard Nixon to a second term was moved to Miami when a leaked memo by ITT lobbyist Dita Beard disclosed that the Justice Department dropped an antitrust lawsuit against the corporation after it donated $400,00 to the San Diego convention campaign. And in 1992, Republicans encouraged the city to make a costly bid, only to pick Houston in George Bush's home state. With the conventions-that-almost-were behind them, the city that alternately describes itself as ``America's Finest City'' and the ``City of the 21st Century'' hopes to prove to the country -- and itself -- that it has more going for it than the weather. ``We believe in a lot of outside feedback,'' said Francine Phillips, author of America's Finest City -- If We Say It Enough We'll Believe It. ``We've long felt that if we do it here, it's not really good enough. ``For years and years, we were second to Los Angeles in size and second to San Francisco in sophistication. Now San Diego is coming into its own. It's an opportunity, and a risk. We're going to get exposure, and we feel vulnerable.'' Jack Ford, son of former President Gerald Ford, is responsible for setting the stage in the compact bayside convention center, built in 1989. It was designed to hold 13,000, but it's been reconfigured to hold 19,600. That still falls well short of 50,000 in Houston's Astrodome and 40,000 in New Orleans' Superdome, site of the 1988 convention. Seating is so tight that it has helped the price for nondelegate tickets soar through the convention center's tentlike roof. In Houston, anyone who donated $1,000 to the party got two floor passes. In San Diego, donors have to pony up $100,000 to qualify for the same two tickets. The host committee's head of protocol, Bill Black, couldn't even secure enough seats for the 92 foreign ambassadors and their spouses he's entrusted with shepherding around the convention and to social events. Since most are smokers, however, he figures he can rotate them in and out of seats when they sneak to the terrace for a smoke. It will look more cramped than recent conventions. A CBS executive complained the convention will come across on TV screens like ``a postage stamp with a bunch of ants crawling around on it.'' Ford, executive director of the host committee, put the best face on the situation as he walked around the convention floor recently. ``It's the Camden Yards of conventions centers,'' he said, as stagehands hammered away on temporary skyboxes. ``It will be more intimate, not big and sterile like Veterans Stadium.'' As for all the carping about not having a dramatic balloon drop from the 27-foot ceiling, Ford said jovially: ``There are lots of other possibilities, not the least of which is having a balloon rise.'' An array of protesters has lined up to get a rise out of delegates. To control them, police drew up 55-minute slots spread over five days, with 15-minute breaks to rotate protest groups. Groups stood in line for up to 72 hours to have first crack at the 65 spots. Thirteen protest groups identify themselves as Democrats. At least eight spots were reserved by gay and lesbian groups. ``This is going to be the largest mobilization of lesbians and gays ever in this country,'' said Brenda Schumacher, a spokesman for a group called Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Voices '96. ``We've faced an extremely hostile political environment ever since '92. We want to expose the lies and show an accurate picture of who we are.'' The Republican National Committee tried to confine all the protesters to a sit e three blocks from the convention center. It said the parking lot across the street should be reserved for handicapped parking. But the ACLU sued, and a federal judge agreed the Republican proposal would violate the protesters' right to be seen and heard by delegates. Police, who estimate 10,000 protesters at a time can wedge onto the two-acre parking lot, had drawn up the time slots for protest groups wherever they wound up. Parking will be at a premium. The Secret Service has banned underground parking at the convention center. And the Republican National Committee has reserved every spare parking space in town for its people. The host committee raised about $12 million to put on this party, more than double what any other city contributed before. In return, it's counting on $160 million to be spread around town during convention week and good publicity to pull in even more economic benefits. Knowing the Republican reputation for big spending, every business in the vicinity, from Hooters restaurant to the Goodwill Industries store, is decking itself out with GOP paraphernalia. The Cuban Cigar Factory laid on extra tobacco rollers in early January. Limousine companies lined up cars from Arizona and Nevada. One bar opened its doors just two months ago, unabashedly calling itself the Grand Old Party, complete with a pink neon elephant in the window. Even Carol the Painting Elephant at the San Diego Zoo is getting into the act, readying an exhibit of the brush strokes created by her swinging trunk. Still, a few San Diegans profess to be unfazed about all the hoopla. ``This is not the biggest convention we've ever had,'' said Stephen Cushman, a Mazda and Jaguar auto dealer who is deputy chairman of the host committee. ``Alcoholics Anonymous and the Baptist ministers both held bigger conventions here. We handled those just fine.'' Posted in pol-abuse(a)igc.apc.org To subscribe, send this message: subscribe pol-abuse To this address: majordomo(a)igc.apc.org -- "Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies, The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." - C.S. Lewis, _God in the Dock_ +---------------------+--------------------+----------------------------------+ |Julian Assange RSO | PO Box 2031 BARKER | Secret Analytic Guy Union | |proff(a)suburbia.net | VIC 3122 AUSTRALIA | finger for PGP key hash ID = | |proff(a)gnu.ai.mit.edu | FAX +61-3-98199066 | 0619737CCC143F6DEA73E27378933690 | +---------------------+--------------------+----------------------------------+

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Re: Anguilla Censors taxBomber ..... ??
by Hallam-Baker 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Anonymous wrote: > > As of immediately, the "taxBomber's Site & Internet Offshore Center" > has been pulled by our Anguilla provider and will remain inaccessible > for a few days. Before people get too carried away the site is still up and appears to have been up all along. Of course it would be a convenient ploy to advertise a site of this type by claiming to have been censored. I had a look at their wares and was not impressed. The diplomatic passport and "second passport" offers are somewhat pricey at $10 to $20K. Note that a diplomatic passport does not convey any status or privileges unless the holders credentials have been accepted by host state. "non-revenue producing investments" will be familliar to anyone who has traded extensively in that area. Note that no country in the world offers such passports openly, to do so would be contrary to a number of international conventions. There has been the long running case of the South African immigration laws which meant that whites used to get citizenship whether they wanted it or not after a stay of about six months. Its possible that it hasn't been repealed. Note that the statement that the trade is illegal is countered by the assertion that the documents are genuine. Its very easy to obtain genuine documents if the right bribes are paid. That does not make a scheme legal. The various licenses etc appear to be avaliable on condition that you provide them with appropriate statements as to eligibility. If you apply for the student's card in this way and you are not a student you are committing fraud. If you are willing to do that you can get a student ID card much more easily - go to any branch of British Rail in the UK and you can have one for a few quid. Similarly the various other "offers" tend to be priced rather high. If you know what the card is being offered you can probably get it legit much cheaper. The piece de resistance is the offer of an EU driving license to peoplke from Ireland, Netherlands etc for only $680. Its the same goddam license! Just go to your embassy and ask them to replace your current license for an EU pink 'un. All in all stay well clear. Phill

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Re: Imprisoned for Not Having a Gun?
by Hallam-Baker 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Sandy Sandfort wrote: > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > SANDY SANDFORT > In addition > to the "exceptions," there was no penalty for violation of the > law, thus making sure it was unenforceable. It was not a case > of "pro-gun fascism" but of rough American political humor. At > the very least it kept the city council out of more serious > mischief. Was there a bar against a person obtaining an injunction to force someone to purchase a gun or a provision providing that no liabilities would be incurred as a result of not owning one? The law is much too important to start abusing to make political points. Phill

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Re: Imprisoned for Not Having a Gun?
by Hallam-Baker 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Peter Trei wrote: > Quite a while back, I read an article in National Rifleman (the NRA > magazine), that for part of the 19th century it was the law that all > adult men in the Balkan statelet of Montenegro must carry a pistol > when in public (a close relative of the ruler had a monopoly on the > manufacture and sale of firearms in the kingdom). > > Traveler's reports noted the extreme civility of Montenegrin > society during this period. Yes and what happened in the early part of the 20th century with respect to that area of Europe? Phill

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Rumors of death of Anguilla Data are greatly exagerated.
by Vincent Cate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Taxbomber wrote: >This is the work of some journalist hacks who did a major job of >character assassination by claiming that we (and our provider) >were involved in selling fake passports. This is a fraud by taxbomber. He is totally involved with selling fake passports. He calls them "camouflage passports" and they have names like "British Honduras" of countries that no longer exist, or never did. He does not think they are "fake", but the rest of the world does. He also suggested opening up bank accounts with these fake passports (encouraging fraud). My lawyer called me up and told me that fake passports are illegal in Anguilla and that I should pull this guy immediately. I did. It is our policy to not permit anything on our servers that is illegal in Anguilla. My lawyer is where I get the definition of "illegal in Anguilla". Tim: >(I assume this is Vince Cates' site, though I haven't doublechecked... Yes, taxbomber was using Offshore Information Services. Tim: >Longterm, I've never believed there is much safety in locating in *any* >physical country. (By this I mean advertising and making it clear that one >is in Country X, said to be "friendly" to tax avoiders, data havens, money >laundering, etc. As a practical matter, taxbomber would have been better off to not state what country his web site was currently in, let alone who the provider was. This reporter seems not to even use email, and I doubt he would know how to locate a sites provider. Tim: >I'd guess that Vince has had a fun time in the Carribbean, but that he'll >be closing up shop sometime soon. Once some services are yanked, confidence >is lost. I am not closing up at all. Anything that is legal in Anguilla can be done from my servers. If not, then not. Note that there are no taxes here, and there are still many things a guy can do here that are not permitted in other places. However, fake passports turns out not to be one of them. Sameer: > Note that the taxbomber site is moving to a provider in the US. Actually, at the moment http://www.taxbomber.com/ is off in Europe someplace. The US provider has been slow to come up with an IP address. :-) -- Vince

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Re: Police prepare stunning end for high-speed car chases
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Time to fire up the '57 Chevy. At 05:04 PM 8/10/96 +0200, Gary Howland wrote: >Police prepare stunning end for high-speed car chases > > BY GILES WHITTELL > AND NIGEL HAWKES > > IT COULD be the end of the car chase as we know it. With the automotive equivalent of > a stun gun, science fiction is coming to the aid of law enforcement. > > A high-powered electrical device under development at the Pentagon's Army Research

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Re: Imprisoned for Not Having a Gun?
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:21 PM 8/10/96, Hallam-Baker wrote: >Sandy Sandfort wrote: >> >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> SANDY SANDFORT >> In addition >> to the "exceptions," there was no penalty for violation of the >> law, thus making sure it was unenforceable. It was not a case >> of "pro-gun fascism" but of rough American political humor. At >> the very least it kept the city council out of more serious >> mischief. > >Was there a bar against a person obtaining an injunction to >force someone to purchase a gun or a provision providing that >no liabilities would be incurred as a result of not owning one? > >The law is much too important to start abusing to make political >points. This, of course, was my exact point. I don't buy the argument that Kennesaw (or whatever) was just making a symbolic point. If one community passes a law which mandates the ownership of guns, in contravention to the Second Amendment, then another community could ban ownership of guns, using the same logic and "general principal." (Several have, of course. I think such laws violate the Second Amendment, but apparently the courts do not agree.) And what of making a "citizen's arrest" of a "perp" who refuses to own a gun. I prefer not to have to guess which laws are real and which are merely posturing. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: Going Postal (Was: Boom!)
by James A. Donald 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

(Regarding the one pound limit on anonymous parcels) At 08:13 AM 8/9/96 -0700, David.K.Merriman(a)toad.com, wrote: > Don't know that I'm a 'bomb expert', but it would appear reasonable that 6 > just-under-a-pound bombs would do approximately as much damage as a > similarly sized larger device. As was pointed out earlier in this thread, a one pound device containing high explosive can drop a plane out of the sky as if it was swatting a fly. Note that any moron can make high explosive, though the average moron has a good chance of blowing himself up in the process. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd(a)echeque.com

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Anguilla / taxbomber - legality
by Vincent Cate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I meant to quote this part in the previous post: taxbomber: >Needless to say, we have NEVER EVER dealt in one single fake >passport, nor have we ever offered, sold or brokered any forged, >stolen or "lost" documents. Nor is there any need to do so, if you can >get the real thing absolutely legally. He was definately selling fake passports. He thinks of them as camouflage. If I look up fake in websters, they fit the definition. Turns out this is not legal in Anguilla. If it is no longer in his web page, you can see quotes from his web page in the David Evans article. The Internet spans many counties and if something is not legal in one country but legal in another, someone can move. He has moved. One of the exciting things about the Internet. If there are taxes in your country and banks cooperate with the government, you can incorporate in Anguilla, put your web site here, and run your business from here (coming in over the Internet) tax free. But fraud is illegal in Anguilla, and fake passports are concidered fraud. -- Vince http://online.offshore.com.ai/

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Re: National Socio-Economic Security Need for Encryption Technology
by Arun Mehta 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 02:05 10/08/96 -0700, Timothy C. May wrote: >At 12:15 PM 8/10/96, Scottauge(a)aol.com wrote: >>I was watched CBS reports a couple nights ago about how all these blue collar >>and now white collar jobs are going across seas. > >Where do I begin? First, what does "taking jobs away from us" mean? That we >own these jobs? And who is "us"? Well said. While I didn't see the CBS program , I bet the scaremongerers did not point out that programmers don't just produce software, they are major consumers as well. The growth of the software industry in other countries therefore means business for US industry, which produces most of the compilers and other utilities that programmers everywhere use. This clearly helps programmers in the US. >>So a possible way to protect jobs is to protect the knowledge on how to do >>them. To some extent this happens automatically -- for instance, if you live in the Silicon valley, your knowledge levels are higher on account of higher frequency of user meets, conferences, etc. But, to the extent you use the Internet as an information source, it is available internationally. So you cannot have it both ways: use an open forum like the Internet, and hope to keep knowledge bottled in. In earlier generations of computing, monopolistic organizations such as IBM and DEC charged huge sums for information. One of the reasons that IBM was thrown out of India in the mid seventies was their practice of shipping only outdated computers from the US to India. Indian programmers were at a disadvantage, and clearly could not charge as much as American ones. But the openness of MS-DOS and UNIX changed all that, a trend that has only been strengthened by the Internet. While jobs could easily move overseas, the developing world may not be able to absorb them. To start with, such migration assumes the availability of excellent telecom facilities. These are severely lacking in most developing countries, which have about 75% of the world's population and 16% of its product, but only 12% of the total number of telephone main lines. These too are mostly in cities. While the World Bank's 1988 figures indicate that in industrialized countries, major cities have a 20-30% higher telephone density than do other areas, in a country like Ethiopia, cities have a density of about 14 times the national average. In other words, most people in developing countries have practically no access to telecom facilities. In addition, the quality of the facilities, typically provided by state-owned monopolies, is often abysmal. While low-earth orbit satellite projects such as Iridium, Odyssey, Teledisc and Globalstar threaten to change all this, little impact will be felt until the end of the decade. In any case, telecom facilities in the industrialized countries will most likely continue to be considerably superior, providing workers there with an ongoing competitive advantage. Further, as economists such as Paul Krugman point out, developing countries lack the means for sustained growth ("Which Asian Model?", Newsweek, November 20, 1995). Those economies that have shown dramatic growth, such as the East Asian, have relied essentially on low-cost inputs, rather than on their efficient utilization. Professor Alwyn Young of Boston has in fact come to the surprising conclusion that Singapore's total factor productivity (which measures such efficiency) is so poor as to be comparable to that of the Soviet Union. He points out that "at just the time that everybody was ranting about how magnificent Japan was, it ceased to catch up." Cheap inputs is not a long-term phenomenon, as companies looking for good programmers in India are increasingly discovering. Programmer salaries in India are rapidly rising. While many youngsters are keen to become programmers, India lacks adequate training facilities. Today, teachers receive poor pay, even by Indian standards. Educational institutions are hardly going to be able to raise salaries of software teachers alone, while raising them for everybody will be impossible. Consequently, there is going to be little incentive for good programmers to become teachers, and the educational institutions will continue to churn out large numbers of poorly trained students. It is suggested that universities in industrialized countries could use the Internet to teach students in developing countries, but the efficacy of this model has yet to be proven. Also, a very small percentage of Indians are fluent in English, and from it come the senior bureaucrats, managers for the private sector, the military, newspapers, educational institutions -- in short, all the important posts of the country. Unless there is to be a severe disruption of the nation's activities, not too many can be diverted to cater to export. >>Perhaps there is a larger picture in the world that the cyperpunks mailing >>list is missing. That cryptography is not just for personal privacy, but >>could involve job security also - as a matter of fact, the income base for >>this whole country. I'd argue the opposite: I see no reason why companies such as Netscape have to put up with such draconian US laws as ITAR: why don't they simply develop their software overseas? If they made a highly publicised move, that might do wonders to change the opinions of US Congresspersons voting on ITAR-related legislation. My prediction is that with the blessings of the Internet, the next generation of multiracial programmers, even those that were born in the USA, will be more likely to be found on the beaches of tropical islands than in the fog of San Francisco. When you can work in the shade of a palm tree, even if you should earn less, it's worth it :-) Arun Mehta Phone +91-11-6841172, 6849103 amehta(a)cpsr.org http://www.cerfnet.com/~amehta/ finger amehta(a)cerfnet.com for public key

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Re: SecurID
by vin＠shore.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Paul J. Bell <pjb(a)ny.ubs.com> gave a desperate shout for help: >someone at my firm is about to press the securid system down our collective >throats. please point me to the recent thread on this subject, and/or point >me to some url's or the like, or to someone who has some firsthand >knowledge of the pitfalls and/or vulnerbilities of secirid. I think Enigma Logic, Digital Pathways, and Cryptocard -- all vendors of competitive one-time passsword (OTP) tokens --have diatribes against the ACE/SecurID system on their web sites. Check them out. Over the past two years, there have also been a number of fairly in-depth debates about SecurIDs and the ACE protocols on the Firewalls mailing list (ftp the archives at greatcircle.com) and in comp.security.unix. My SecurID FAQ, available from SDTI at <http://www.securid.com> might give you ideas too. Most people find the SecurID (and most of its competitors) relatively well-designed and and secure devices. Most of the negative comment I've seen is from competitors who say the SecurID and it's ACE support system is too expensive, and from ACE administrators who gripe that the software is not optimized for their favorite platform. It is unfortunately true that SDTI has not yet mastered the knack of producing perfectly bugless code. Earlier this year SDTI also fouled up badly when they failed to bring their Customer Support operation up to speed to support a new generation of authentication servers (ACE 2.X) which involved a relatively more complex Unix installation. They've spent a lot of money and hired a lot of people, but I don't think there is yet a consensus about whether they've licked that. Still, some people think they get their money's worth. SecurID is the OTP token of choice at most (80 percent +) large corporate sites --in a market with a lot of competitors, including well-done freeware OTP alternatives: s/key and OPIE. Of course, those buyers could all be wrong. SDTI's success is really built on the fact that users -- the people who actually carry the tokens -- usually say they like the SecurID better than the alternatives. The SecurID claims the lion's share of the market because it is relatively intuitive and easy to use: the PIN and token-code can be typed in like a (long) traditional password. The alternative tokens -- all challenge/response devices -- force the user to engage in a multi-step process to get a random challenge from the remote host, tap it into the token, encrypted it, then send it back to the host as the OTP. SecurIDs are supported by an ACE authentication server which -- alone among the OTP vendors -- holds its Access Control files in a commercial-grade SQL-savvy relational database, which means that can be interlinked with HR or any other SQL-savvy corporate RDBS. As the industry sets the stage for enterprise-wide IP security (hopefully soon to include crypto) many believe the authentication server's capabilities become more important than the token's design. But, hey, those folks could be wrong. SDTI also just bought RSA Data Security, which some feel enhances its prospects for making some further contribution to enterprise security. Even before that, some 50 of the leading independent vendors of network-based products (from firewalls and comm servers to big databases) had chosen to integrate ACE/SecurID client code into a huge variety of products. This is a fairly unprecidented level of industry support -- but they might be all wrong too. ACE/SecurID is notable among other OTP systems for both its support infrastructure (STDI supported the client/server architecture five years before any other OTP vendor,) and because it is a (patent-protected) time-synched device: the 30/60-second dynamic token-code the SecurID displays is a hash of Current Time and a token-specific secret seed. This has pros and cons (honest, both pros and cons;-) Unfortunately, what ACE/SecurID does not do -- what no OTP can do -- is safeguard or secure your communications links. (It also does not minimize the need for ongoing system administration; capable auditing and oversight; or an explicit local security policy -- all of which can also be burdensome to the user. But the real bear is network security.) On an unprotected network or telephone link -- in the face of a sophisticated attack -- nothing but network-level crypto or link encryption can stave off either eavesdropping or active TCP "session stealing." (Several of SDTI's strategic partners do provide encrypted tunnels through open networks. There are even some well-regarded freeware or shareware options.) SecurIDs, like any OTP, only identifies the guy who knocks on the front door. This is useful; it's even important -- but it's not enough. Most environments need (but don't have) crypto too. But even in the face of this acknowledged threat -- session hijacking -- many sites still find it useful to invest in OTP tokens, often SecurIDs. They do this because: * OTPs can offer a more-certain two-factor authentication (something known; something held); * OTPs foil a whole array of trojan and sniffer-based attacks which seek to collect the passwords of innocent users like yourself; and * OTPs can raise a partial barrier against network-based attacks. Effectively, OTPs force most network-based attacks to become overt... so the user and/or sysadmin has a chance to recognize that something is wrong and react defensively. Some believe the ACE/SecurID system actually does a little better than that. The ACE protocol encrypts all packets containing user authentication data as it passes between the ACE/Clients (often embedded communication servers of various types) and the ACE/Server. This establishes an encrypted virtual net for authentication data with the user site, which blocks another class of attacks. In an ACE/SecurID-protected environment, the threat of network-based attacks is thus somewhat constained. Authentication calls, and the TCP/IP sessions they authorize, remain quite vulnerable if they are transmitted over the Internet, or an extended private network, or telephone links susceptable to physical wiretaps. OTPs safeguard the authentication calls against replay attacks --and most of the race attacks seem managable -- but unencrypted sessions ultimately remain vulnerable to both eavesdropping and session hijacking In many corporations, however, only a fraction of the data traffic travels on these high-risk links. While there are net-based attacks that might reach in to grab unencrypted message traffic on your internal LAN (Is someone is also trying to force a firewall on you guys too, PJ?) within the ACE client/server environment, at least user authentication data -- name, OTP, and PIN -- seems to be securely encrypted. Not that there aren't hackers -- and cynical system administrators -- probing and testing it daily. Rumors and dark suspicious whispers abound, as seems inevitable with any successful product that relies on crypto. (Actually, any widely used computer security product -- have you noticed?) Personally, I find it reassuring to remember that for virtually every flaw there is, inevitably, a fix. But then, Wall Street's recent soaring climbs and plunging drops remind me of just how potent rumors can be. Please come back and tell us if you find any real dirt, Mr. Bell. (And please pardon the blithe spirit that infected my comments. It's just hard to play the straight man on a Saturday summer night.) Also, an obligatory avowal: SDTI regularly pays me huge sums of money for information and advice, but they ignore at least half of what I say. You can too. Suerte, _Vin Vin McLellan +The Privacy Guild+ <vin(a)shore.net> 53 Nichols St., Chelsea, Ma. 02150 USA Tel: (617) 884-5548 <*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*>

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Re: Police prepare stunning end for high-speed car chases
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 23:16 8/10/96, Anonymous wrote: >Why don't they just have government access to car engines? They could >just require car manufacturers to include remote shutdown devices for >the engines. But they will. Didn't you know that? -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred. Defeat the Demopublican Unity Party. Vote no on Clinton/Dole in November. Vote Harry Browne for President.

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Where is the fraud? (re: Anguilla)
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

One more thing.... At 12:53 AM 8/11/96, Vincent Cate wrote: >This is a fraud by taxbomber. He is totally involved with selling fake >passports. He calls them "camouflage passports" and they have names like >"British Honduras" of countries that no longer exist, or never did. He >does not think they are "fake", but the rest of the world does. He also >suggested opening up bank accounts with these fake passports (encouraging >fraud). On this last point, how is this "encouraging fraud"? If I deposit money in a bank and choose to identify myself as "Mickey Mouse, Citizen of the Magic Kingdom," perhaps even presenting a Disneyland Passport, who is being defrauded? Is the bank being defrauded? Not if Mickey is depositing money. What if the bank is _lending_ money to Mickey? Then of course they might find that the "Magic Kingdom" is not a real country, and that Mickey's "passport" was not issued by one of the 192 godfearing countries in the United Nations. So what? Then they deny the loan. Where is the fraud? Is Anguilla in the business of determining what a True Name is? (What is it, by the way?) I should remind readers that it is legal to sell such passports in the U.S....somewhere I have one that says "This document not good for travel in the People's Republics of Berkeley, Santa Monica, and Madison," or somesuch. Again, which specific law in Anguilla specifies which pieces of paper may be bought and sold? Does the law say an actual crime or case of fraud has to occur, or is only the potentiality of a crime or fraud involved? Does the crime or fraud have to occur in Anguilla? Inquiring minds want to know. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: Rumors of death of Anguilla Data are greatly exagerated.
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

(I have respect for what Vince did, by actually moving to the Caribbean and setting up a data haven/offshore ISP business. However, just as we discuss the situation about remailers going down, or monitoring the cleartext, or blocking certain addresses, so too should we discuss what Vince is choosing to do. Maybe he is ultimately right, maybe not. I'm including this preface just so no one thinks I'm trying to start a feud. No way.) At 12:53 AM 8/11/96, Vincent Cate wrote: >Taxbomber wrote: >>This is the work of some journalist hacks who did a major job of >>character assassination by claiming that we (and our provider) >>were involved in selling fake passports. > >This is a fraud by taxbomber. He is totally involved with selling fake >passports. He calls them "camouflage passports" and they have names like >"British Honduras" of countries that no longer exist, or never did. He >does not think they are "fake", but the rest of the world does. He also >suggested opening up bank accounts with these fake passports (encouraging >fraud). "What is truth?" Many of the things customers of a data haven are likely to be doing are "fraudulent" or "illegal" in some jurisdictions....I'm sure I don't have to spend effort here citing examples from religious, medical, and business domains. (But I can't resist: vitamin data the U.S. calls fraudulent, political information about Ireland the U.K. calls illegal, sex information the government of Iran punishes with death, and so on.) Selling fake passports seems not to be something Vince ought to even be paying attention to. Granted, pressure from outside states may put pressure on Vince, but this actually confirms my worst (OK, _nearly_ my worst) suspicions about the viability of such data havens. >My lawyer called me up and told me that fake passports are illegal in >Anguilla and that I should pull this guy immediately. I did. It is our >policy to not permit anything on our servers that is illegal in Anguilla. >My lawyer is where I get the definition of "illegal in Anguilla". Instead of "pulling" this guy, did you first send a copy of your lawyer's letter to you to this guy, and advise him that he should remove just this one specific item, the allegedly illegal British Honduras passports? >Tim: >>I'd guess that Vince has had a fun time in the Carribbean, but that he'll >>be closing up shop sometime soon. Once some services are yanked, confidence >>is lost. > >I am not closing up at all. Anything that is legal in Anguilla can be >done from my servers. If not, then not. Note that there are no taxes >here, and there are still many things a guy can do here that are not >permitted in other places. However, fake passports turns out not to be >one of them. Then I suggest you carefully provide a full copy of what you consider to be illegal to all subscribers. Or give subscribers a time period to remove the _specific_ items that are deemed to be illegal. I have some questions, though. Would bomb-making instructions be legal or illegal, acceptable or not acceptable on your system? How about "Kill the Queen" screeds? And so on. Sorry to put you on the spot, Vince, but a "data haven" is by its nature going to have a lot of "unusual" material, to use a euphemism. Everything from Bell's bids for having government officials offed, to plans for sale on creating false identiites, to crypto anarchy manifestos advocating the destruction of democracies. If you "pull" the entire account of a business when the Governor-General, or His Royal Excellency--or whomever it is that runs Anguilla--applies pressure....well, you won't have much of a real data haven, now will you? Could you actually give us an idea of what is considered legal to run in Anguilla, and what is not? How about dial-a-porn sites? (I seem to recall mention from you or a visitor that "Penthouse" is not permitted to be sold in Anguilla, so....) How about gambling? How about assassination markets? (Is it legal in Anguila if no residents or citizens of Anguilla are included in the "game"?) And so on. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Police prepare stunning e
by pjn＠nworks.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

In> IT COULD be the end of the car chase as we know it. With the In> automotive equivalent of a stun gun, science fiction is coming In> to the aid of law enforcement. In> A high-powered electrical device under development at the In> Pentagon's Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Maryland, is In> to be tested by police and border patrol agents and could be In> in use by next year. In> The car stopper works by focusing an intense electromagnetic In> charge on the electronic systems that manage most modern In> engines, disabling them and paralysing the car. In the jargon In> of its inventors, the 150 kilovolt charge is a nemp, or non-nuclear In> electromagnetic pulse. Contractors are bidding to produce a In> police version. In> Very precisely directed beams are required, but even then In> there will be problems. A pulse powerful enough to disable an In> engine at any reasonable range would also be likely to disrupt In> communications, damage television and radio sets, disable computers In> and even stop heart pacemakers. There is also the danger of In> loss of control when a car is being driven at high speed. In> Counter-measures would include using old-fashioned engines In> with no electronics, or perhaps surrounding the most delicate In> components with shielding. The best might be to get hold of In> one of the stun guns and use it to disable pursuing police vehicles. Is there any dif between this and a HERF gun? P.J. pjn(a)nworks.com ... RAM DISK is NOT an installation procedure! ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 [NR]

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Re: Police prepare stunning end for high-speed car chases
by jya＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Aug 10, 1996 23:07:44, 'shamrock(a)netcom.com (Lucky Green)' wrote: >At 23:16 8/10/96, Anonymous wrote: >>Why don't they just have government access to car engines? They could >>just require car manufacturers to include remote shutdown devices for >>the engines. > >But they will. Didn't you know that? Why don't we have people's access to government? We could require officials to include remote shutdown devices when they renege on promises, line their pockets, start wars to get re-elected, betray public trust by cruel neglect of their sworn obligations while strutting and bombasting -- damn fools interrupting my X-rated sleazy cheating schemes to fuck my neighbor's dog, or ferret, or mudhole; god, I hate my momma's favorite fuck-up, poor little me, please, world, help me get off Ritalin and wheat germ and my lead-filled ass. Now, off to Sunday school to pray not to burn in hell. On second think, fuck it, com 'ere pooch.

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INFO: Gather and talk to Republican luminaries live online from the convention!
by Voters Telecommunications Watch 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- REPUBLICAN CONVENTION! LIVE! CHECK IT OUT ONLINE! (DO NOT DISTRIBUTE AFTER AUGUST 20, 1996) WHAT: Live feed from the Republican Convention in San Diego over the net Eat, drink, shmooze with Republican luminaries through the Net. WHERE: @Cafe, #12 St. Mark's Place (212-979-5439) WHEN: 8:30pm, Tuesday August 13, 1996 At 8:30pm EST on Tuesday, August 13, 1996, the Republican National Convention will be broadcast live over the Internet! The Several members of Congress will be present and, technology and Murphy's Law permitting, they'll be able to talk to you online through CUSeeMe. Many of New York's Republicans will be gathering at the @Cafe (address below), one of New York's many fine cybercafes, to eat, drink, shmooze, and queue up for a chance to talk to notable Republican legislators live from the Republican convention. Montana Senator Conrad Burns, who has been a driving force within the bi-partisan push to deregulate encryption, will be cyber-present, as will Montana Governor Marc Racicot, widely regarded as a visionary. The event is being coordinated in San Diego by Mike Rawson of Senator Conrad Burns office. Rawson, who has been instrumental in putting the Senate hearings live online along with Jonah Seiger of the Center for Democracy and Technology, will be bringing Senators, and other luminaries to the event. The Republican National Convention's live broadcast page is at: http://www.convention96.rnc.org/live.htm Simply point your Web browser there on Tuesday night to see the live goings-on. The @Cafe is where most people will probably gather, but there are many fine Internet cafes in New York. To find the one nearest you, go to Clay Irving's NYC Guide at: http://www.panix.com/~clay/nyc/cybercafes.shtml @cafe 12 St. Marks Place. It's an Internet provider! No, it's a restaraunt! Whatever it is, it seems like a cool place! alt.coffee 139 Avenue A - Tel: 212.529.CAFE coffee. computers. comfy chairs. Cyber Cafe 273A Lafayette Street, New York, New York 10012 Tel: (212) 334-5140 Fax: (212) 334-6436 In the heart of SOHO New York, Cyber Cafe is a stylish interface between the latest internet technology and the best in fresh, organic food. Internet Cafe 3rd Street (between 1st and 2nd) Kokobar espresso bar-cafi-bookstore features workstations for all-out Internet access. Located in Fort Greene. The VOID 16 Mercer Street (at Howard, one block north of Canal) For more information on the live hookups from the Republican convention, contact Mike Rawson at Senator Conrad Burns' office at 202-224-8250. For more information on the gathering at the @Cafe in New York City, contact Shabbir J. Safdar at 917-978-8430. ###

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Re: Anguilla / taxbomber - legality
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 12:56 AM 8/11/96 -0400, Vincent Cate wrote: >But fraud is illegal in Anguilla, and fake passports are concidered >fraud. > I should have thought that fraud required use rather than manufacture. It is hard to defraud someone just by making something. You have to communicate with them in some way. The US has very broad fraud statutes and yet these passports are sold in the US. I've never heard of any action against them. There is also a First Amendment issue with the World Federalists and their "Citizen of the World" passport. In any case, and ISP is not a publisher or vendor. Sometimes people pay more attention to lawyers than they should. DCF

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Re: National Socio-Economic Security Need for Encryption Technology
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 08:15 AM 8/10/96 -0400, Scottauge(a)aol.com wrote: >I was watched CBS reports a couple nights ago about how all these blue collar >and now white collar jobs are going across seas. > >So a possible way to protect jobs is to protect the knowledge on how to do >them. >In essence, knowledge is money, cuz that is what we usually want for it >now-a-days. "Oh you want me to do that for you, hmmmm, lets see...." The first axiom of economics is "Wants are unlimited." I'm glad that they're "shipping all those jobs overseas." The more people we have working the more goodies are produced. If the labor of US workers is freed up, then they can go about producing something else valuable that they didn't have time to produce before because those "third worlders" weren't doing their fair share back when they were trapped in feudalism or fabian socialism. You can't get more stuff (wealth) unless everyone is out there working to capacity (consistent with their desired work/leisure tradeoff). DCF

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