December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: NPR?
by Christian Void 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Sun, 3 Oct 1993, L. Detweiler wrote: > >Has anyone considered forwarding and/or send NPR an information packet to > >help bring the encryption/clipper issues to the general public, or is that > >looked upon as a bad idea? > > I think I may have called them once. didn't get a call back. ^^^^^^ They do have a mail address via AOL, and IMHO are not biased towards anything except the left wing. Getting them to discuss the Clipper/Crypto issue on the science program could help get it out in the open in a positive manner, rather than waiting for someone to have his equipment/life seized, or some other such thing making it's way into the mainstream, and thus causing the general public to be biased towards the government (which is what we don't want). Christian Void /T71 | "I don't like it, and I'm sorry I | VMResearch, Inc. cvoid(a)netcom.COM | ever had anything to do with it." | P.O. Box 170213 Tel. 1+415-807-5491 | -Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961) | SF, CA 94117 * PGP v2.3a Public Key Available Via Finger *

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Re: FBI on BBS operator liability (fwd)
by smb＠research.att.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

(just utilizing resources is not prosecutable). It's worth mentioning that that's true of Federal law, but isn't necessarily true of state law. For example, California Penal Code section 502 provides for the conviction of anyone who ``knowingly and without permission accesses or causes to be accessed any computer, computer system, or computer network''. Some other states have similar provisions. --Steve Bellovin

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...
by Martin.Greifer＠f28.n125.z1.FIDONET.ORG 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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Crypto Toolkit Suggestions
by Mike Ingle 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I'm writing a toolkit to allow crypto programs to be written using pipes and shell/perl scripts. There will be several small programs, most of which will act as filters, to give direct access to rsa, idea, md5, keyrings, etc. This should allow quick and easy coding of digicash, zero-knowledge servers, and other interesting things. So far I've got the MD5 and IDEA functions. MD5 is just a filter - it takes whatever you feed it and outputs the MD5 hash in hex. IDEA takes e or d for encrypt or decrypt, a key, and (if encrypting) an initialization block. Then it acts as a filter. The output is ten bytes longer than the input - init block and two key check bytes - just like the idea_file function in PGP's crypto.c file. MD5 links with md5.c and md5.h, and IDEA links with idea.c and idea.h from pgp23a. For example, you could do: key=`md5` passphrase^D init=(16 random hex digits - another MD5 is okay, it will ignore excess) export key init idea e key init < infile > outfile idea d key < outfile > decrypted Questions: what is the best way to pass a key? The command line is definitely out, because ps shows it. Right now, IDEA takes the name of an exported environment variable containing the hex key. Can you securely wipe an environment variable? Is there a better way? (A temporary file could be dangerous; a key could be left lying around.) What else should I write? Ideas: direct access to rsa with hex numbers, direct access to modmult, etc, for dh and stuff, a filter for armor/dearmor and zip/unzip. A program to pull key material out of a keyring in hex, so you could use PGP keys with the rsa routines. What would really be nice is a filter that could generate pgp-compatible packets, so you could make up any "pgp object" using a pipe. You could also use the hex output directly. --- MikeIngle(a)delphi.com The enemy is not just the federal government. The enemy is centralized power, wherever it may exist.

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News: where to get them
by geoffw＠nexsys.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Topic 553News: where to get themRUSSIA(a)ARIZVM1.ccit.arizona.edubitl.russia 1:30 pm Oct 3, 1993 Reply-To: Russia & her neighbors <RUSSIA(a)ARIZVM1.ccit.arizona.edu> From: Serge Viznyuk <VIZNYUK(a)MPS.OHIO-STATE.EDU> Subject: News: where to get them ---------------------- Information from the mail header ----------------------- Sender: Russia & her neighbors <RUSSIA(a)ARIZVM1.BITNET> Poster: Serge Viznyuk <VIZNYUK(a)MPS.OHIO-STATE.EDU> Subject: News: where to get them ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Interfax and Postfactum in Russian (KOI-8) are available also on newcom.kiae.su NNTP server on relcom.politics newsgroup newcom.kiae.su network address is 144.206.136.5

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Re: POISON PILL :-)
by cme＠ellisun.sw.stratus.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>Date: 30 Sep 93 16:43:41 EDT >From: Sandy <72114.1712(a)CompuServe.COM> >Subject: POISON PILL :-) > !!WARNING!! > This Machine is Booby-Trapped > Use at Your Own Risk What about the stickers on car windows announcing that the radio, if stolen, will be unusable? ...seems to me the precedent has been set. - Carl

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subscribe
by Robert J Woodhead 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Here's hoping I haven't made an ass out of myself.

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PGP mailer integration mailing list announcement
by L. Detweiler 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

===cut=here=== Subject: PGP Mail Integration Project From: simons(a)peti.GUN.de (Peter Simons) Date: Son Oct 03, 1993 17:12:04 - -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Anybody interested in the integration of PGP in the "normal" e-mail enviroment (seems to be a lot of people here :->), should subscribe to out PGPMIP mailing list and contribute their ideas there. - - ------8<------------------------------------------------------------------- Pretty Good Privacy -- Mail Integration Project =============================================== An Introduction by Peter Simons <simons(a)peti.GUN.de> Edition 1 Bonn, 14-Sep-93 What is it? - - ----------- Pretty Good(tm) Privacy (PGP), from Phil's Pretty Good Software, is a high security cryptographic software application for MSDOS, Unix, AmigaOS, and other computers. PGP allows people to exchange files or messages with privacy and authentication. Privacy means that only those intended to receive a message can read it. Authentication means that messages that appear to be from a particular person can only have originated from that person. Additionally, no secure channels are needed to exchange keys between users! This is because PGP is based on a powerful new technology called "public key" cryptography. All in all, PGP is a very useful and important program. However it is a little bit...uh... overkill for the average Joe Dow to install this rather complex package, just to encrypt his few e-mail, which are not so private anyway. PGP comes with dozens of options, switches and configuration possibilities, far too many to 'just install and run'. This has prevented many potential users from using PGP for their private mail. Also it is significantly more complicated to encrypt every single outgoing mail and, of course, to decrypt each incoming mail individually. This is what the PGP Mail Integration Project wants to improve. In our opinion man-kind should stay superior and leave the 'dirty-work' to the machines. :-)) Our idea was to integrate PGP, as far as possible, into common UUCP packages so the user needn't be concerned with how PGP itself works. Outgoing or incoming mail should be en-/decrypted automatically and the software should do all the basics of controlling PGP. The mailing list: - - ----------------- What looked like a quite trivial task, that could be managed by a few simple scripts, grew into a full project. Too many cases have to be covered, too many setups have to be recognized, etc, etc... We realized that we'd need quite a number of beta testers and of course a supporting cast of users, contributing ideas and requests, to make PGPMIP fit their needs. If you want to participate in the development of this project or just want to get further information about the project, feel free to contact either myself or any other member of the development team. Additionally, there's a mailing list available which provides the latest information and allows for an on going discussion about the future of the project. Send a message like this TO the list itself to be re-sent to all concerned; To: pgpmip(a)edex.edu.au Subject: Whatever... Hi pgpmip people, ... A message to the below can be used to sign on and off a list; To: pgpmip-request(a)edex.edu.au Subject: Whatever... join FirstName LastName pgpmip or leave FirstName LastName pgpmip Note: ADD/SUB/JOIN = join UNSUB/LEAVE = leave Any errors will be, and any problems should be, reported to; To: pgpmip-owner(a)edex.edu.au Our project concentrates on the Amiga platform, but programmers and users of other operating systems are welcome to contribute, maybe we can expand the project to UNIX, MS-DOS and other platforms. You can find the current version of PGP on aminet in util/crypt/. - - ------8<------------------------------------------------------------------- bye, Peter --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Peter Simons | Usenet: simons(a)peti.GUN.de | PGP v2.x public key Europaring 20 | CBMNet: simons(a)peti.adsp.sub.org | available on request 53123 Bonn | Phone: +49 228 746061 | or via GET from almost Germany | CBM: ETG207 | any keyserver. Use it! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a iQCVAgUBLK8HLA9HL1s0103BAQHXNgQAldTmlNXiPOrGvr6+L9AAMR7VMyfradD6 85iuQCEgS7hzhJoShZn08hFW1ofX7rcjshwfsT+PlCJvmoei8opBmVtUqJPYRqC3 XIDAy9pWhfAc32anT0GncwkYDK4zIuiFGdzOWmWC3yoGaE1z4NNSUkFcjM3vyMf2 q3ddaA/he/E= =fFNy - -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ------- End of Forwarded Message

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Re: POISON PILL
by cme＠ellisun.sw.stratus.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>> Something else you can do is use a cipher which takes two input streams >> and merges them into the one file, with one key extracting the 'harmless' >> information and another extracting the 'harmfull' information. >> >> Matthew. >> -- >> Matthew Gream, M.Gream(a)uts.edu.au. "... encryption is the ultimate means of >> Consent Technologies, 02-821-2043. protection against an Orwellian state." > >Has anybody writen one? Can we try for this as a feature in the next pgp? >Should I write it myself? Of course I should... silly question... Ok does >anybody have any suggestions or wishlists? Lemme know. > AFAIK, the only way to do this is with a Vernam OTP. You have a key file (A) the same length as your real data (B) -- encrypt the data by XOR to get (C). Then you take an innocent text (D) and XOR with (C) to get an alleged key file (E). You hide (A) someplace, destroy (B) and (D). Leave (C) around and put up just enough resistence in letting folks have (E). Does anyone know a simpler way? I'm willing to bet that it can be proved that the key would have to be at least 1/8 the length of the message in order for this to work but I don't know of any schemes using less than the message length to do it. - Carl

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WestWord article - YOW!
by L. Detweiler 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I've been putting off responding to the WestWord Zimmermann article immediately to digest the spectacular prose -- This is a FANTASTIC article! It *almost* surpasses Markoff for sheer color and technical mastery! (<g>) This is INCREDIBLE propaganda for the cypherpunk cause. E. Dexheimer writes like he is a cypherpunk list subscriber! We have *everything*: *pricelessly* memorable quotes by Gilmore, Bidzos, Denning, Zimmermann, Diffie, Rotenberg. We have a mention of the Cypherpunks. We have the NSA. Dexheimer has a *dazzling* nose for the essential areas and most momentous, and cutting quotes. A few points to be made. First, it brings deals with the PGP-pedophile aspect head on and in an ultimately redeeming way. We have to face that concealing criminal behavior is very intrinsic to cryptographic techniques, but, as PRZ says, the bottom line is: >He also concedes that, despite what law enforcement officers say about >him being irresponsible for publishing PGP he is trouble by people who >use the software for unsavory purposes. The William Steen case, for >instance, unnerved him. "This is not a black-and-white issue to me," >Zimmermann says. "The thought of a child molester out there using PGP >does keep me up at nights. I think the benefits will outweigh the cost >to society, though." This is characteristic of the article's outstanding balance. Virtually every point of contention is mapped out in critical detail on both sides. Another example of this is how PRZ rebuts claims of the software being for personal profit as saying he `has a history of political activism'. Other amazingly ironic observations in the article stand out. Perhaps the most damaging quote is completely nullified by a later element of the story: "Phil Zimmermann? He's a dirtbag," spits out Brian Kennedy, the detective who headed up the Steen investigation. "He's an irresponsible person who takes credit for his invention without taking responsibility for its effect. He's protected people who are preying on children. I hope that someday he'll get what he deserves." Later the ``California computer-crime expert William Sternow called in on the case'' says: >In perhaps the greatest testimony to Zimmermann's program, even those >who condemn the programmer for irresponsibly releasing PGP continue to >use his software. "It's a great program," concedes Sacramento computer >expert Sternow. "We recommend in our training to cops that they use it >to encrypt their stuff." Sternow estimates that more than 500 law >enforcement officers currently use PGP. So we have the stark irony that the `authorities' simultaneously condemn and praise Zimmermann -- the former when it obstructs their job, the latter when it aids it. The other main point to be made is that the author has an *extraordinary* grasp of the public key and RSA technology (and virtually every other aspect of the entire complex story). In fact, his technical description for the layman is so masterful I simply find it hard to believe Dexheimer has not had previous exposure to the topic. The quotes are absolutely so sterling I *have* to cut them out. Cypherpunks, please stick 'em in your signatures. Finally, regarding the posting, does anybody know anything about all those groups that were listed by `S. Boxx'? I think I might have been the first to come up with `CRAM' (in a satirical post on the NY cybertax) but all those others I thought were disconnected. It looks like the person is just throwing in a lot of sinister-sounding labels to upset the police and NSA! a little electronic graffiti! One other thing -- why is a Colorado newspaper breaking that California Steen case wide open? Isn't there any press reports on it in California? Why haven't we seen any from you lazy CA cypherpunks, anyway? <g> ===cut=here=== ``The task was given to us to decrypt this stuff. And to this day we have not been able to do it.'' --William Sternow, California computer-crime expert. (yeah, right -- a `computer crime expert' has a chance at discovering a polynomial-time factoring algorithm!) ``Phil Zimmermann? He's a dirtbag. He's an irresponsible person who takes credit for his invention without taking responsibility for its effect. He's protected people who are preying on children. I hope that someday he'll get what he deserves.'' --Brian Kennedy, Sacramento head detective. ``I get mail from people in the Eastern Bloc saying how much they appreciate PGP-- `Thanks for doing it.' When I'm talking to Americans about this, a lot of them don't understand why I'd be so paranoid about the government. But people in police states, you don't have to explain it to them. They already get it. And they don't understand why we don't.'' --PRZ ``PGP could potentially become a widespread problem.'' --Dorothy Denning, Georgetown University professor and National Security Agency consultant (good lord, what a FANTASTIC quote! there is a god!) ``Phil seems very eager to let people believe what he wants them to believe. He likes to perpetuate the idea of his being a folk hero.'' --D. James Bidzos, President, RSA Data Securities Inc. ``Phil didn't invent the engine, but he did fit it inside the Ford.'' --David Banisar, analyst, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility in Washington, D.C. ``PGP has done a good deal for the practice of cryptology. It's close to my heart because it's close to my original objectives.'' --Whitfield Diffie, Sun Microsystems ``It's a great program. We recommend in our training to cops that they use it to encrypt their stuff.'' --Sacramento computer expert William Sternow ``Phil showed that an ordinary guy just reading the papers that already existed could put together an encryption system that the Nation Security Agency could break "It took a certain amount of bravery to put this out, because at the time the government was talking about restrictions on cryptography.'' --John Gilmore, Cypherpunk founder ``Basically, we said, `What the fuck?' '' --D. James Bidzos, President, RSA Data Securities Inc. ``I decided to give PGP away in the interests of changing society, which it is now doing. The whole reason I got involved was politics. I did not miss mortgage payments in the hopes of getting rich. Just look at my bookshelf. I'm a politically committed person with a history of political activism.'' --PRZ ``I respect copyrights. But what we're talking about there is a patent on a math formula. It's like Isaac Newton patenting Force = Mass x Acceleration. You'd have to pay royalty every time you threw a baseball.'' --PRZ ``I can't comment on the investigation.'' --William Keane, assistant U.S. attorney, San Hose ``The law just can't keep up with the technology. Somebody in Palo Alto learns something, and pretty soon somebody in Moscow is going to know about the same thing. There's nothing you can do about it.'' --PRZ lawyer Phil Dubois ``This is not a black-and-white issue to me. The thought of a child molester out there using PGP does keep me up at nights. I think the benefits will outweigh the cost to society, though.'' --PRZ ``In the nuclear freeze movement, it was like I was a flea on the back of a dinosaur," he says. "Now I feel like I'm a hamster on the back of a dinosaur. Or maybe a poodle.'' --PRZ

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