December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Truth will make us free!
by juagarknight＠msn.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

We are an American social activist group called Las Americas, and we need your help. It is time to end the lies that everyone publishes about the Chiapas situation. We have to stop the war now! We are tired of not being believed: the truth needs your help. The truth has to be told. Our main purpose is to show what is really going on in Chiapas. We want the world to know how neglected the people in Chiapas are. In order for us to accomplish this mission, we need to provide tangible proof of all the events. We need pictures, sounds and video testimonies. We all have some kind of photographic equipment we don't use anymore. Right now, send us any type of new or old recording material: * Cameras * Videos * Tapes * Cassettes * Film * Typewriters * All kinds of recorders All of these materials will be distributed to the indigenous communities so that they will be able to provide proof of their living conditions. The collected information will make up a huge and raw testimonial, which will convince even the skeptics that the war in Chiapas must end. We are tired of lies being said about Chiapas. We need your support for this effort. Take your chances, don't waste this great opportunity to participate and make a difference. Send the materials to: LAS AMERICAS Attn. President Ronald Granados 12501 East Imperial Highway Norwalk, CA 90650 You may also remit your suggestions and comments to our president. We thank you in advance for your generous contribution and please forward this e-mail to as many people as you can. P.S. If you are planning on making a personal visit, please find information enclose and don't forget to send us your testimonies!! http://www.adventours.com http://www.derechos.org http://www.globalexchange.org http://www.NONVIOLENCE.ORG

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Thoughts on the demise of DES
by Trei, Peter 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Well, I'm a happy camper. Single DES is dead as a credible cipher. I feel *very* vindicated. I called for the hit, RSA bankrolled it, and the EFF pulled the trigger. DESChall and Distributed.net did severe damage, but the Deep Crack machine was the fatal blow. While the possiblity of bruting DES has been discussed at various times in and out of cpunks for years (for example, see Adam Back's message of 17 August 1995), my involvement started 22 July 1996, when I proposed a DES crack as a follow on to the previous autumn's RC4-40 attack: ------------------------------ >Subject: Re: Borders *are* transparent >Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 10:32:47 -6 [...] >Any one up for a distributed brute force attack on >single DES? My back-of-the-envelope calculations >and guesstimates put this on the hairy edge of >doability (the critical factor is how many >machines can be recruited - a non-trivial cash >prize would help). >Peter Trei >trei(a)process.com --------------------------- This got a flurry of responses, mostly positive, including some in which Matt Blaze announced his intention to build a hardware DES cracker. ----------- Later that day, I had run some more numbers: >Subject: Re: Brute Force DES >From: "Peter Trei" <trei(a)process.com> >Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 16:55:17 -6 >[...] >The fastest general purpose, freely available des >implementation I'm aware of is libdes. by Eric >Young. With this, I can do a set_key in 15.8 us, >and an ecb_encrypt in 95 us/block. That adds up to >about 9,000 keytests/sec (this is on a 90 MHz P5, >running NT). [...] --------------- This looked much too slow, and discussion trailed off. I was still interested, and grabbed some x386 assembler by Phil Karn, and worked on optimizing it for the Pentium. It worked well. A few months later: http://infinity.nus.edu.sg/cypherpunks/dir.96.09.26-96.10.02/msg00567.html >Subject: Can we kill single DES? > From: "Peter Trei" <trei(a)process.com> > Date: Tue, 1 Oct 1996 16:27:18 -6 >[...] >Unlike many cypherpunks, I actually write code >(:-). I took Phil Karn's DES386 as a starting >point, and modified it to run effiiciently on the >Pentium. The code I've written will run 14 round >DES (all that is required for a key test app) at >254,000 crypts/sec on a 90 MHz Pentium. >[...] I had managed a better than 25x speedup. My biggest innovation was a new method of producing key schedules, which when applied for key search purposes was a hundred times faster than the canonical method [Perry doubled the speed by suggesting the use of Gray codes.] Later that month, I wrote to Jim Bidzos at RSA, suggesting a DES challenge, using my prototype's speed to demonstrate feasibility. He was interested, and the Symmetric Key Challenges were born. Soon other programmers (notably Svend Mikkelsen in Dennmark) substantially improved on my speed - by better optimization, and by clever shortcuts which allowed earlier rejection of bad keys. A major innovation was use of Eli Biham's 'bitslice' algorithm, which tested large blocks of keys in parallel. The speed of his initial implementation was doubled by the work of Matthew Kwan in Australia and Andrew Meggs, et. al. at distributed.net. By the end of the latest challenge, the fastest software search engines had speeds (in clock cycles per test) well over 100x as fast as my original 10,000 cycle/key estimate. Here's one more quote from the archives: >From: "Peter Trei" <trei(a)process.com> >Date: Fri, 7 Jun 1996 12:55:24 -6 [...] >Prediction: By the millenium, we'll have made >single DES look about as silly as 40 bit RC4 is >today. Written well before I started to think about a DES crack, this, at least, has come true. Peter Trei ptrei(a)securitydynamics.com Disclaimer: This has nothing to do with my work at my employer.

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Re: INTELLIGENT VIRUS
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Wed, 22 Jul 1998 ILovToHack(a)aol.com wrote: ... > THIS IS TO BRING OUT THE TRUTH AND INFORM THE PUBLIC ABOUT A POTINTAL THREAT ... > I was recently informed from sorces who choose to remain annomous about a viri > that uses macafe's update tool to detect when it is found then it modifys its > code and forms a new strain of the virus this pattern continues although it > has only been tested through a clone of macafees server to 100 mutations it > looks like it could be a big problem I will inform you of any more information > i learn about it Oh, this is that virus I heard about which introduces typos and makes email incoherent! That's old news. AOL users were infected with that years ago.

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PGP security?
by Ric V. Carvalho 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hello all, A friend and I have been going around about the security of PGP. I believe it to be unbreakable at this point in time. I also recall recently reading an article which stated that to break a PGP encrypted message, using today's technology, unlimited computer core availability, unlimited $$$, it would take the lifetime of 200 Suns. What is the security of PGP? How secure is it? Are there backdoors that you know of? Does the govt. possess any kind of keys capable of opening a PGP encrypted message? Thanks in advance for your time and attention. -Ric Below is a message I received today concerning what my friend believes about PGP. Does anyone know anything to substantiate this claim? *************************Message Separator******************************** Hi again ric, PGP stands for "Pretty Good Privacy" (you know that).. but it called "PRETTY GOOD" because it has several back doors for LEO and government agencies... I have a masters degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Software design... I think I know a little about computers also. While at WVU, we routinely broke PGP messages in Under 2 hours. The government can open them with their key as fast as you can open them with yours. Just a fact... since it aint bullet proof, Camoflage your messages. -War

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Re: INTELLIGENT VIRUS
by ILovToHack＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

In a message dated 7/22/98 8:40:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time, nobody(a)remailer.ch writes: << On Wed, 22 Jul 1998 ILovToHack(a)aol.com wrote: ... > THIS IS TO BRING OUT THE TRUTH AND INFORM THE PUBLIC ABOUT A POTENTIAL THREAT ... > I was recently informed from sources who choose to remain anonymous about a viri > that uses McAfee's update tool to detect when it is found then it modifies its > code and forms a new strain of the virus this pattern continues although it > has only been tested through a clone of McAfee's server to 100 mutations it > looks like it could be a big problem I will inform you of any more information > i learn about it <<Oh, this is that virus I heard about which introduces typos and makes email incoherent! That's old news. AOL users were infected with that years ago. >> This is a new version of the viri it makes your computer WIN98 or 95 shutdown every 5 minutes

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Netscape FOIA Docs
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

We offer the FOIA docs EPIC got on Netscape's presentation for export of cryptographic products which was cited in the July 20 Network World report on NSA's long, strong arm: http://jya.com/nscp-foia.htm

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NSA willfully and knowingly attempted to sabotage DOE/Sandia cryptographic projects
by bill payne 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Wednesday 7/22/98 8:39 PM Softwar Charles R. Smith follows the money trail of U.S. crypto policy. http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ 7707 Whirlaway Dr. Midlothian, VA 23112 TOLL FREE 1 - 877 - 639 - 1608 softwar(a)us.net http://www.us.net/softwar/ Smith I will send by snail mail a copy of July 6, 1998 FOIA request 951102002 response from Herbert Richardson for all investigative report authored at DOE in to my allegations that NSA willfully and knowingly attempted to sabotage DOE/ Sandia cryptographic projects. plus enclosures. I will phone later for your input on what I should do for further action. Other than appeal, of course. Some at Sandia got into a crypto battle with NSA. http://jya.com/whpfiles.htm Let's all hope for settlement before matters get WORSE. And matters are GETTING WORSE. http://www.jya.com/whp071598.htm bill

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pgp fingerprint
by Gustavo Henrique 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I've just started studying pgp and crypo and I have a doubt that maybe you can answer. Correct me if I'm wrong: the fingerprint was invented so you can check with the owner of the public key if his key is correct. Since the fingerprint is something small, you can check it over the phone or some other way. The question is: why people put their fingerprints on a mail signature ? Some one could have changed his public key and changed his message, so that fingerprint will match a wrong public key. Isn't it the same nonsense as putting the public key in an email message (without signing nor encrypting it) ? Thanks for the attention, Gustavo Henrique ============================================================= Gustavo Henrique Maultasch de Oliveira Sysadmin.com.br gustavoh(a)sysadmin.com.br http://www.sysadmin.com.br =============================================================

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by CF ASSOCIATES 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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PGP 5.0 AND 5.5.5/ RSA/DSS SECURITY
by Ric V. Carvalho 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I have a question. I have been using PGP since version 2. I recently picked up the shareware version of PGP 5.0/5.5.5 I have both. I was wondering how secure DSS is? Also, I was interested in knowing if the RSA encrytion method used in 5.0 or 5.5.5 is in anyway different from say version 2.6.3 Is it looser, more penetrable? How vulnerable are these versions compared to the older versions? Thanks in advacne for your time and cosideration. Life, Liberty, Property, -Ric -- Alpha Group Web Site Http://www.mindspring.com/~warlord1 Encryption, use it or lose it! -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: PGPfreeware 5.5.5 for non-commercial use <http://www.nai.com> mQGiBDV+3r0RBADyO4SYGfbVJwFpjZTPcECSIcc/SugI0KeJwtd+tTP1bDm51ZPI fEMffihjXlM9EyuoWikMMs2CFy6+GFZUW3bHWMLoigYIxaRkqWcekDX3mLDwuQgc kwOpj2jEEh4TRMxJT5ceptgaiaupMpvE8PlnToPfSXScf4n+KHvk4wYJwQCg/6Ei we3UjLy5bCW3ZRvXQhH1LAMD/0FUgDP7f5gy4Y+qnBs8puW4whsBj68hpSAwZiju MzrsQLNmr+fQGI+4am5N7Tv/M1qXvui7450oPXZ6gdm+eVTxgFDK7B6sY41SEu9E 1MRmkJv94vSJ29hFOEOcvkzkiY9xCtdgnBbhxCv02kdQ1eMdse8c/iQLt90rWPsH Kr8vA/4lm8wAEse0+jkYABVcxUKmS3/x0hLJsRefkPs9iP3tvWbaSTkslROb8JeQ 5HShiaa9G1iZX1c+k/9H45M1gUF8ntePNuetye0glXl4PLg7biuELJiW/LLckLFq Y321Uo23ry3/jjVDcBdLSdPTxj3XPGT3Q9aYKEcdIUL41gN/d7QuUklDIFYuIENB UlZBTEhPIDA2LzEwLzk4IDxnYW5kYWxmQHdhdmVybHkubmV0PokASwQQEQIACwUC NX7evQQLAwIBAAoJEFgdjOHM9jayHPsAnR87+QizjB9z6h1UqfqMhxMoZMVGAJ48 xFitx87SAB46VtRFbOwE7Vhs3LkCDQQ1ft7HEAgA9kJXtwh/CBdyorrWqULzBej5 UxE5T7bxbrlLOCDaAadWoxTpj0BV89AHxstDqZSt90xkhkn4DIO9ZekX1KHTUPj1 WV/cdlJPPT2N286Z4VeSWc39uK50T8X8dryDxUcwYc58yWb/Ffm7/ZFexwGq01ue jaClcjrUGvC/RgBYK+X0iP1YTknbzSC0neSRBzZrM2w4DUUdD3yIsxx8Wy2O9vPJ I8BD8KVbGI2Ou1WMuF040zT9fBdXQ6MdGGzeMyEstSr/POGxKUAYEY18hKcKctaG xAMZyAcpesqVDNmWn6vQClCbAkbTCD1mpF1Bn5x8vYlLIhkmuquiXsNV6TILOwAC Agf/Xx3jbZ0vSfL9V7t3d5DpkX7U6x4k28M4YkwGWLQS+Z9X2G1NLKbFkGltWlGl 7dt2lg9hN/YZRepuaD3Ufg4lle/vReOU7Y0/MldeEsVj8pYg9sSSrEORmUcb+zZA 3IxID7pd9wTS4X554WpODUMw57IyAht3Zp56ESaQOSwEKtymjgsG+UjBTijUIfr7 +Xd3HGQJ1CjFS+wt0wKnB+Qjv65u0moux5bOGPf5wtkRBqWLtqoVRtbf4L2CuaaP 4SNI+SI/ZoNjsGCbFwjH/KELZAFJVjHNXjhX2XVGM3Hod8IG0Cjb7v0itAdA6C2k Kj6N/4/4FrXjarqy9P4dUHqJYIkARgQYEQIABgUCNX7eyAAKCRBYHYzhzPY2smqz AJ0V1rFnJ49Dz5KibKFctlzvkH70TQCfbNY2Ns8F9qYuTT+4sNFsXsSjCgM= =Lykr -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- "To see tomorrow's PC, look at today's Macintosh." --Byte Magazine " There can be no compromise on basic principles. There can be no compromise on moral issues. There can be no compromise on matters of knowledge, of truth, of rational conviction." -Ayn Rand "The government has no source of revenue, except the taxes paid by the producers. To free itself -for a while- from the limits set by reality, the government initiates a credit con game on a scale which the private manipulator could not dream of. It borrows money from you today, which is to be repaid with money it will borrow from you day after tomorrow, and so on. This is known as "deficit financing." It is made possible by the fact that the government cuts the connection between goods and money. It issues paper money, which is used as a claim check on actually existing goods-but that money is not backed by any goods, it is not backed by gold, it is backed by nothing. It is a promissory note issued to you in exchange for your goods, to be paid by you (in the form of taxes) out of your future production." -Ayn Rand

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