December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

(fwd) Re: NSA Helped Yeltsin Foil 1991 Coup
by tcmay＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

An interesting article by Seymour Hersh is cited below. It says that NSA had transcripts of the 1991 coup plotters (and presumably other Russian leaders) and that Bush passed these on to Yeltsin to warn him. If true, a serious compromise of NSA's listening capabilities. Also note the reference to how the coup plotters should've been using PGP. (Prediction: something along these lines will be added to the list of reasons why PGP is bad and Clipper is good..."We need to have Escrowed Coup Plotter Encryption so that we can examine the messages of coup plotters.") --Tim May From: guym@gamma1 (Guy MacArthur) Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk Subject: Re: NSA Helped Yeltsin Foil 1991 Coup Date: 20 May 1994 01:45:54 GMT Organization: University of Arizona, CCIT Lines: 47 Distribution: world Message-ID: <2rh4oi$p2s(a)news.CCIT.Arizona.EDU> ben(a)il.us.swissbank.com (Ben Galewsky) writes: : There is an article on the front page of today's "Independent", a British : daily newspaper. The headline is "US Agents Helped Yeltsin Break Coup". : : It describes how Bush passed on transcripts of encrypted conversations : between the leaders of 1991's failed Soviet coup to Boris Yeltsin. : Apparently the NSA was not too happy that Bush broke their cover and : acknowledged that they could read all of the Soviet military's codes. : : The article reads: : "As soon as the coup started on 18 August, 1991, the NSA, : America's largest intelligence organization was able to decrypt : conversations between the coup's two leaders, Vladimir Kryuchkov, : chairman of the KGB, and Dmitri Yazov, the Defense minister, : taking place over a supposedly secure landline." : : It continues: : "The NSA's ability to decrypt what Soviet military commanders : -- and their successors -- said over their communications system : is probably the most significant intelligence achievement since : Britain broke Germany's Enigma codes during the second world : war." : : Bush decided to pass this info on to Yeltsin. It enabled him to know who : in the military supported the coup and who was against it. : : It finishes by saying that as a result of letting the russians know their : code has been broken "the US intelligence community may no longer be in a : position to have advance warning of momentous events inside Russia -- as : it had months before the coup that brought Yeltsin to power". : : This information came from Seymour Hersh. It will appear in a forthcoming : issue of "Atlantic Monthly" : : I guess the KGB should have been using something secure, like PGP, since : the NSA can't possibly break that ;-) : : At least we can be comforted that the NSA is not allowed to monitor the : domestic traffic. ;-) ;-) : : : Ben Galewsky : ----------------------------------------------------------- : My employer doesn't know I read this group. : They do know I'm posting, though. "Hi Neil!" : ----------------------------------------------------------- :

7 14

Ecash w/ offshore bank clearing house
by Gary Jeffers 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

ECASH WITH OFFSHORE BANK CLEARING HOUSE Well Chaum's ecash doesn't seem to be quite the Holy Grail that it looked like. It needs a clearing house to be effective. Would an off- shore bank acting as a clearing house for Chaum's ecash be practical? Could that be a State Killer? Yours Truly, Gary Jeffers PUSH EM BACK! PUSH EM BACK! WWWAAAYYY BBBAAACCCKK! BBBEEEAAATTTT STATE!

3 2

REMAILER at desert.hacktic.nl at CLOSING DOWN AT JUNE 1st
by kafka＠desert.hacktic.nl 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

THE REMAILER AT DESERT.HACKTIC.NL CLOSES DOWN JUNE 1ST 1994 The remailer at desert.hacktic.nl will close down due to my departure to Spain for the summer. Please use the remailer remail(a)vox.hacktic.nl or remailer(a)jpunix.com. Mail to the remailer received after June 10 will bounce. Patrick

1 0

New MacPGP?
by Black Unicorn 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Someone posted an announcement for a new version of MacPGP on this list.... Is it available? Where? -uni- (Dark) -- 073BB885A786F666 nemo repente fuit turpissimus - potestas scientiae in usu est 6E6D4506F6EDBC17 quaere verum ad infinitum, loquitur sub rosa - wichtig!

1 0

From: Anonymous <nowhere@bsu-cs>
by jpp＠jpplap.markv.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

If you tried to send me a message (or two) anonymously via the remailer Anonymous <nowhere(a)bsu-cs.bsu.edu>, please try again -- the body of the messages were empty. j'

1 0

Re: Unicorn vs....
by lefty＠apple.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>In the discussions of what is or is not an "anarchist", aside from the >obvious "Anarchist Cookbook" (couldn't resist), is there an official >Anarchist codicil? What makes one an official anarchist? You have to register. When you fill out the form to register to vote, you get a bunch of choices for "Party Affiliation", i.e. Democrat, Republican, Communist, etc. Then there's a blank line if you want to use something other that the standard choices. You write in "Anarchist". In a month or so, the Board of Elections sends you back a card showing you to be a registered Anarchist. Of course, you don't get to vote in the primaries... Well, that's how it works in California, anyway. -- Lefty [gYon-Pa] (lefty(a)apple.com) C:.M:.C:., D:.O:.D:.

1 0

Quantum Computers
by kkirksey＠world.std.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I graduated a couple of years ago, and I haven't been keeping up with the academic literature in Comp Sci. very well since, so I'm kind of lost in the discussion on quantum computers and cryptography. Can anyone give me the Reader's Digest Condensed Version (TM) of the theory behind quantum computers, or maybe point me to a good journal article or two? Many thanks, Ken ============================================================================= Ken Kirksey kkirksey(a)world.std.com Mac Guru & Developer - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The path of my life is strewn with cow pats from the devil's own satanic herd! -Edmund Blackadder -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a iQCVAgUBLeYDf+sZNYlu+zuBAQF/wgP+Kbg03qEA8Gdj3k7tncTSAOy3UUE21VMT Dgg7FcAjYLNNFZxlKf1nsHKYv2fnjMGOXv9qB5yvG4g6m4nEcCpBoj/43C61nKHL mFQ3Uow8y7Qxk9YlKZXH3Mg6zPpKG9cOmdaqCvENjyq30zlsAGfq2D6ejqaZj6cT iA1OJk0hPg0= =XYS1 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

1 0

Ecash w/ offshore bank clearing house
by Gary Jeffers 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

ECASH WITH OFFSHORE BANK CLEARING HOUSE To my question "Could this be a State Killer", Perry Metzger replies that no single tool other than atomics could kill a state. Possibly, I should have stated the question as "Could Chaum's ecash with offshore banking be the straw that breaks the state camel's back?" Private guns along with electronic privacy tools such as anonymous reputations, PGP, anonymous remailers, etc. are already at large. These tools are syner- getic as well as cumulative. At some time we will hit a schelling point. Possibly, with Chaum's ecash we already have the tools. The Soviet Union is a good example of a state that was destroyed by its inability to control its economy. Viet Nam is a good example of a "Socialist" state that due to its internal problems largely allows its people make their own economic arrangements. Privacy technology does not necessarily have to destroy a state. To make the state an ineffective fool would make a happy situation. Incidentally, a new thought occurs to me. Why not one of the old ex Soviet states as an offshore bank acting as a clearing house for Chaum's ecash. A tax haven - offshore banking country with nuclear ICBM's to defend itself & its industry would be nice. :-) Yours Truly, Gary Jeffers

1 0

Re: (fwd) Re: NSA Helped Yeltsin Foil 1991 Coup
by jim＠bilbo.suite.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

: It describes how Bush passed on transcripts of encrypted conversations : between the leaders of 1991's failed Soviet coup to Boris Yeltsin. : "As soon as the coup started on 18 August, 1991, the NSA, : America's largest intelligence organization was able to decrypt : conversations between the coup's two leaders, Vladimir Kryuchkov, How does the author of the article know that the NSA *decrypted* the conversations? For all we know, the NSA learned of the coup from stratigically placed bugs or other mundane technology. Jim_Miller(a)suite.com

1 0

v2.6 for the rest of us
by Paul K. Strong 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Jeff Barber wrote: >While creating a 2.6-like version from 2.3a seems a worthy goal, this >supporting argument is flawed. The original PGP was written in the USA >and, never having received the proper export approvals, must have been >"illegally exported." Isn't Phil Zimmerman being "investigated" by a >grand jury for this even now? So, it would seem to me that a bulletin >board carrying any version of PGP holds illegally exported software (wrt >US law). How does 2.3a differ from 2.6 in this respect? Ok, you got me there! My supporting argument is indeed flawed. However, I would say that most people _regard_ v2.3a as a legal version outside the USA and so are willing to carry it on their systems; and at this time I believe nothing concrete to the contrary has been proved. Versions 2.5 and 2.6 however are obviously illegal exports, and I think that it is the fact that people think of one as legal and the other as illegal that makes the difference, and therefore we who are outside the USA need our own version to be brought up to date. I have, at this time, been informed of two separate people working on a new version that is compatible with 2.6, based on 2.3a code. Maybe everyone working on (or who know of people working on) such developments could post information regarding what exactly they are changing/upgrading/doing to 2.3a to make an 'international' v2.6. What do others think of everyone 'putting their cards on the table' to enable other knowledgeable cypherpunks to help and suggest things? Am I jumping the gun? Should we just let MIT's v2.6 reach an FTP site somewhere outside of the USA and let it slowly (and cautiously) get distributed to a small community of cypherpunks leaving the rest incompatible? All of those inside the USA, *PLEASE* get involved with this. It _is_ important! Thankyou for listening. ***************************************************************************** * Paul Strong Fidonet: 2:254/438 (weekly mail check) * * * * pauls(a)dcs.rhbnc.ac.uk Finger for PGP v2.3a public key * *****************************************************************************

3 4