December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

REQUEST: PGP Lib status
by pckizer＠tamu.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- A while back, whenever someone talked about perhaps working on libraritizing PGP themselves, the reply would be "someone's working on it," or "it will be in the next release." Anyone have the current status of this? Thanks, philip ____________________________________________________________ Philip Kizer ___ Texas A&M CIS Operating Systems Group, Unix fnord pckizer(a)tamu.edu -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a iQCVAgUBLSrSCbZspOMRmJBhAQFcsQP+JGGrou0fBnfYVOnD1PA9Zkxyq7uGNW7T nuaNgAdj7CIb8HU7oykCond9d5HC7KmZXsQRz4pEtzPWBl5fLvTe33cgfAtRtPxk PBsrDuriB6FwK6i/OdB7ac0NxIdCGCWRwrpjCWb5DfFzQN+/fmV86gHBt++t+6qz gkXI5xaftOQ= =WKcl -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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RSA Conference 1/12-1/14
by Hastings＠courier8.aero.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Here's a recent e-mail exchange, between RSA Data Security, Inc. <info(a)rsa.com> and myself, that may interest you cypherpunks: - ---------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Crypto FAQ Request Author: Hastings(a)courier8.aero.org at INTERNET Date: 1/4/94 10:31 AM My deadline for the first issue of the Agorist Quarterly is rapidly approaching. I'm writing an article about digital cash protocols for use on Internet e-mail accounts, comparing Chaum's recent work with Representative/Observer hardware versus software-only approaches like Netcash and rumors about better things from the cypherpunk list. Of course, RSA will get mentioned as one of the foundations of digital cash, along with Chaum's blind signatures, mixes, remailers, DC-nets, and etc. Your latest cryptography FAQ that I've seen is Revision 2, dated October 5, 1993. Is that the latest version? If so, I'm all set. If not, please e-mail the latest version to me here at hastings(a)courier8.aero.org. If it is only available on paper, please send a copy to me at this address: The Agorist Institute 291 S. La Cienega Blvd #749 Beverly Hills, CA 90211 If your company has any products specifically targeting paperless checks, cash, or related applications, let me know and I'll include them in the article. Thanks for your help. Kent - <hastings(a)courier8.aero.org> Ham packet radio: WA6ZFY @ N6YN.#SOCA.CA.USA.NA ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Kent: Yes, release 2 is the latest release of the FAQ. David Chaum is going to be speaking at our conference next week, and will be available for interviews. Since you're press, you get in free: will you be coming? Finally, what is the Agorist Institute? Kurt Stammberger RSADSI ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ The Agorist Institute is a non-profit educational institute that is best characterized as a libertarian think tank. It was established "on the last day of 1984 to mark the end of Orwell's nightmare future." Seminars on agorist subjects, like Austrian Economics, and Feminism And The State, have been held in Southern California. The Institute's Directorate maintains a semi-monthly presence at the Albert J. Nock Forum, and at the H.L. Mencken Supper Club, to distribute publications, and serve as speakers when appropriate. For example, I gave a speech about digital cash, "Cyber Cash: Free-Market Money Comes of Age," to three different groups at the end of September, 1993. The speech was first delivered to a World Future Society chapter in Santa Ana, the H.L. Mencken Forum in Hollywood, and to a Libertarian Party chapter in Culver City. Note: The Agorist Institute does not endorse candidates for any political party. We serve the vast libertarian movement outside the small numbers of L.P. activists. The Director presented a libertarian analysis of our current business environment at a 1993 conference held in Midlands, Michigan. The conference was called "Freedom, Trade, and Markets in a High-Tech Age." He has been invited back, to give seminars this March, 1994, along with other Institute researchers, on topics ranging from electronic publishing, to How To Sell Freedom to a Hostile Audience. Unlike the Cato Institute, which provides libertarian policy advice to Washington D.C. politicians and lobbyists, the AI's research mainly covers the gray market and black market areas we call "counter-economics." This is also the focus of other institutes, like the one associated with Peruvian writer Hernando de Soto, famous for his book, The Other Path, which documented the growth and present influence of the "informal economy" in Peru. The informal economy grew steadily in the big cities of Peru, from nothing, to controlling over 90% of what are normally considered "public" services (like bus transportation, and road construction and maintenance), all despite a succession of formal left-wing and right-wing governments. So you can see why the development of untraceable digital cash for any e-mail user would interest us. With 20 million Internet accounts throughout the world, and Internet usage doubling every year, digicash will have a profound impact on businesses, government, and consumers. The Institute studies, but does not encourage, activities that are illegal. Still, if it weren't for gun smugglers, tax cheats, and traitors, the United States would still be a British colony, and Eastern Europe would still be Communist. It is unlikely that I will be able to travel to Northern Cal. next week, (I have a real job, too!), but if you send me the date and time, I could arrange for a local person to attend the Chaum conference. I could announce it at tonight's Albert J. Nock Forum meeting, if you want me to. You might give me prices for the non-press attendees in that case. Thanks again for your prompt reply. Kent - <hastings(a)courier8.aero.org> Ham packet radio: WA6ZFY @ N6YN.#SOCA.CA.USA.NA ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Send me your fax number and I will fax you a complete comnference agenda: David's talk is on the third day. Non-press attendees are $245 each (just a break-even fee: we feed you breakfast and lunch all three days, and proceedings and hardcopies of the presentations, a various other goodies) Kurt RSADSI 415/595-8782 - -------------------------------------------------------- I suppose you could call Kurt, and tell him I sent you. The conference begins on Wednesday, January 12, 1994. Registration is at 415/595-8782. The conference is at the Hotel Sofitel January 12-14, 1994 in Redwood Shores, CA about 15 minutes south of the San Francisco International Airport. Rooms are available at the Sofitel (415/598-9000) "at a special guaranteed rate for conference attendees." - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here's a PGP public key for use at my office computer only: - -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.3a mQCNAixhYsIAAAEEANPvKYGwdSeUvJuMF1PH4sydYFiAOV3iKW+ZUle9HeTeG8xq hEJNu3MsOqsnYSeXkamsVlNR07bWipSAdSmeHJKVhARLDchN7P0n8gg65lJzZBJc ZaOo8KfCd6fF1etj8g8TD7cf7rHhOLI2QyPtNq0N2/i/W/lNPvEzOz6fx5dFAAUR tC1KLiBLZW50IEhhc3RpbmdzIDxoYXN0aW5nc0Bjb3VyaWVyOC5hZXJvLm9yZz4= =Yxil - -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Kent - <hastings(a)courier8.aero.org> Ham packet radio: WA6ZFY @ N6YN.#SOCA.CA.USA.NA -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a iQCVAgUBLSrrovEzOz6fx5dFAQGzRAP+LupdOPffenceBEzZjz50S3nL+jjHNsfK EmRpj4FfTiQfSu6HLeBTV8H9QJtQ9lJX8Q7US8nWvOkcT/6UXMWJEUL6aOFZpe8d +PDq5Z00EO7pMN6odmijfZtGZOhVF/GIscgwokhWHiCi2ZBPIXtooet/7bK0DOK6 12cGySl0WPo= =VjBf -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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One-Time Pad Available
by jpinson＠fcdarwin.org.ec 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

A Beta test version of OTP-PC is ready for release. OTP-PC is a MS DOS version of the Vernam One-time pad, an unbreakable but somewhat clumsy cipher. I have added several features to make the one-time pad easier to use. -OTP-PC can use a large pad (codebook) for multiple messages. This feature is more efficient than using multiple smaller pads. -Optional Precompression of the plain text reduces consumption of the pad, and masks the size of the original file. -The portions of the pad used each session are overwritten, both on encoding and decoding, to prevent reuse. -Encoded files have a 2-stage header. The first stage, an un- encrypted "bootstrap", automates the decode process. The second encrypted header contains more sensitive information. -A 32 bit CRC (stored in the encrypted header) verifies reconstruction of the original file. -Automatic wiping of intermediate compressed files. If anyone would like to volunteer to test OTP-PC, and give me any suggestions or bug reports, please send me a message. Please indicate your preference for UUencode, Mime Base64, BinHex, or PGP ASCII Armor. I will send you both the executable and ANSI C (Borland C++ V3.0) source code. Jim Pinson jpinson(a)fcdarwin.org.ec

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Wiping files on compressed disks.
by jpinson＠fcdarwin.org.ec 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I did a few tests on wiping compressed (Stacker) files: Sdir, the Stacker directory command, reported a 900k PKZip file had a compression ratio of 1.0:1 (no compression). I wiped the file using the same character repeatedly, and sdir reported the resultant file had a compression ratio of 15.9:1 I wiped another copy of the zip file using sets of increasing characters (0-255). After this wipe the compression ratio was 8.0:1 Lastly, I wiped the file using random characters, generated using Turboc's random() function. This time, the compression ratio was 1.0:1, the same as the original. Sounds like wiping with random characters may indeed be the way to go to avoid "slack" at the end of the file. One interesting note: When I fragmented the original zip file into 50K segments with a "chop" program, sdir reported that each segment had a compression ratio of 1.1:1, even though the original file showed no compression. When I created 10K segments, I got a compression ratio of 1.6:1 Pkzip however, was unable to compress these file segments at all. I suspect that Stacker is not really compressing these smaller files in the normal sense, but is storing them more efficiently (better sector or cluster size?). Jim Pinson

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cryptocosmology
by Brian D Williams 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Cryptocosmology: sufficently advanced communication is indistinguishable from noise. I really like this! Its kind of a corollary to Clarks (Arthur C that is) third law "Any sufficently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." I guess this means that if there are other civilizations out there, and they have Cypherpunks, and they are just a little more advanced, then the people at S.E.T.I. are wasting there time (and to beat Tim to it "our Bucks!") Brian Williams Extropian Cypherpatriot -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a iQCVAgUBLSswbtCcBnAsu2t1AQET7QP/fYzAidhb05NkSJOLNEDHLtclna47n1Im hxRYGgKZGAgkHkM1BfsCCOBNSZehhQ2H36WM6VGs/ZZDHlowrbunfBuEtEWl52Lm rchJPCnpK0Z72M+oTBtDo2V+eUdppTCaLaJ9EEvzLRCaRnpOjhTwFAtmkjKjKhNh mkE9jDlfJlk= =fvQv -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Extropians please excuse the dupe.

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automatic mail scanning software
by Matt Blaze 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I was just cleaning up my office, throwing out a bunch of vendor literature from a recent unixexpo, when a flyer for a product called "MpScan" from an outfit called "CyberSoft" caught my eye. This product, as advertised, "automatically searches outgoing email for company classified material". Aside from being configurable to do stuff like block mail to certain addresses, it also " ...uses the powerful, user-tested CVDL scanning language..." and can generate "...reports which can be used to look for unusual changes in Email usage...". A "version 2" promises "many more feaures using an AI engine". All this can be yours for only $49,000 per mail server, or $200,000 per site license. You get free upgrades until the end of 1997. -matt

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Non-techie Crypto book?
by fnerd＠smds.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Is there a good not-very-technical, but up-to-date book on crypto? An acquaintance asks. -fnerd - - cryptocosmology- sufficiently advanced communication is indistinguishable from noise - god is in the least significant bits -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a aKxB8nktcBAeQHabQP/d7yhWgpGZBIoIqII8cY9nG55HYHgvt3niQCVAgUBLMs3K ui6XaCZmKH68fOWYYySKAzPkXyfYKnOlzsIjp2tPEot1Q5A3/n54PBKrUDN9tHVz 3Ch466q9EKUuDulTU6OLsilzmRvQJn0EJhzd4pht6hSnC1R3seYNhUYhoJViCcCG sRjLQs4iVVM= =9wqs -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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ASAP'94: Call for papers
by cappello＠cs.ucsb.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Since many people withdrew for the holidays, I thought it best to resend the following Call. The Conference attracts those who design/implement special-purpose computing systems. I welcome privately mailed suggestions for either a keynote speaker or an invited speaker (we will have up to 3 invited presentations). Pete ----------------------------------------------------------- A S A P '94 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON APPLICATION-SPECIFIC ARRAY PROCESSORS 22-24 August 1994 The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco Sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society ASAP'94 is an international conference on application- specific computing systems. This conference's lineage traces back to the First International Workshop on Systolic Arrays held in Oxford, England, in July 1986, and has con- tinued through the International Conference on Application- Specific Array Processors held in Venice, Italy, in Oct. 1993. Areas for application-specific computing systems are many and varied. Some samples areas follow: CAD tools; com- putational biology, chemistry, geology, pharmacology, phy- sics, and physiology; cryptography; data base, information retrieval, and compression; electronic commerce; high- performance networks; medical equipment; robotics and prosthetics; signal and image processing. Aspects of application-specific computing systems that are of interest include, but are not limited to: - Application-specific architectures - Application-specific fault tolerance strategies - Application-specific test & evaluation strategies - CAD tools for application-specific systems - Design methodology for application-specific systems - Special-purpose systems for fundamental algorithms - Implementation methodology & rapid prototyping - Standard hardware components & software objects - Systems software: languages, compilers, operating systems The conference will present a balanced technical pro- gram covering the theory and practice of application- specific computing systems. Of particular interest are con- tributions that either achieve large performance gains with application-specific computing systems, introduce novel architectural concepts, present formal and practical methods for the specification, design and evaluation of these sys- tems, analyze technology dependencies and the integration of hardware and software components, or describe and evaluate fabricated systems. The conference will feature an opening keynote address, technical presentations, a panel discussion, and poster presentations. One of the poster sessions is reserved for on-going projects and experimental systems. INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS Please send 5 copies of your double-spaced typed manuscript (maximum 5000 words) with an abstract to a Pro- gram Co-Chair. Your submission letter should indicate which of your paper's areas are most relevant to the conference, and which author is responsible for correspondence. Your paper should be unpublished and not under review for any other conference or workshop. The Proceedings will be published by the IEEE Computer Society Press. CALENDAR OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 18 Feb. Deadline for receipt of papers. 29 Apr. Notification of authors. 24 Jun. Deadline for receipt of photo-ready paper. 22 Aug. Conference begins. GENERAL CO-CHAIRS Prof. Earl E. Swartzlander, Jr. Prof. Benjamin W. Wah e.swartzlander(a)compmail.com wah(a)manip.crhc.uiuc.edu Electrical & Computer Engineering Coordinated Science Lab. University of Texas University of Illinois Austin, TX 78712 1308 West Main Street Urbana, IL 61801 (512) 471-5923 (217) 333-3516 (512) 471-5907 (Fax) (217) 244-7175 (Fax) PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS Prof. Peter Cappello Prof. Robert M. Owens cappello(a)cs.ucsb.edu owens(a)cse.psu.edu Computer Science Computer Science & Engineering University of California Pennsylvania State Univ. Santa Barbara, CA 93106 University Park, PA 16802 (805) 893-4383 (814) 865-9505 (805) 893-8553 (Fax) (814) 865-3176 (Fax) EUROPEAN PUBLICITY CHAIR Prof. Vincenzo Piuri e-mail piuri(a)ipmel1.polimi.it Dept. of Electronics and Information Politecnico di Milano p.za L. da Vinci 32 I-20133 Milano, Italy +39-2-23993606 +39-2-23993411 (Fax) Please forward this Call to all interested parties.

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Klinton's Gestapo
by an3747＠anon.penet.fi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>From an AP story Jan 4 President Clinton commended the nation's fallen spies and their colleagues of the Central Intelligence Agency on Tuesday, saying espionage helped win the Cold War and now is needed to guard against new evils. Addressing hundreds of CIA employees on his first visit to the top-secret agency, Clinton said ``the new world remains dangerous'' as threats of terrorism, ethnic conflict and militant nationalism challenge the intelligence community. About 400 workers crowded the marble lobby of the agency's headquarters; others lined hallways, watching the president's address on TV monitors. The employees applauded several times as Clinton paid tribute to their work at a time when some critics are questioning the agency's role in the post-Cold War era. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To find out more about the anon service, send mail to help(a)anon.penet.fi. Due to the double-blind, any mail replies to this message will be anonymized, and an anonymous id will be allocated automatically. You have been warned. Please report any problems, inappropriate use etc. to admin(a)anon.penet.fi.

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cryptopolitics:
by Mike Ingle 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

cryptopolitics: Any sufficiently advanced government is indistinguishable from anarchy.

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