December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

No Subject
by trollins＠debbie.telos.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Wed, 6 Jul 1994, Mike Markley wrote: > can't be broken in a reasonable amount of time. I'm interested in what > most of the people on this list would consider a reasonable amount of > time though. NEVER is what I consider a reasonable amount of time. I don't want my secure thoughts broken for public display in my lifetime. Or any of my children's lifetime. Or there children's lifetime. .......... -tom

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Re: MAIL: chained remailing strategy
by an104090＠anon.penet.fi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I was curious about the pros and cons of anonymous remailers holding and randomly sending outgoing mail. It seems to me that the risk of a third party determining the original sender of an anonymous piece of mail through the use of timestamps is less pressing than the risk presented by the physical storage of that mail on someone's machine for extended periods of time. Of course, with chained remailing, these risks dramatically decrease, but would I rather have the first remailer in a chain storing my mail until midnight or immediately bouncing it to another anonymous remailer? Gedeon Edwards ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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Re: Kevin Mitnik
by kentborg＠world.std.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I am under the impression that I would not like Mitnik personally, but I have never personaly met him... Would I turn him in? Well, put it this way: I would not harbor him but neither would I work very hard to figure out where he is or whether a particular "nobody" on this list be him. I see two values in him being on the lam: 1) His activities point out the need for more secure computer systems--the fact that he mostly relies on "Social Engineering" is lost on most people. 2) He is a romantic outlaw who is not a pedophile, nuclear terrorist, or murderer--his existance distracts from those totems. (Whether he actually *fits* this romantic image is beside the point, I am talking images here.) Mr. Mitnik (if you are listening): keep your sense of humor, try to be "mostly harmless", don't get caught molesting small boys--or anyone else, try to confine your public exploits to "honorable pranks"--things the man on the street will admire and not recoil from. Be wise. -kb, the Kent who keeps his nose clean -- Kent Borg +1 (617) 776-6899 kentborg(a)world.std.com kentborg(a)aol.com Proud to claim 31:15 hours of TV viewing so far in 1994!

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First Monthly Meeting July 10th
by sameer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Community ConneXion: The NEXUS-Berkeley is having its first public monthly meeting on July 10th, 12pm, the Sunday after the cypherpunks meeting. It will be upstairs at Kip's in Berkeley. It will be very informal. We'll be able to snag a table to fit all of us, I think, and from my experience at Kips on Sunday afternoons it should be quiet enough. We'll probably have to get some food so they don't kick us out. Shouldn't be a problem. Items on the agenda: (not yet formalized/finalized.. suggestions welcomed) Privacy Privacy services Privacy emphasis Community building a local discussion group forum moo Organization Need to get more organized Find someone to help with that Issue of investors? NexusBucks Scheme goals Directions: From I-80: Take the University Exit, go East on University until you reach Shattuck. Turn right onto Shattuck. 3-4 blocks south turn left onto Durant. Continue on Durant about 4-5 blocks, Kips is on the left the block before Telegraph. Find parking. (It shouldn't be very tough.. not like there will be an actual *lot*, but not tough..) Summary: Nexus-Berkeley Meeting July 10th 12pm-? (maybe 4-5?) Kips in Berkeley I'd like to make this a regular thing, to have a meeting every month the sunday after the cypherpunks meeting. -- sameer Voice: 510-841-2014 Network Administrator Pager: 510-321-1014 Community ConneXion: The NEXUS-Berkeley Dialin: 510-841-0909 http://www.c2.org (or login as "guest") sameer(a)c2.org

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Tempest: It'll Receed
by kentborg＠world.std.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The trends are in our favor. Micros are getting more complicated OS's (a Tempest attack on world.std.com is going to be a mess, I guess) making for more complicated emissions, wimpy batteries and Energy Star stickers will slowly drive down all emissions (why waste the power?), and so many appliances are now emitting from their embedded CPUs--which is another thing that will drive emissions, the FCC. But let's not get cocky: mostly we are sitting ducks for anyone who wants to build a fancy radio, it is only the trend which good. -kb -- Kent Borg +1 (617) 776-6899 kentborg(a)world.std.com kentborg(a)aol.com Proud to claim 31:15 hours of TV viewing so far in 1994!

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No Subject
by eternal!jgostin＠bts.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

for cypherpunks(a)toad.com From: Jeff Gostin<jgostin(a)eternal.pha.pa.us> Reply-To: jgostin(a)eternal.pha.pa.us Subject:Re: How long is reasonable? To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Message-ID: <940706151140E9Djgostin(a)eternal.pha.pa.us> Date: Wed, 6 Jul 1994 15:11:40 EST X-Original-Article-From: Mike Markley <mmarkley(a)microsoft.com> X-Mailer: winn v1.00a Mike Markley <mmarkley(a)microsoft.com> writes: > can't be broken in a reasonable amount of time. I'm interested in what > most of the people on this list would consider a reasonable amount of > time though. For me, "reasonable amount of time" translates into "the minimum amount of time neccessary to elapse before the information gained loses its sensitive or critical value." In other words, if I encrypted some rather embarrassing letters that I wanted to keep, but also wanted to keep safe, the "reasonable amount of time" would be as long as it takes for me to die, plus one day. If it's a "state secret", it might be 100 years. --Jeff -- ====== ====== +----------------jgostin(a)eternal.pha.pa.us----------------+ == == | The new, improved, environmentally safe, bigger, better,| == == -= | faster, hypo-allergenic, AND politically correct .sig. | ==== ====== | Now with a new fresh lemon scent! | PGP Key Available +---------------------------------------------------------+

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Re: Please post your article
by schneier＠chinet.chinet.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Bruce Schneier 730 Fair Oaks Ave Oak Park, IL 60302 (708) 524-9461 750 words IDEA - THE INTERNATIONAL DATA ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM For the past fifteen years, most of us have relied on the Data Encryption Standard, or DES, for encryption. It's a good algorithm, and very secure against the mid-1970s technology is was designed for. Advances in computing power and new discoveries in cryptanalysis have made the algorithm vulnerable. DES is no longer secure against the world's most powerful adversaries. Cryptographers are looking for alternatives to serve their needs well into the 21st century. IDEA may be the current best choice. IDEA is the International Data Encryption Algorithm, and it was invented in 1991 by James Massey and Xuejia Lai of ETH Zurich in Switzerland. An earlier variant of the algorithm was called PES: Proposed Encryption Standard. After strengthening the algorithm against differential cryptanalysis, they changed its name to IPES, for Improved Proposed Encryption Standard, and then to IDEA. The algorithm is structured along the same general lines of DES. It is an iterated block cipher, with a 64-bit block size and a 128-bit key size. "Iterated" means that the algorithm uses a simple encryption function multiple times. "Block cipher" means that the algorithm encrypts data in blocks: 64 bits of plaintext go in one end, and 64 bits of ciphertext come out the other. And the algorithm accepts a 128-bit key. This means that IDEA can be a plug-in replacement for DES, only with a longer key length. IDEA can be used in all the different modes of operation--electronic codebook, cipher block chaining, output feedback, and cipher feedback-- specified for DES in FIPS PUB 81 or ANSI X3.106. The design philosophy behind IDEA is one of "mixing operations from different algebraic groups." The operations are XOR, modular addition, and modular multiplication. All operations are based on 16-bit words, and hence are efficiently implemented in software. (DES has numerous bit twiddling operations, making it very inefficient in software.) IDEA only has eight iterations, compared with DES's 16, but each IDEA iteration can be thought of as a double DES iteration. IDEA is also faster than DES when implemented in software. IDEA's 128-bit key length over twice that of DES; its key length is even longer than triple-DES. And it is much faster than triple-DES. A brute-force attack against IDEA would have to try 2^128, or 3*10^38, possible keys. Michael Wiener's brute-force DES-cracking machine, which could find a DES key in an average of 3.5 hours would require 10^18 years to break IDEA. A machine a million times faster would still require 10^12, or one trillion, years to break IDEA. Does this mean that IDEA is secure? Is there a more efficient way to break IDEA than brute force? No one knows. IDEA is a very new algorithm. Remember that it took cryptographers fifteen years of studying DES to invent differential cryptanalysis, something that the NSA knew about all along. Who knows what tricks the NSA knows about now that allows them to break IDEA. Maybe they know none. Maybe they know something that we will discover for ourselves around the year 2006. There are no assurances in the cryptography business. Several academic groups have tried to cryptanalyze IDEA with no success. Yet. Several military intelligence agencies have tried to cryptanalyze IDEA; they're not talking about what they found. IDEA is a good-looking algorithm, but it is also a new algorithm. Ten years from now we will all consider it an amazing feat of security or an impressive failure. I would bet on the former, but recognize that it is a bet. The most widespread product that uses IDEA is PGP: Pretty Good Privacy. PGP uses IDEA in cipher feedback mode for data encryption. Several other security companies offer the algorithm as an optional alternative to DES. It is available both in software and as a custom ASIC. Details of the algorithm (with source code) can be found in: X. Lai, J. Massey, and S. Murphy, "Markov Ciphers and Differential Cryptanalysis," Advances in Cryptology-- EUROCRYPT '91 Proceedings, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1991, pp. 17-38. B. Schneier, "The IDEA Encryption Algorithm." Dr. Dobbs Journal, Dec 93, pp. 50-56. B. Schneier, Applied Cryptography, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1994. IDEA is patented in the United States (J.L. Massey and X. Lai, "Device for the Conversion of a Digital Block and the Use of Same," U.S. Patent #5,214,703, 25 May 1993) and in Europe. The patents are held by Ascom-Tech AG. There is no license fee required for noncommercial use. Commercial users interested in licensing the algorithm should contact: Dr. Peter Profos, Ascom Tech AG, Solothurn Lab, Postfach 151, 4502 Solothurn, Switzerland; telephone +41 65 242 885; facsimile +41 65 235 761.

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Detwiler's Crypto Mailing List
by Peterwheat＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I found this by doing a keyword search (cryptography) in America Online's database of mailing lists. I thought it might be of interest to the cypherpunks mailing list: CYPHERWONKS: The Development of Cyberspace List Title: CYPHERWONKS: The Development of Cyberspace List Owner or Contact: L. Detwiler, LD231782(a)longs.lance.colostate.edu To subscribe to this list, send e-mail to Majordomo(a)lists.eunet.fi; in the body of the message, type SUBSCRIBE CYPHERWONKS. To unsubscribe from this list, send e-mail to Majordomo(a)lists.eunet.fi; in the body of the message, type UNSUBSCRIBE CYPHERWONKS. Send all other list-related commands to Majordomo(a)lists.eunet.fi. For assistance, send the command HELP. Send all articles to CYPHERWONKS(a)lists.eunet.fi. Keywords: cyberspace, technology Description: The brand new cypherwonks list on Majordomo(a)lists.eunet.fi is for ambitious, energetic, can-do, hands-on individuals interested in general cutting-edge `cyberspatial development' projects such as in cryptography, digital cash, and `electronic democracy'. (A `wonk' is slang for a `meticulous detail person'.) The list is both an informal gathering place for the technically adept and also a focal point for branching off into serious project coordination. We place a premium on membership by technical professionals and try to hone our posts to accommodate the busy (who, according to the adage, are those who get all the serious work done). We are inspired by the Internet but don't see it as ideal yet and are particularly interested in cooperation, building prototypes, forging standards, and `long-term incremental evolution' in our designs and goals. We're also intensely interested in following and influencing the technological and political developments of the emerging `national cyberspatial infrastructure.' The list is not for political diatribes in the `radical libertarian' agenda, e.g. rants against all forms of government as oppressive, corrupt, or evil, or promoting the use of cryptographic technologies for subversive activities like tax evasion, black marketeering, or evading law enforcement. The list is not for discussions of how to manipulate the honest through the use of software technologies. The list is not for unconstructive negativism against other's proposals. Above all, we are interested in forging a `civilized cyberspace' out of the current `Internet wilderness'. Historical note: the list was formed as a less ornery, more moderate splinter group from the Cypherpunks by J.Helsingius (creator of the popular anon.penet.fi anonymizing service) and L.Detweiler (author of many FAQs including `Privacy & Anonymity on the Internet). Transmitted: 94-06-28 09:51:08 EDT

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No Subject
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Can anyone tell me if one can use PGP 2.6 with an online service [America Online]. From what the FAQ says, I need an actual UNIX account rather than just an E-Mail Gateway. Is this true? If not, then how do I encrypt without attaching the pgp file [which goes only to other AOL users] or without using BinHex and inserting THAT into my message body? Not all of my peers use AOl or possess BinHex.

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Re: "Cypherpunk" vs. "Cryptorebel"
by lefty＠apple.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>I like the label "cryptorebel" better than "cypherpunk". The word >"punk" just does not seem right, while "rebel" does. I do have a >certain attachment to "cypherpunk". Comments? If it weren't for nitpickers, we'd all be knee-deep in nits. -- Lefty (lefty(a)apple.com) C:.M:.C:., D:.O:.D:.

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