December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: How to Destroy the Internet (was Info about Linux)
by Rich Salz 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Is /etc/utmp still world-writeable on most machines these days? Hell, even CERT put out an advisory about this years ago.

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Re: crypto email to France
by farr＠evtech.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> > Rebecca Farr said: > > Does anyone here know any details or where I might find out more about > > what, if anything, needs to be done to legally exchange encrypted email > > with our office in Paris? > > It would be great if you could post a summary of the practical > procedure, once you find out. It's nice to have (an approximation of) > the legal text, but that's usually quite removed from the actual > paperwork. > > Thanks, > Pierre. > pierre(a)shell.portal.com > Thank you, Pierre, and everyone else who has responded both privately and through the cypherpunks mailing list. I will post a summary of the procedure and any other relevant information when I (finally!) find out what that is. Thanks also for the translation of the french law you posted. Someone from France had sent me the original, and while I can read it, this will save me some work writing up a translation for our lawyer. Best wishes to all, Rebecca Farr farr(a)evtech.com

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Secure DAC?
by SINCLAIR DOUGLAS N 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I was looking through the PMI analog IC databook from 1988. Specifically, I was looking at the "DAC-08 8-bit high-speed multiplying D/A converter". The chip is interesting in that it has two outputs. One is the current corresponding to the digital value on the input lines, and the other is the current corresponding to NOT the digital values. Thus, the two currents sum to a constant. The book says: "Power consuption may be calculated as follows: Pd = (I+) (V+) + (I-) (V-). A useful feature of the DAC-08 design is that supply current is constand and independent of input logic states; this is useful in cryptographic applications and further serves to ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ reduce the size of the power supply bypass capacitors." -- Page 11-34. All typos mine. I fail to see how this would increase cryptographic potential. However, it would seem to mask the device's EMR. The application notes state that it is useful in CRT display drivers, audio encoders, &c. These are all devices that are succeptable to TEMPEST monitoring (or whatever the correct name is). If one output goes to the desired next stage (the electron gun in a CRT for example) and the other goes to a matched dummy load, it would seem that the overall EMR is constant. This approach would obliviate the need for bulky shielding, though it might not be as secure. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 iQCVAgUBLuhtmcyi36CIyUXVAQHPOgQAtfWIF40YQU+pYhYok734qzePhkDmmaaR 8WLXVB9UvZBi7psIuXRsXoKkODaQIJecQZ6UsIrEfBr1Lor+ZBe7e7fOpWiO5jkE gMC+/a62z4xOyr4ukrEsZPG4WfHLR1SSob+CFla/JjiL2Hp3+I2wgtieY7KHTn0m 13Zpr/eayLM= =F8pd -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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"Virus Alert" chain letter
by L. McCarthy 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Dear AOL Postmaster: The message below has apparently been circulating quite widely. Personally I doubt the authenticity of the claim, and strongly suspect that it's just an annoying attempt to create a chain letter. In any event, it would be handy to hear some sort of statement from AOL about this matter to stem the tide of largely unproductive speculation on various mailing lists. I'm cc:ing this to the cypherpunks list <cypherpunks(a)toad.com>, and encourage you to cc: your reply to the list. I recommend posting some sort of announcement to the comp.virus newsgroup as well. Thanks very much for your time. - -L. McCarthy <lmccarth(a)cs.umass.edu> Forwarded message: > Subj: Read this A.S.A.P.-- VIRUS (fwd) > > * WARNING * > > THere is a virus being sent on Online America by E-mail. If > you get anything called "Good Times", DO NOT READ IT OR > DOWNLOAD IT. I repeat, do not read it or download it. It is > a virus that will earase your hard drive. Please forward this > message to everyone you have an address for. It will help > them a lot. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.1 iQCVAwUBLuVdWGf7YYibNzjpAQHivQQAi8XCc4BMXVM70wDio2UZHcm7frLtmHc/ yR8ym75pKZbuN5f69MiN+OAYsV5l33TsJFIJ6Z8nEgzQwyF4a04NLfLLWNmm7CwG IX3Dc6oJhgv3xDp/o+Y8MsJyyqKRrEeXP0UcLWt/lG71dK6TSpS6TwlF38OnY/v4 ykJvT4qII2M= =3a+r -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: (Fwd) Read this, Virus info!!
by Andrew Lowenstern 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Michael K. Sanders writes: > Has anyone actually seen this 'Good Times' thing? I highly doubt > it. And seriously, an e-mail virus? Get real. and Ian Farquhar writes: > And pigs fly too. Laugh if you want, but this has been possible for years under NeXTSTEP. With it's Display PostScript system and rich text mail reader, it's easy to send a PostScript trojan horse via e-mail. As soon as the message is read, the Mail app tries to display the text and any images inside, which is probably what it should do. However, because EPS images are really just PostScript code, you can do write a PostScript program that does all sorts of nasty things, which includes reading and writing files, stick an EPS header on it, and drop it into a mail message. The recipient's mail reader will cheerfully run the received EPS image through the PS interpreter... All of the EPS trojan horses I have seen do cute, but harmless, things like melt your screen, make windows fly around, rearrange your dock, or display animation before returning things to normal, but they could just as easily erase your home directory or just about anything else. After this major security hole became public knowledge, NeXT provided for 'secure' postscript contexts (safe-DPS if you will) where some of the nastier postscript operators were disabled. Anyway, it's more than possible, even when the designers didn't originally bargain for any type of 'enabled mail.' And with the proliferation of Display PostScript based X servers and MIME mail tools, and other more advanced mail systems on other platforms, we will probably see much more of this type of thing. andrew

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Looking for Hackers' Story
by sghahn＠math1.kaist.ac.kr 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I am looking for the sources about the general aspects of the hackers. I am writing an article for a Korean journal <The Database World>. I am writing about the origins, the history, the developments, the new trends, and its impact on the industry, etc. Pla Please send me an e-mail if you know any good sources. Thanks in advance.

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Argh, apologies
by L. Todd Masco 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- My most sincere apologies: due to a Truly Heinous filesystem lossage mode, (thanks, DEC, for ultrix 4.2!) the sign/forward service cypherpunks(a)hks.net has been broken since late Wednesday and everything through it has been lost. I just got back from DC/MD/VA and corrected the problem. I've modified things so that this will not happen again (at worst, signing and forwarding will be delayed until the queue is manually run). Again, I very much apologize for this. - -- Todd Masco | It's sometimes difficult to be too loud about your cactus(a)hks.net | enumerated rights when you're busy exercising your cactus(a)bb.com | unenumerated rights. - --- [This message has been signed by an auto-signing service. A valid signature means only that it has been received at the address corresponding to the signature and forwarded.] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Gratis auto-signing service iQBFAwUBLumIeyoZzwIn1bdtAQFU6AGAu3BVYAsmo+8+mVRRhm5i4rPijBDOjUC0 b00JXC27ejVCzr2ZGis1f1pbwH+/9bDJ =xfn3 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Good times virus (ANSI BOMB?)
by adam.philipp＠ties.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- >On Dec 7, 1:04am, ADAM GERSTEIN, _THE_ MACGURU wrote: >> Need I remind you of a certain Robert T. Morris? Does the "Internet Worm" >mean >> anything to you? Sure, it wasn't actual email, but it did use email and other >> means of transport to cripple the net in a matter of hours. > >The Internet Worm used the sendmail DEBUG mode to execute commands on >a remote system. It did not propogate itself via email messages, which was >what the original (ridiculous) warning claimed. > >I can't feel a lot of sympathy for people who took this announcement >seriously. Such stupidity reaps its own rewards. Although the concept of "text viruses" seems a bit far fetched to some people, there these lovely toys known as ANSI bombs. Essentially they work in a similar method to the some techniques used in the sendmail bug, but they are MS-DOS specific, they will use embedded ANSI codes to run programs as the files is viewed... anyone know what will happen if deltree /XXX (where XXX represents an unpublished string of characters) is run from the root directory of a DOS hard disk? Its gone, quickly. Sure the files can be undeleted, but undeleting a whole disk is tricky business... Maybe Good Times is a hoax, but ANSI bombs exist and using a DOS ANSI text viewer will surely be a foolish thing to do on any downloaded text file... If anyone feels the need for proof I collected a few a while back, but really don't see the need to post them...heh heh. Adam Philipp PS: Please no comments about superiority of MACs or LINUX boxs because they are immune to ANSI boms...that ought to be clear enough... - -- PGP Key available on the keyservers. Encrypted E-mail welcome. SUB ROSA: Confidential, secret, not for publication. -Black's Law Dictionary GJ/CS d H S:+ g? p? au+ a- w+ v++ c++ UL+ UU+ US+ P+ 3 E N++ k- W++ M-- V po- Y++ t++ 5+ jx R G' tv+ b+++ D++ B--- E+++ u** h-- f++ r+ n+ y++-- - --- [This message has been signed by an auto-signing service. A valid signature means only that it has been received at the address corresponding to the signature and forwarded.] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Gratis auto-signing service iQBFAwUBLuVnPSoZzwIn1bdtAQEjeAF+Pi65kg9SMBZ1bzO5gJBsumi5x2vJFgqC o0hc3bMaqLYb5WY/jlaAtWURtzXzOUc6 =/53s -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Encrypted Credit Card Numbers For Transmission....
by Hal 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: "L. McCarthy" <lmccarth(a)ducie.cs.umass.edu> > Incidentally, I just tried to get into HotWired using the "cypherpunks"/ > "cypherpunks" combo I recommended to Amanda earlier this evening. It didn't > work. I'm just about to re-register cypherpunks on it, so don't be surprised > to see a verification key sent to the list soon. I'll summarize to the list > once the new membership seems ready to go. It was "cypherpunk"/"cypherpunk", no "s". But that's OK, it doesn't hurt to have both. Hal

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expendable computer sites
by Pierre Uszynski 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Related to our earlier discussions about expendable computer sites: A quote from the article: The Ghost Board, by Autolycus, in 2600, v10, n3, autumn 1994, p11 "For a short period of time in the early 90's, one Ghost Board pioneer abandonned an AT (he'd purchased it for $40 at the Goodwill) on the roof of a rural supermarket. The AT was water-protected and hardwired into the store's power grid and the 2400 modem was spliced into the store's phone lines. This system operated for almost five months before it was (apparently) detected and shut down." (The rest of the article is anecdotes about hiding BBS's inside other BBS's.) Pierre. pierre(a)shell.portal.com

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