December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

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by Jeff Gostin 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

"Perry E. Metzger" <perry(a)imsi.com> writes: > algorithm that factors numbers or even just breaks RSA in O(log(n)) > time or less (where n is the length of the number being factored or > the public key). I'd offer more, but it would be cruel. If you don't > know what the notation O(f(n)) means, please don't come back asking. Well, I don't know what it means. If you'd care to tell me, even in mail, I'd like to know. I've been following this thread with interest, but I don't pretend to follow this X(f(y)) notation all the time. I understand that it means we are applying function X to the result of f(y)... Anyone who's passed Trig or Elem. Functions does. I don't understand what function O(x) represents. --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: Prime magnitude and keys...a ?
by Jim choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> > If you can get the sign of the difference between RSA(your number) and > RSA(unknown key), then you can discover (unknown key) in log n time. > That implies, due to the nature of RSA, that you can factor in log n > time using whatever algorithm it is that makes the determination of > the sign of the difference. No, again it will allow you to find the secret key, it will not provide any information about the factors of that number. It might be used for that but as you have pointed out, it takes a long time. If I can take a cypher-text and look at the periodicity of the mod function when several false keys are provided I can narrow down the guess through a binary search. I am going up, not down (ie finding the factors which must be smaller than n). I am looking for n, not its *@$^%# factors. You are asking the wrong question. I am asking, since I can't factor the keys is there some periodicity in the mod function that I can attack.

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(None)
by Jeff Gostin 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Dave Otto <dave(a)marvin.jta.edd.ca.gov> writes: > ! While they are aware that software for secure encryption is > ! available from non-US, they are making a best effort to prevent > ! a standard from emerging, while hoping that some escrowed > ! encryption scheme will gain acceptance. This is a critically dangerous statement of intent. What we are seeing here the the US government running scared when they consider the fact that they won't be able to pry into our lives without asking permission (IE: for our keys) first. Now it all makes sense. If ever they've sealed their own fate, now is the most damnable time. If only they realized how zealously we will guard our encryption rights before saying something so incriminating, perhaps they would have come up with a better excuse. I don't get active in many things, but, alas, my time of complacency is over. If the pen is mightier than the sword, perhaps a Bic will level Congress. --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: Another Cellular Victim
by Jef Poskanzer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>They report that he was tracked via his cellphone use. What this country >needs is a good anonymous cellphone net. Really. And what's more: when the Colombian drug lord was located via his cellular use, the story was that the NSA had to bring special equipment into the country to do the tracking. That doesn't wash here. It looks like at least some switches in Amerika are already equipped to read out locations for individual phones. They probably don't even have to wait for you to make a call - they can call you, or even use the phone's automatic pings. --- Jef

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Re: Crypto export legislation defeated in House Intelligence Cmte.
by gtoal＠an-teallach.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

: I recommend that we give up the battle and go fight the real war. We are : totally outgunned if we stick to this approach and are wasting our time. : What the entire net community should do is focus it's energies on chopping : NSA's budget, period. That's what these guys really care about after all. There was quite an interesting quotation in one of the British papers recently from Ames, the CIA spy who was caught - he said that the intelligence infrastructure in the US was a self-serving bureaucracy. I forget the exact wording, but it was the sort of thing you'd imagine the head of any big organisation like that would want to say but was never in a position to be able to - of course, now Ames can say what he likes :-) I wonder if he's available for interviews by the Cypherpunk Press ;-) G

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Re: Perry vs. the Math Teacher
by Jeff Gostin 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

perry(a)imsi.com (Perry E. Metzger) writes: > the result applicable to factoring, I feel rather sad. Its depressing > commentary on what cypherpunks has become. Go figger. It's become a haven of learning, where the more learned teach those willing to learn, instead of the self-congratulatory elitist squad I was told it once was. That's why *I'm* here, to learn from those who know more than I do. I am VERY willing to learn what others have to teach. They know more than I do, and there's some very knowledgeable people here. I've recieved some very nice replies to my earlier question about what O(f(x)) meant, including one from you, Mike McNally, Bill O'Hanlon, and Douglas Sinclair (thanx guys!! If anyone else sent anything, I haven't recieved it yet, but you do have my thanx, in advance!). This only proves that there are people who are only too willing to teach if someone shows they are willing to listen, and learn. The moral of the story is this: Someone had to teach you at one time, didn't they Perry? One is well-advised to remember, and be humbled by, the fact that they weren't born knowing everything. Flames in e-mail, please. Constructive replies always welcome. --Jeff -- +------------------------------------+---------------------------------------+ | Jeff Gostin jgostin(a)eternal.pha.pa.us | +------------------------------------+---------------------------------------+ | "The risk... is that our vision is too small, our dreams not large enough" | | -Jim Seymour | +------------------------------------+---------------------------------------+

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Problems with Definitions in Escrow
by blancw＠pylon.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Responding to msg by James A. Donald: If you *define* reputations to be something formal and explicit, and say that the system will work because people guard their reputations, then reputations become something that can be most efficiently granted and withdrawn by some centralized authority. . . . . . . . . . . . I am complaining about dangerous carelessness in your use and definition of words. Your use of the word reputation is as fraught with frightful consequences as Marx's use of the word "value". ................................................................. .... Perhaps when you decry the establishment of 'definitions' you mean that a concept should not be circumbscribed tightly within the boundaries of a pre-determined range of meaning? I thought what Hal intended by 'examining & defining' a term, was simply to assess what it means to those who are seeking to apply it, rather than intending to confine it in advance of any real knowledge of its actual reference. Blanc

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SLACKER JOB
by ss 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT Reply to: sandfort(a)crl.com 401 Merrydale Road * San Rafael, CA 94903 * USA * +1 415 472 6525 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C'punks, I sent out the following message just before the Second Great Cypherpunks List Blackout. Probably, there are many of you who never saw it. Sorry for the repetition for some of you, but this is a great opportunity for the right folks. * * * Would you and your SO like a great slacker job in the San Francisco Bay Area? Yes? Well, have I got a deal for you! I will be leaving for Hongkong (by way of Madison, Wisc., it would now appear) in the latter part of July. I'm looking for someone to take over my slacker job managing a self-storage facility in lovely Marin county. Here's the deal: WHAT YOU GET -- Two bedroom, two bath, 1200 sq.ft. house (rent free) with large living and dining rooms, porch, covered carport, big backyard and garden, in a fenced compound. -- Washer and dryer, dishwasher, disposal, gas range and electric oven. -- Free electricity(!), water and garbage pick-up, plus $25/mo. towards gas. -- All of the above, is within a short walking distance of shopping centers, supermarkets, restaurants, parks, government offices and public transportation. WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO -- Be on site from 8:00am to 6:00pm, M-F. -- Walk the self-storage yard several times per day. -- Answer the phone and give information about storage (averages less than 10 calls per day). -- Assist potential and current customers (averages about once per day). -- Misc. duties (averages less than 20 minutes per day). Most of the time in this position is your own. You can read, watch TV, eat, work on your computer--whatever. Of course because there is no pay, you much have another source of income. This could mean having an SO with an outside job, you doing shift work, telecommuting or running your own at-home business. In addition, this is a stealth position. It has an extremely low profile if you manage things properly. If you're interested, call, write or e-mail me at the address at the top of this message. S a n d y S a n d f o r t Reply to: sandfort(a)crl.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Re: Beware of Roman Catholic Corruption
by jamiel＠sybase.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:58 AM 06/21/94 -0700, Gary Edstrom wrote: >> Don't let them lure you into following them into Hell. The 1611 >> Authorized (King James) Version of the Holy Bible is the only book >> that God ever wrote. All other alleged translations are frauds >> written by the Devil himself. > >So what version of the scriptures did Jesus quote from? > >Gary B. Edstrom The ones that were printed with the red letters, silly. That's how he knew what his lines were. :) -j

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Re: Beware of Roman Catholic Corruption
by gbe＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Don't let them lure you into following them into Hell. The 1611 > Authorized (King James) Version of the Holy Bible is the only book > that God ever wrote. All other alleged translations are frauds > written by the Devil himself. So what version of the scriptures did Jesus quote from? Gary B. Edstrom | Sequoia Software | PGP fingerprint: Internet: gbe(a)netcom.com | Programming Services | 2F F6 1B 28 6E A6 09 6C CompuServe: 72677,564 | P.O. Box 9573 | B0 EA 9E 4C C4 C6 7D 46 Fax: 1-818-247-6046 | Glendale, CA 91226 | Key available via finger What is PGP? Subscribe to alt.security.pgp and find out! -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 iQCVAgUBLgaIwkHZYsvlkKnJAQHfJAP+NBbcCDGzobs2IKuBCro9+Cka9VtMrbqi NQY1SZRv6ZMUb7UwF5dd6J0rPJCwjzs9bLNWDxG643BHww0LWlc8+jfw0N6eZX7U jYeso6+jKwSA3+sVfygyI5WTOUe5dUqFQfzHuxDFzZrgej3eejLw16WiwuCRpViL sk345Pw5dQQ= =SlzJ -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Gary B. Edstrom | Sequoia Software | PGP fingerprint: Internet: gbe(a)netcom.com | Programming Services | 2F F6 1B 28 6E A6 09 6C CompuServe: 72677,564 | P.O. Box 9573 | B0 EA 9E 4C C4 C6 7D 46 Fax: 1-818-247-6046 | Glendale, CA 91226 | Key available via finger What is PGP? Subscribe to alt.security.pgp and find out!

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