December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

RSA key generation in 13 lines of Perl
by Steve Reid 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I've completed my Perl/dc RSA key generation program. The compacted 13-line version is below. A commented version can be found at http://www.edmweb.com/steve/rsagen.txt #!/usr/local/bin/perl $k=768;$e=sprintf'%X',65537;print"Please enter a LOT of random junk.\n" ;$a=<STDIN>;print"Working. This may take a while.\n";for(1..(length($a)- 1)){$b[$_&31]^=unpack('C',substr($a,$_,1));$b[$_&31]=(($b[$_&31]<<5)|($b [$_&31]>>3))&255;}for(0..255){$c[$_]=$_;}$a=$d=$f=0;for(0..255){$a=($a+ $c[$_]+$b[$a&31])&255;($c[$_],$c[$a])=($c[$a],$c[$_]);}open(F,'|dc'); select F;print"16dio[$e+]sa";for(1..50){for(1..$k/32){printf'%02X',&g;} print"Sr";}for(1,2){printf'%02X',&g|128;for(2..$k/16){printf'%02X',&g;} print"d$e%-2+d2%0=aSP";}print"[d2%SA2/d0<X+d*LA1=ZlP%0]sX[lR*]sZ[1+Q]sQ[ la1+sa0sc]sA[lAxlb1+sb]sB[ld1+sdLrddSssR1lP1-2/lXx+1+lP%99scd0=A2=Bclcla +32>C]sC[LsSrld1-dsd0<D]sD[le1+se0ddsasbsdlCxlDxlP2 $e*+sPlc99=Elb32=ElP 2 $e*-led1>QQ]sE_1selExsq_1seLPlExsp[p=]Plpp[q=]Plqp[n=]P*p[e=]P$e p1-lp 1-lq1-**1+$e/[d=]Pp\n";close(F);sub g{$d=($d+1)&255;$f=($f+$c[$d])&255;( $c[$d],$c[$f])=($c[$f],$c[$d]);return($c[($c[$d]+$c[$f])&255]);} I'm sure this can be compacted further. I haven't put a lot of work into compacting it; I really just want to get it out. Run the program, type in a LOT of random gibberish (several lines at least) and press enter. Then wait. Eventually it will output your p, q, n, e and d in hexadecimal. p and q: Prime numbers, congruent to 2 mod e. They can usually be discarded, but they should never be revealed. n: Your public modulus e: Your public encryption exponent (usually 10001 hex) d: Your private decryption exponent By default the program generates a 768-bit public modulus and a public exponent of 10001 hex (65537 decimal). These can be changed by adjusting the numbers in the first line. A 1024-bit modulus would be better, but for some reason generation takes a LOT longer than a 768-bit modulus. Fortunately key generation doesn't need to be done very often. Timings on a 100 MHz Pentium running FreeBSD: Size of n Time 512-bit: 4-5 minutes 768-bit: 8-9 minutes 1024-bit: 35-80 minutes (ack!) I've had some difficulty generating 1024-bit keys, but it seems to be working now. Let me know if you see any problems generating large keys other than the obvious problem with the time spent. Disclaimer: This program seems to work, but your milage may vary. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3ia Charset: noconv iQEVAwUBMqID5dtVWdufMXJpAQE14AgApqOI2MMPe0V74cKI0vc3bDw8hfDW723c QKqVleH0MTIv4F792bf7ItekM81RbQiaB+AhSigFFFb679ZgdCV7XpPOwhkE3SD4 vJy1xU4HdZ6TbSrfzzZn8Peqd5K5zZdY7CpXbxW30TZWFNX5lqdDAAbvM77h36QC h/jwK1nWMzrTDupbhBwemkpZKaFmk5uAms5Y94Ckezh66+sOcWmvf7smyn8RJg4q zad6OVrclso22NBp/Pa0nf2+IdgFnhEfHgHxsI0t+awSokfr6WlZ8WAScxv40kJO KfcdBX1DXg4spl8kXgoQOrrA3VIUJKWXFfpnTt2nAKr/P4XfbpyFQw== =CY5F -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: denial of service and government rights
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 09:25 PM 11/30/96 -0500, Tired.Fighter(a)dhp.com wrote: >On 30 Nov 96 at 13:10, Black Unicorn wrote: > >> On Fri, 29 Nov 1996, Greg Broiles wrote: > >> [...] >> >> > I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be true for a >> > computer. Fed.Rul.Crim.Pro. 41(b)(1) allows the seizure >> > (but seizure is not forfeiture) of "property that >> > constitutes evidence of the commission of a >> > criminal offense". >> >> It is true of computers. >> Take the case of Ripco (the Chicago BBS raided in the >> SunDevil raids back when). >> >> I don't think "Dr. Ripco" has yet gotten his equipment >> back. I don't know for sure, but what I do know is >> that 5 years after the raid, he still had certainly >> not gotten anything back. Unicorn has a long history of reciting government abuses, but then failing to provide any sort of answer to them. My solution (AP: "Assassination Politics") would make such abuse fatal. Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Re: IPG Algorith Broken!
by paul＠fatmans.demon.co.uk 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Some of these bullies, like Paul Bradley, realize that they don't know > the meanings of the words they use. Paul Bradley not only posts nonsense > about brute force attacks on OTP, but also harrasses anyone who exposes > his utter ignorance, in en effort to intimidate them into shutting up. You don`t seem to realise that not only is my reputation unnafected by your worthless drivel about "brute force attacks on one time pads", which everyone else apart from you and Don immediately accepted as a simple misunderstanding of the topic of the message (I was talking about stream ciphers), but I am finding it rather amusing to watch the level of your rants deteriorate to the point where you now label anyone who actually posts about cryptography on this list as a "k00l hAcKiNg D00d" who knows nothing of what he is talking about. And as for harrasing people to shut up if you had been watching the traffic on the list you would have noticed that I disagreed with John over throwing you off the list. I simply wonder if the reason you appear to be so calm offline but a foaming at the mouth lunatic online is that you are scared someone is going to give you the good kicking you so rightly deserve. > "Cypherpunks'" opinion of any proposed new cryptosystem is worthless and > irrelevant. And I suppose the opinion of a man who cannot control his urges to post rants about "sovok jews" and armenian refugees is of great value to the learned and worthy??? Datacomms Technologies web authoring and data security Paul Bradley, Paul(a)fatmans.demon.co.uk Paul(a)crypto.uk.eu.org, Paul(a)cryptography.uk.eu.org Http://www.cryptography.home.ml.org/ Email for PGP public key, ID: 5BBFAEB1 "Don`t forget to mount a scratch monkey"

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Re: Strong-crypto smart cards in Singapore and Germany
by pgut001＠cs.auckland.ac.nz 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

whgiii(a)amaranth.com ("William H. Geiger III") writes: ><sigh> Big Brother comming to a bank near you. > >Does anyone understand the implications of a society moving to an >electroinc cash based system?? > >All trasactions will be recorded, moitored, tracked & analysed. This is >not just the government that one has to worry about but corporations also. Actually the German system contains some fairly elaborate safeguards to make it pretty challenging to automatically track transactions (Germans have historical reasons for being uneasy about government monitoring). However given other German laws like the Fernmeldeanlagenueberwachungsverordnung (yes, that's one word), which make the CALEA look like a picnic, I'm not sure how long these safeguards will remain in place. Given that the standard has been created by a collaboration of all German banks, who are big enough to tell the government to take a hike if they demand access to the data, it may be safe (certainly the people involved in the project that I've spoken to are confident that they can keep the data private, however I'm not so sure how it'll work out in the long run). As for the Singapore solution, the Singpore government knows whats best for you, so it isn't any of your business to question their judgement. Anyone thinking otherwise gets 25 strokes of the rattan. Peter.

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Re: Phrack, where can i find it?
by Lyghte 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>where can i find latest (and old) phrack issues? > You can browse the old ones online at the phrack homepage (http://freeside.com/phrack.html) _\ /_ / \ __ ___ __ | \ / | _ |_| | |_ THE |__ | |__| | | | |__ "It may roundly be asserted that human ingenuity cannot concoct a cipher which human ingenuity cannot resolve." Edgar Allan Poe

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pseudonymous servers
by Bovine Remailer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Which pseudonymous servers are currently active?

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Re: A quick discussion of Mersenne Numbers
by Scottauge＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

In a message dated 96-12-01 16:17:01 EST, you write: > On Sun, 1 Dec 1996 Scottauge(a)aol.com wrote: > > > I wake of the latest find announcement, some people maybe wondering what > the > > heck is this?!! > > > > A mercenne number is of the type: > > > > M(p) = 2**p -1 results in a prime when p is a prime. > > > > Hopefully this will lead the way to see the pattern of prime numbers and > > being able to compute prime numbers in a far more efficient manner (after > all > > a function that when given a prime number results in a prime number would > be > > quite a kicker now wouldn't it!) > > It doesn't. If q is a Mercenne prime, then p is prime if q = 2^p-1. It > doesn't work the other way around. If it did, then it would be very easy to > find out if a number is a Mercenne prime: just add 1 and find the base 2 > logarithm and if the result is prime, then the original number is prime. It' > s > much more difficult than that. It would also be possible to find an > infinite > number of Mercenne primes using a deterministic algorithm. > > > Mark I agree, my discussion was toooooo quick and the statement: > > M(p) = 2**p -1 results in a prime when p is a prime. is misleading. I was thinking the second paragraph when I was writing the statement statement above. A case of the mind working faster than the fingers?

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Re: denial of service and government rights
by Lucky Green 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 05:24 PM 12/1/96 -0800, Dale Thorn wrote: >So what you're saying is I (or we) can testify in front of Congress on >essentially any topic, telling a blatant lie (that we know is false, and >which they will subsequently prove is false), and totally get away with >it. You and I can do that, is that what you're saying? You and I can't. The government can. It is one thing to commit a crime (if a crime has even been committed in the case in question). It is another thing to find somebody willing to prosecute it. In today's day and age, the Constitution exists for historical purposes only. Much of it has long been abolished by the courts. The remainder is being mostly ignored. The "Kein Kläger, kein Richter" principle makes it irrelevant if doing so is illegal. A favorite saying of 2nd Amendment supporters is: "Which part of 'shall not be infringed' don't you understand?" If society doesn't care that the Constitution is being violated, the violations will continue. And society couldn't care less. -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred Make your mark in the history of mathematics. Use the spare cycles of your PC/PPC/UNIX box to help find a new prime. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/justforfun/prime.htm

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RE: Secure Memory Deletion
by John Fricker 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Seems to me that the chip itself hardly a worry. memset() does the trick for the memory locations you are aware of. Any electrical or molecular level residues would be terribly difficult to sort out. The OS provides ample opportunities for unknowns though. ie, Is there some structure in memory that has the data from the user interface object used to collect the passphrase? Is there a keyboard buffer storing the last several (dozen? hundred?) keystrokes? Can 100% security be achieved at all with our current OS's? >Mark Rosen (mrosen(a)peganet.com) said something about Secure Memory Deletion on or about 12/1/96 4:49 PM > Does anyone know any papers on secure deletion of things from >memory? That >is one thing that most people are oblivious to, though, if a program leaves >your unencrypted passkey laying in memory or a buffer of your plaintext, >then all the encryption in the world won't help. Should I overwrite the 32 >times specified for hard drives, or are RAM chips easier to clear? Thanks. > >End of message --j ----------------------------------- | John Fricker (jfricker(a)vertexgroup.com) | -random notes- | My PGP public key is available by sending me mail with subject "send pgp key". | www.Program.com is a good programmer web site. -----------------------------------

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The Good Doctor (Dobb that is) on DSNT
by John Fricker 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The January 1997 Dr. Dobb's Journal has a somewhat interesting interview with Eva Bozoki, Chief Scientist for Digital Secured Networks which more about scientific research in the old USSR as it does about VPN's and encryption. Some notable quotes from Ms. Bozoki: "If people understand our competence, they will trust the product." "I don't like key escrow because I don't trust anybody." "We add a twist by encrypting the public key exchange." Seems like the interviewer had a nice chat with Ms. Bozoki but it is a shame that he did not press her on more technical details. It is after all a programmer's journal. I find the first two quotes interesting in that it would appear that Ms. Bozoki would not purchase the product she is creating! In order to establish trust in an encryption product more is required than simply agreeing that the company is competent. Competence does not imply trustworthiness. Trust can be established through review and examination of the innards, algo's and source code. A quick read of www.dsnt.com does not reveal any additional information on the crypto used (other than it being a 512 byte public key algo using Diffie-Hellman key exchange). Yet it would seem that DSNT has painted themselves into a corner as revealing their architecture would make encrypting the public keys ineffective. The interviewer also failed to press Ms. Bozoki for a position regarding key escrow. She states that she does not like key escrow but she does say (when discussing how security is being retrofitted into TCP/IP) "So you have to make sure that certain secrets don't go out and that you can legally wiretap certain conversations in a situation which wasn't designed for that." And also she mentions "the need for a government to defend its country". So does DSNT's products support wiretapping out of the box? --j ----------------------------------- | John Fricker (jfricker(a)vertexgroup.com) | -random notes- | My PGP public key is available by sending me mail with subject "send pgp key". | www.Program.com is a good programmer web site. -----------------------------------

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