December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

SSZ - ISDN repairs today...
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi, As most of you are aware SSZ has been experiencing a great deal of ISDN stability issues the last 4-6 weeks (since the move to the new location). To date we have been through a cable throw from one trunk line to another which involved switching CO's. Since that throw we have seen intermittent outages lasting from a minute or so up to 15 minutes (perhaps longer but I didn't see them since logging is not always turned on). Well I get up this morning and find the ISDN exhibiting the exact same sort of intermittetent outages from last weekend, except now they ain't so intermittent. Seems the cool weather and light rain have exacerbated the issue such that we are in a nearly continous connect-disconnect cycle. We are still passing packets with no loss, beit slowly. I called SWBT and they are sending a installer out to put the line on another distinct pair as well as putting in a repeater to boost the pair-gain. Expect there to be intermittent outages of an hour or more today. If the fixes work we should be rock-solid again. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there | | be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves. | | | | -Alan Greenspan- | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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Federal Key Recovery Demonstration Project ?!
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Date: 20 Oct 1997 14:29:39 -0400 From: Mark Atwood <zot(a)ampersand.com> (by way of rah(a)shipwright.com (rah-news)) To: rah(a)shipwright.com Subject: Federal Key Recovery Demonstration Project ?! Mime-Version: 1.0 Path: thing1.leftbank.com!thing2.leftbank.com!cam-news-feed2.bbnplanet.com!cam-news-hu b1.bbnplanet.com!cam-news-feed5.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!ftp.ampersand.c om!not-for-mail Newsgroups: talk.politics.crypto Organization: Ampersand, Inc. Lines: 62 NNTP-Posting-Host: colon.ampersand.com X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.2.40/Emacs 19.31 Xref: thing1.leftbank.com talk.politics.crypto:23766 X-Newsreader: Yet Another NewsWatcher 2.3.0 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Just saw the fallowing ad on pg 42 of Federal Computer Week, Vol 11, Num 33, Oct 20, 1997. If I was closer, I would go, just to see what the "enemy" has to demonstrate. ================================================== The Government Information Technology Services Board Federal Key Recovery Demonstration Project invites you to attend A TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE Wednesday, November 15, 1997, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington DC 7.30 a. m. - 8: 00 a. m. Conference with exhibit demonstrations following from 8:00 a.m. - 5:30p.m. For details, visit out Web site: http://gits-sec.treas.gov or contact Lisa McGrady Pellegrin at (202) 293-3835 or Terry Painter at (202) 986-0200 Registration fee: $100.00 (includes breakfast, lunch) To register, please call and mail check by October 24, 1997 payable to: McPell Communications Company 1140 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Suit 606, Washington, D.C. 20036 ================================================== -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3ia Charset: noconv Comment: Processed by Mailcrypt 3.4, an Emacs/PGP interface iQCVAwUBNEui9jecHWvdAD3dAQF2uAP+OJMD/t7wFl1YiHqS+P/Dor0D5lDXOk6S 0b4fkVqeBih/gRwM0UYOxqlpxh7uyHjXyQQIsaLRUtMD3f+Rg3vPkBHubGwPq513 98upODawMD5znT/xUT5TZHeWWxlnisBrmcH308jG1zLYh4Ls1qJat75n2ldj+HWI RhdMsNvIn/Y= =VJyz -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Mark Atwood | Thank you gentlemen, you are everything we have come to zot(a)ampersand.com | expect from years of government training. -- MIB Zed --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) Philodox e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' The e$ Home Page: http://www.shipwright.com/ Ask me about FC98 in Anguilla!: <http://www.fc98.ai/>

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Freeh-style Encryption needed to fight infowar threat
by Tim May 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I just saw the principle author of the recently released report of the "Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection," interviewed on CNBC, a business program. Robert Marsh called for increased use of encyption to proect the nation's computer networks against hackers and crackers and info-terrorists. The catch? It's the FBI proposal he wants to see adopted. Personally, I think this issue, and Marsh in particular, are sleep-inducers to most people, so I don't see this as a driving force for GAK the way a building being blown up, or a child porn ring, will be. --Tim May The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^2,976,221 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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A5
by klockstone＠cix.compulink.co.uk 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The A5 code in the back of Schneier's 'Applied Cryptography' seems to have some errors in it - has anybody else had a serious play with it? Keith.

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Re: PGP, Inc.--What were they thinking?
by Phillip M. Hallam-Baker 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I should point out before starting that I now work for Verisign. This following personal opinion however and may not reflect any corporate policy that may or may not exist. I can understand the pressures on PGP to support key escrow. When I designed the Shen trust system for the Web I allowed for an escrow facility for much the same reasons that have been cited. If it was not for the unrelenting pressure from the US government to support GAK I am sure that commercial escrow would be a checkbox item. The problem is that as long as the pressure is there any step towards commercial escrow is also a step towards GAK. The problem with PGP's move is that it is the first significant break by the Internet software provider community. This will make it much easier for Netscape or Microsoft to cave in. It will also build the pressure on them. I wonder what would happen to Bills problem with the DoJ if he had a sudden change of heart. Somehow I don't see Netscape and Microsoft holding the line on GAK if PGP are happily exporting their product and grabbing market share. I really did not expect Phil Zimmerman to be the first to blink. I also don't understand it from the corporate perspective. PGP may be picking up some business in the corporate market but at the cost of alienating a significant part of the hacker community which has been his best supporter up till now. I would think his best strategy would have been to build on this customer base rather than sell it out at the first opportunity. If Phil Z. wants to get into the Enterprise market he is going to have to start speaking their language. Most companies today are looking for open standards. PGP may have been the de facto security solution three years ago but the reality today is several million copies of Comminicator and Explorer with S/MIME built in. If you are prepared to load certs manually for each person you communicate with you can even use the Web of trust model with S/MIME. Its easier if you can rely on a CA. I probably don't have to remind many people on this list that few people make security a priority although they are prepared to do so if it has little impact on them personally. I really don't want to get into a standards flamewar, the point I'm making is that this is a bigger issue in the Enterprise market than key escrow at this point. Phil claims to have an RSA license, if he wants to go after the enterprise market he can support S/MIME. Phill

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Re: puff pieces vs tough crypto issues (Re: Singapore TOILET ALERT)
by Ariel Glenn 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Kent Crispin writes: >They could wave around TIS's products (designed by noted cypherpunk >Carl Ellison, I believe), or NorTel's Entrust, just as well. Hell, in >a few months they may be able to wave around Adam Backs CDR product, >which also facilitates GAK...[deleted] sure, but PGP has a certain name recognition that appears to extend beyond the computing business community; ask your average cs student what PGP is and they'll have heard of it *and* its reputation. Ask them about Entrust and see if you get the same result. (I could do that here with my managers as a demo. :-) Now figure out what your representatives in Congress know: even less. So, PGP gets cited by Congress as an example, and the other corporations building in GAK or who have signed on to get that good export license for DES don't. Ariel Glenn ariel(a)columbia.edu

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Re: PGP, Inc.--What were they thinking?
by spencer_ante＠webmagazine.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Declan, perhaps the Big Brother vs. The Boss debate has been talked about for years in the crypto community but, as far as I can tell, it hasn't crossed over into the mainstream mediasphere. And that's partly due to the rhetoric of cyberlibertarians, who have consistently pointed their finger (justifiably most of the time) at the evil government, at the expense of seriously analyzing surveillance in the private sector. For example, how many people know what their company's security policy is? Do they read your email? How often and with what cause? I think any type of surveillance system is cause for concern--whether it originates from the government or IBM. Lastly, I think you overestimate the amount of wiggle room folks have in the labor market, which is never perfect. What happens when most of the Fortune 500 starts eavesdropping on company email? (Incidentally, I think that most working people--unlike the digerati--are not in a position to launch their own company.) It reminds me of the drug testing issue. Sure, it sucks and may even be unconstitutional, but that hasn't stopped a lot of companies from doing it. -Spencer (posting this from my the computer in my corporate cubicle) At 15:08 -0700 10/22/97, spencer_ante(a)webmagazine.com wrote: >But with this new product, I agree that they run the risk of alienating >their core user group of cypherpunks and hackers. Encryption is a very >complicated topic that doesn't lend itself well to sloganeering and >histrionics. And one major thing that needs to be pointed out: PGP's key >recovery system is *voluntary and private*--not mandatory and gov. >controlled, which is what the Feds and Louis Freeh have been pushing for. >One potential positive side effect of PGP 5.5 is that it could realign the >crypto debate and force people to consider this question: Whose back door >should netizens be more worried about: Big Brother or The Boss? Spencer, the folks on the cypherpunks list know better than perhaps anyone else that encryption is a complicated topic. I know it's tempting to search for New Things to Say about the crypto debate. I try it myself sometimes. But the question you posed about "whose backdoor should netizens be more worried about" has been debated for years and is hardly new. The short answer to it is: when Big Brother is my Boss, I have remedies. I can leave the company or pressure it to change policies. I can file a union grievance. If all else fails, I can leave the company and start my own. This is not the case when Big Brother is Louis Freeh or Janet Reno. When worldwide GAK is the rule, where else can I go? Also: governments have guns; governments have jails. They have unique coercive powers, which the law and western philosophical traditions recognize -- and try to limit. -Declan (posting this before a soccer game somewhere in virginia)

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Re: Bill Gates, the Bully Savior
by Declan McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

There was a good op-ed in the WSJ on Monday. The Politics of Envy, basically. Why everyone in Silicon Valley hates Microsoft... But some of the complaints about Microsoft come down to personal taste. The masses offend refined sensibilities when they buy Windows 95 in droves. Rein them in! Stop them from buying what they want! Don't let them get free copies of Internet Explorer. I share Lizard's distaste for Microsoft products. My Unix workstation at home has not one MSFT application on it. I have only Microsoft Word on my Duo at work, and I could get by with WordPerfect. But our dislike for their products doesn't mean that we are morally justified in restricting what the company can do. -Declan At 10:42 -0700 10/22/97, Lizard wrote: >Uhm...how do 'we all' benefit from having the same Justice Department which >defended the CDA (and which is pushing for GAK) decide for us all what is, >and is not, part of an operating system? > >These people are not qualified to make ANY judgements about computers -- I >have to assume the 'experts' they got to tell them about OS software are no >more qualified than the 'experts' they got to testify about the CDA (L-18, >anyone?). > >I have no great love for Microsoft (I don't think anyone forced to use >their crappy software does), and, emotionally, I'd like to see them get >taken down a peg -- but legally and ethically, they are not doing anything >wrong. They're just being tough competitors. Microsoft has prospered not >due to any technical brilliance on their part, but due to sheer >incompetance on the part of the rest of the industry, who have made a hobby >of underestimating Bill Gates and overestimating their own customers loyalty. > >It's a pity I'm a mind-flaying victim. If I wasn't, I could forget >principles and ideals and just say, "Microsoft Big. Microsoft Nasty. Uncle >Sam stomp Microsoft. Yay, Uncle Sam." But because I work from principle >FIRST, I have to grant Microsoft the same rights I would grant Sam's Deli >or Joe's Shoe Store, and that includes the right to offer any combination >of products or services they wish, and let the market decide to buy or not. ------------------------- Declan McCullagh Time Inc. The Netly News Network Washington Correspondent http://netlynews.com/

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Re: PGP, Inc.--What were they thinking? (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 19:57:59 -0600 > From: TruthMonger <tm(a)dev.null> > Subject: Re: PGP, Inc.--What were they thinking? > *Starts* eavesdropping? Where you been, Bubba? > When a Company has the 'right' to wiretap you, search you, and make > you piss in a jar, as well as having their own armed forces monitoring > you and patrolling your workplace, the main difference between them > and the government is that the corporation usually doesn't pretend > to allow you to vote. This is plain and simple bullshit. There are a variety of differences between a government and what they can do by general charter in a democracy and a company which operates on specific contracts. > TruthMonger ParanoiaMonger is more like it. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there | | be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves. | | | | -Alan Greenspan- | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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World-wide GAK
by Jeffrey Gold 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

For those who thought GAK was merely a local political issue, isolated to those barbarians in the USA, one that they could afford to ignore and morally refuse to address -- Quelle surprise! It's spreading: FRANCE PROPOSES KEY ENCRYPTION LAW The French government has proposed a law that would mandate a key-recovery system for all encrypted electronic documents, a move that is opposed by the business community and the European Commission. Earlier this month, the European Commission rejected the key-recovery approach to encryption, which some believe would make it easier for competitors to gain access to a company's business secrets. "I do not say this is the best system," says the chief of France's Central Service for the Security of Information Systems. "It is the least bad in trying to find a balance between national-security interests, economic interests and the protection of personal privacy." (Wall Street Journal 20 Oct 97)

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