December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Chaining through Soda
by nobody＠shell.portal.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Could someone give me some advice on chaining? I'm thinking of bouncing > a message fisrt thru hacktic and then soda (as you can Usenet post from > there) but need some tips as i seem to have trouble getting the encryption > sequences correct. I dunno. Has anyone succeeded in doing that? I can't recall ever getting a chained and encrypted message posted through soda. Messages sent there as plaintext seem to get posted just fine. Could it be that: 1.) They wont post CHAINED Usenet bulletins, or; 2.) They are rejecting messages encrypted with PGP 2.3a rather than 2.6. Any success stories?

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Re: Position Escrow System
by wcs＠anchor.ho.att.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

But for now, the auxiliary Portable Position Escrow Devices (cellphones, to mix in the OJ thread) augment the satellite support. Under no circumstances shoudl citizen-units be permitted to put their PPEDs in moving vehicles driven by other people; fortunately, existing littering laws prevent people from tossing their cellphones into moving pickup trucks, and the forthcoming ban on Gun Transportation Devices should eliminate pickup trucks before the population as a whole notices. Meanwhile, plans to restrict citizen-units to their Position Escrow Zones unless carrying PPEDs are being evaluated, and a cost-benefit analysis versus enhancing the planned SmartCard systems will be forthcoming. ... And they think we're just working for the Post Office....

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RE: Beware of Roman Catholic Corruption
by nobody＠shell.portal.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Ralph.Stokes(a)f1611.n375.z1.fidonet.org (Ralph Stokes) wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > > Beware of the Satanic conspiracy of the WHORISH Roman Catholic Church. The > Pope and his puppets have attempted to infiltrate and subvert the > Protestant Christian church using corrupt modern translations of the Bible. > These are nothing more than religious filth that have spewed forth from the > deceitful pens of Satan-inspired men in league with the Vatican. 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. > > For further information regarding this damnable Satanic conspiracy, contact > me: > > Ralph Stokes, sysop King James Bible BBS, Millbrook, AL > Internet address: ralph.stokes(a)f1611.n375.z1.fidonet.org > Fidonet address: Ralph Stokes (1:375/1611) > BBS #: (205) 285-5948 > > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: 2.3a > > iQCVAgUBLf5XxlD7OIX0EWM5AQG1sgP/fdbLsmV6M89n/zZbW6I3Cjmup99BGaYm > YEw2oernsmnn7cOuCM9IwZkOy24ggVXIBoD2yRhuXJ7P/7aecXchV8cERZhPuDpi > 0XPTFuYeAeAIt3uV13yNAzVDYvLGNK/eWwIqjSw16IevOHLjtbw1kGS6lu9XgRFE > g5YsARSzQ5I= > =TEbX > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- It looks like Ralph Stokes has finally learned about Internet and Usenet gateways and is now spreading his prenicious religious bigotry beyond the borders of Fido-land. (He spammed several Usenet newsgroups with this malicious diatribe, too) Mr. Stokes is infamous for promulgating hatred and intolerance on certain religious echoes on Fidonet. He is one of those rare breed of fanatics called "Ruckmanites" who follow the xenophobic rantings of an ultra-fundamentalist evangelist from Florida named Peter Ruckman. They have come to be know, less affectionately, as "WRECKmanites" or "Ruckbots". Stokes even dared to post his Fidonet/Internet addresses. I wonder if he's prepared for the response to his worldwide "spam" post? I guess he's about to learn! If you'd care to protest his net.abuse, a polite letter to his sysop, net coordinator, and alternate net cooordinator would probably be in order. The way Fidonet works, he'll be burning up their resources, too, so they should probably be made aware of your feelings. Because of the topology of the fidonet.org domain, appropriate addresses for complaint, at your discretion, are as follows: His sysop: sysop(a)f1611.n375.z1.fidonet.org His Net coordinator: sysop(a)f0.n375.z1.fidonet.org His alternate Net coordinator: sysop(a)f1.n375.z1.fidonet.org The operative expression on Fidonet, as concerns grounds for disciplining an abusive user, is "excessively annoying behavior". You might wish to make mention of that phrase in any letters that you write. In any event, reading his mail should "keep him off the streets" (or info super-highway) for awhile... :)

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Re: Having your own computer means never having....
by Jonathan Rochkind 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Beyond that, unrestrained encryption is dangerous to corporations, > because what's to stop a ticked off employee from encrypting > everything in the office as revenge for some imagined slight? If the bozo has write-priveledges to everything in the office, sounds like a problem with or without encryption. Or were you just suggesting that he was going to encrypt it all and mail it to a competitor? This too seems to be a problem with or without encryption; he can just copy to floppy and snailmail to a competitor. Same with industrial espionage of just about any kind; sure it makes it _easier_ for the hypothetical spy to do his dirty work, but it doesn't actually enable him to do anything fundamentally different then he could before. I can't think of any real security risks introduced by allowing employees the use of encryption, that weren't present already. Certainly none mentioned thus far fit the bill. Obviously properly used encryption can enable the corporation to keep info in the "hands", of only those people who are supposed to have it, actually. Although of course I'm not accusing you of suggesting that corporations shouldn't have access to good cryptology; you probably wouldn't be on the list if you thought that. I'm not completely sure how different it is to say that individuals give up their right to good cryptology upon being employed by a corporation, however.

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Re: Having your own computer means never having....
by khijol!erc 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Actually, Apple has some really good concepts, using AOCE digital > signatures and products currently out for the corporate environment. The > automatic routing of digitally signed forms from one desk to another, with > the appropriate digital signatures on them, replacing normal forms. This > is the kind of thing I think you'll see making cryptographic inroad with > business. I think you're right. The ability to verify a signature that would be impossible to repudiate is a strong one. Tamperproof documents that preserve privacy are all powerful incentives for a company to adopt strong crypto and DSS. -- Ed Carp, N7EKG/VE3 ecarp(a)netcom.com, Ed.Carp(a)linux.org "What's the sense of trying hard to find your dreams without someone to share it with, tell me, what does it mean?" -- Whitney Houston, "Run To You"

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Andy Grove on Clipper
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

T >Denning, Andy Grove, and others. In this campaign, the second T >approach mentioned above will be dominant: a focus on pedophiles who T >"encrypt their list of victims," a focus on "terrorists who form T >virtual networks around the world," and a focus on "money launderers T >who use crypto anarchy to spread their poison." I agree of course that technological fixes are superior to political argument. In fact, I *use* technological fixes as a political argument. For example, "While you might like to censor video nasties, you should know that censorship is no longer technologically feasible. There are so many different communications channels that you can't possibly block all of them." It can be convenient to work on some anti Clipper/DTI soundbites though. Since coding sentences are more my specialty than coding software... "The administration wants us to spend $300 million of our own money to help them perform just a few wiretaps a year. It isn't worth it." "Yeah, and we could use torture to catch pedophiles too. Do you favor torture?" "Strong cypyto *prevents* crime by protecting people from criminals." "The government didn't think we needed strong crypto until the market demanded it. Why should we trust their judgement as to what kind we need?" "How does the government think that it can compete in a software and hardware market that will frustrate the brightest marketers around." "I guess the government thinks that forcing Microsoft, Novell, and IBM overseas so that they can incorporate strong crypto into their products is a good idea." DCF "Do you suppose the Feds can completely upgrade their hardware/software crypto system every 6 months to keep up with the market?" "In 1946, Soviet and U.S. electronics technology was approximately equal and the U.S. had a 10-year lead in nuclear weapons technology. By 1986, U.S. and Soviet nuclear weapons technology was approximately equal but the U.S. had a more than 10-years lead in electronic technology." Trust the market. --- WinQwk 2.0b#1165

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Re: Another Cellular Vict
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com C.>No doubt this will eventually be marketed as a feature you can pay C.>extra for... intended so people can track their spouses' movements C.>so they know when they're getting home, if they're stuck in a traffic C.>jam, etc. Bell Atlantic already announced a joint venture with one of the electronic navigation companies to supply drivers with position info using cellular triangulation. DCF --- WinQwk 2.0b#1165

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RE: Beware of Roman Catho
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

N >It looks like Ralph Stokes has finally learned about Internet and N >Usenet gateways and is now spreading his prenicious religious N >bigotry beyond the borders of Fido-land. (He spammed several At least he's using PGP. We are making progress. Nothing wrong with a strong expression of religious opinion (as long as it was limited to the religious USENET groups and mailing lists). At least he's not asking for a new government program. Must be a lot of papists out there if they fear hearing the "truth" once in a while. DCF "If the language of the Authorized Version (1611) was good enough for our Lord Jesus Christ -- it's good enough for me." -- actually, not a bad read. --- WinQwk 2.0b#1165

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No Subject
by smb＠research.att.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

There are a few things to watch out for. First, it's really easy for subtle (or not so subtle) biases to be present in a noise source. These can be due to component drift, external noise (i.e., power supply coupling), etc. You want a design that isn't sensitive to such things, if possible. Second -- and it's partly a corollary to the first -- the designs I've seen for real RNGs have always included a scrambler step, to mix up the bits, account for biases, etc. The first such scrambler was, I think, described by von Neuman himself. I have the citation in my office; I'll try to post it tomorrow.

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Re: Having your own computer means never having....
by smb＠research.att.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I can't think of any real security risks introduced by allowing employees the use of encryption, that weren't present already. Certainly none mentioned thus far fit the bill. Have a look at Matt Blaze's paper from Usenix last week. He describes a smart-card based key escrow system for file encryption -- the risk to the company is that an employee will quit, forget a password, walk in front of a truck, etc. -- at which point they're unable to get at the files that this person created -- files that the company owns in accordance with the provision of the free-market contract willingly agreed to by this employee.

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