December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Nym server development....
by futplex＠pseudonym.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This seems as good a time as any to forward the full text of this to the list. At worst, Alpha is a solid proof-of-concept of a possible "nym server" model. IMHO it's actually much better than that. I strongly recommend reading the below before asking basic questions about the workings of Alpha.... -Futplex <futplex(a)pseudonym.com> Forwarded message: > Date: Sat, 12 Aug 1995 04:41:01 -0700 > X-Last-Updated-Date: Jan 9 1995 > From: help(a)alpha.c2.org (Automated reply) > Subject: Info on anonymous account service @alpha.c2.org > Reply-To: admin(a)alpha.c2.org > > This mail message was sent automatically in response to the message you > sent to help(a)alpha.c2.org > > This system allows you to create a pseudonymous address of the format > username(a)alpha.c2.org. For security, all messages are encrypted with PGP. > > To create a mail alias, first create an encrypted reply-block for a > cypherpunk-style remailer. An encrypted reply block is a message > encrypted with a remailer's PGP public key, which will be sent to > your address, or to an address where you can receive messages. > > To create a reply block, you would create a message for a remailer that > goes back to you: > > :: > Request-Remailing-To: you(a)yoursite.org > > Then you would encrypt that with a remailer's public key, and prepend > the necessary Encrypted: PGP header. When this message is received by > a remailer, it would decrypt it and send it to you. It would also send > you any text appended to the end (outside the PGP wrapper). Thus, using > a reply block, it is possible for people to send you mail without knowing > your real address. > > Next, choose a pseudonym and a password. The pseudonym-address may contain > any alphabetical or numeric characters, or hyphens. The password may not > contain any spaces. Then create a message of the following format: > > From: yourname(a)alpha.c2.org > New-Password: Your_Password > Reply-Block: > :: > Anon-To: remailer(a)xs4all.nl > > :: > Encrypted: PGP > > -----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE----- > Version: 2.3a > > hIwC/nqSW1QDQfUBBACknZMV93wFS2CH0orlgslmEm+alhjI1eKwbbTTmeRWC5Rg > /S3vZw+95ZuCZfqxKE0XrgZXzOEwfoyBcpVvf9Pb9D19TqEMTmmL/Jpl1xcxmbJ2 > OGsHpQ/TxpazBCVhdBmPblj5wWvwfG1+ZKpIkQ5hiLJhryQM/TUDarEscs3zdaYA > AAB5231aMcQ74AKoDZizABMF3Tw+olV4mm4jVo9cMn2B3Rj2XBFl4pV9VL3h0ZQB > cPY/ytBRyZPugr0NpLgjO+q6mEjCcgQrxpYQ+1PvFPdDx1GmJ5ogZqW+AVHsNqAp > vRoiG8ZhXs4r3E8liFsNtMMf6CUAsdV2ZoX1Hw== > =Bla3 > -----END PGP MESSAGE----- > > Do not actually indent it; that's just for example purposes. > Encrypt this with the following public key and mail it to > alias(a)alpha.c2.org. Unencrypted mail sent to this address > will be deleted automatically. If everything is correct, your > mail alias will be created, and you will be sent a confirmation. > If not, there will be no way for the software to reply to you, > so the message will be deleted. If you don't receive anything, > something is wrong, so try again. Be sure to test the reply > block first, so that you will know it works! Also, don't forget > to include the address of the remailer, and the Encrypted: PGP > header at the beginning of your reply block. > > Here is the public key: > > -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- > Version: 2.6 > > mQCNAi7K8rQAAAEEAMiK09Nd+NfaL4Q14bKT0Ivdj3MdbCjAG6Cs5ULYBS1ZWSLA > KiHsm0+kPNHqBVOufN7FT2iK0Mbuyk+dZgHG6ScicDkImysRkmso7eh5c9mU9V8K > M0+ImKJyOwgVLEgyRK5e4h2XHpwSTtpx3zZpk4CsexLGCQNXF+ikm236U0rNAAUR > tCpQc2V1ZG9ueW1vdXMgUmVtYWlsZXIgPGFsaWFzQGFscGhhLmMyLm9yZz4= > =xmQf > -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- > > > When mail comes in for your address at alpha.c2.org, it will be > encrypted with Your_Password, using pgp -cta, appended to the reply > block and sent to remailer(a)alpha.c2.org. Be sure that you have > the Encrypted: PGP header, and the address of the next remailer > it is to be sent to! All messages are held and sent out in random > order once an hour. > > If you later wish to change your password, send an encrypted message to > alias(a)alpha.c2.org containing a From: line with your nickname, a > Password: line with your current password, and a New-Password: line > containing your new password. If the old password is correct, the > password will be changed to the new one. For example: > > From: Dan_Quayle > Password: Bush > New-Password: Clinton > > You can also include a new Reply-Block. > > A mail alias can be deleted at any time by setting the password to nothing. > (Send a password change request with nothing following the 'New-Password:') > > > Sending messages > > Once you have created a working address, you can send mail from that address. > Simply create a message with standard mail headers, and add your password > in a Password header. > > From: jdoe(a)alpha.c2.org (John Doe) > Password: foobar > To: alt.anonymous(a)demon.co.uk > Subject: hello world > > This is my message. > > The message would be delivered as shown, minus the Password: header. > If the password is not correct, the message is discarded. > > > Troubleshooting > > Here are some common problems. If you're having trouble, check the > following list: > > - Be sure to use -t option with PGP > - Test your reply block and be sure it works! > - If you are having trouble creating a certain address, perhaps > you already created it, but used the wrong reply block > or a different password. > - Usenet posts require a Subject: header. > - Messages to alias(a)alpha.c2.org must be encrypted with PGP > Be sure you use the correct PGP key; remailer(a)alpha.c2.org > has a different one. > > > Problems may be reported to admin(a)alpha.c2.org > > For more information about Community ConneXion, > telnet to c2.org and login as guest, or if you have a WWW browser: > http://www.c2.org/ >

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YOM_ama
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

8-13-95. Sunday NYPaper: "Bigger Than the Family, Smaller Than the State: Are voluntary groups what make countries work?" [Book review] Mr. Fukuyama has shifted his attention from the state to society; the result is a fascinating and frustrating book, "Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity." We have settled on the structure of the state, he writes, but "liberal political and economic institutions depend on a healthy and dynamic civil society for their vitality." In the world of ideas, civil society is hot. It is almost impossible to read an article on foreign or domestic politics without coming across some mention of the concept. And "civil society" has bipartisan appeal; from Hillary Rodham Clinton to Pat Buchanan, politicians of all stripes routinely sing its praises. Behind much of the new interest in civil society, on the part of communitarians as well as social conservatives, is the idea that culture and society shape the nature of government. But the space between the realm of government and that of the family can be filled with all kinds of associations, liberal and illiberal. Historians have amply laid out how the Nazi Party made its first inroads through infiltrating local groups. On a less extreme note, many of the small groups that have formed in America over the last two decades have been thoroughly illiberal in spirit: victims' groups that have discouraged individual responsibility, minority clubs that have Balkanized the campus and the workplace, pseudoreligious cults with violent agendas. Not all of civil society is civic minded. A report on Timothy J. McVeigh's civil life noted that Mr. McVeigh and Terry and James Nichols, would go bowling and plan their future. But perhaps we would all have been better off if Mr. McVeigh had gone bowling alone. YOM_ama (about 14K)

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e$: Reuters Smells the Coffee
by rah＠shipwright.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Sat, 12 Aug 1995 00:01:58 From: infocker(a)megaweb.com Sender: infocker(a)megaweb.com () (from unknown.aol.com 205.188.2.111) To: www-buyinfo(a)allegra.att.com Subject: Cyber Economy--Govts. Cannot Control Thought Mr. Hettinga might particularly appreciate this perspective. Jim Rapp Alexandria, Virginia "give me more info" As always, do not send the copyright police after me. LONDON - Growing business on the Internet computer network could allow companies and individuals to avoid taxes and build up a black economy increasingly out of range of government intervention and regulation, computer experts say. People will be able to download computer programs from Philadelphia to Paris or buy books from Madrid in Manila, avoiding export or import duties and sales taxes, as well as bypassing government trade statistics. "Electronic purses," loaded from banks down telephone lines, could become the favored means of payment for fast, anonymous and secure payments, with currencies of choice becoming more exotic, depending on what is acceptable to dealmakers. "Cyberdollars," expatriate U.S. currency zapping across telephone lines between computers, could add to problems posed for authorities by existing funds outside national borders. Deals on the Internet are mainly completed by credit card at present. But electronic purses could lead to a buildup of currency beyond the control of governments and central banks, further limiting their influence on economies and markets and making traditional monetary tools like interest rates less effective. "Online business will involve much more economic activity outside the control and ambit of government," Madsen Pirie, director of the Adam Smith Institute, a right-wing British think-tank, told Reuters. "Government will have to limit its ambitions. Just like governments in the modern world find it difficult to have exchange control; they can't control billions of dollars of cash sloshing around foreign exchange markets," he said. Business is fairly modest now but will increase exponentially, Pirie forecasts. The U.S. Commerce Department has said electronic cash will account for 20 percent of U.S. purchases by 2005, up from just over 4 percent last year and compared with just over 16 percent forecast by 2000. Leaders of the information technology industry believe that the embryonic stage is over and are wary of government action, which they feel might inhibit growth. Analysts reckon that any attempt to regulate cybermarkets is likely to be futile. The Adam Smith Institute's Pirie agrees, predicting: "Governments will fail if they try to control this. They always have when they try to hold back the way history is going." - - - - - Copyright, Reuters America Inc. All rights reserved --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) Shipwright Development Corporation, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA (617) 323-7923 "Reality is not optional." --Thomas Sowell >>>>Phree Phil: Email: zldf(a)clark.net http://www.netresponse.com/zldf <<<<<

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Mix-L is now archived..
by John A. Perry 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hello Everyone, I added archiving to the mix-l mailing list on jpunix.com. All messages entered as of 08/12/95 will be available for archive. Additionally, the various information files for Mixmaster including the public keyring and the list of type 2 remailers are also available through Majordomo on jpunix.com. John Perry - KG5RG - perry(a)alpha.jpunix.com - PGP-encrypted e-mail welcome! WWW - http://www.jpunix.com PGP 2.62 key for perry(a)jpunix.com is on the keyservers. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Processed by mkpgp, a Pine/PGP interface. iQEVAwUBMCzIOaghiWHnUu4JAQG3vwf+OHUWveagC7EXNWSDe8ij93403+dZ2ilL Tdqz8Bnf/FnA146xHZazyI9kIAiq0+w2ZHXubgPQA4tAZ6dssS79LbxTXx7woreh +s/5siqoPwz27piEPWhw/JtfOev4O7tVGAn3LfVbau3ooIBtSSJsp3K2JD/2Si+J xuGt67SRfCgcFYoEsp8bupzolQis6TGXt3yOQqhp6ZipLXkDwSqHdIaaL1Xd3LTi 4q56PqKQT1AkaYybmcX/KniV5F+rlLU9M3nYf10LZRXac7ll8BxYv3ugPsKpDs/H ySDwu6or9aVBcEaqgJ5T41Pe+a3sIPxL9Px/ZJlHZCQno1+0+5Ej8Q== =vN+3 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Significance of PGPFone?
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Steve Bryan asks about the potential significance of the new PGPFone: At 8:59 PM 8/11/95, Steve Bryan wrote: >Am I the one of the few who thinks that PGPFone is the biggest CypherPunk >event for years? I think it will be even more significant if we get strong >encryption Hard to say how significant it is. Some points: * Nautilus has been out for a while....after a splash of publicity when it appeared, not much has been heard recently. * E-mail and the Net are fundamentally different from voice communication. Encrypting or signing messages in text form is different from encrypting voice communications between two parties. (The eventual large use of encryption is likely to be driven by digital payment schemes, proof of signed contracts, etc. In other words, non-voice applications.) * Wiretapping of voice communications is fundamentally a different sort of problem than interecepting cleartext of e-mail and Net interactions. This is a point Whit Diffie makes cogently, that it's much easier for packet-sniffers to automate surveillance at the touch of a key than it is to order audio lines to be tapped. (Quibblers may cite increasing automation, causing some convergence, but the point remains that voice conversations must still be recorded, listened to, etc., whereas computer text messages may be more easily analyzed.) * Most of my voice communications are with nearby folks, for various reasons, and I doubt I'll be rushing to encrypt them anytime soon (or expect the other party to). * The versions of PGPFone, Nautilus, etc., that run on the Internet (as opposed to modem-to-modem phone calls) will be extremely interesting because of the pricing structure..."free" phone calls anywhere. (Some people are doing this already, of course, and the telcos are starting to notice.) * I have a Macintosh, so I'm planning to get it and try it out. This may change my views of things. But, to be honest, I'm fearful of the "when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail" syndrome: that when I find someone else who has PGPFone I'll find reasons to call them just to test the functioning. Needless to say, this is not reason enough to keep on using it. * Anecdotally, most people I know who have "secure phones" use them only occasionally. Several people have said variants of "I only used it to test it to see if it was working." It's not obvious to me that things will be much different with even more casual users such as most of us are. * It is a fact that the people most motivated to use crypto are the ones with the most to fear from an anticipated threat. Thus, Pablo Escobar's "crew" will likely deploy such tools, where Joe Suburban probably won't. (The arguments sometimes made, that Mafiosos and Colombian drug cartels are "too stupid" to use crypto are vitiated by the ease-of-use which these new crypto tools are designed to have....also, corner drug dealers who some might think to be illiterate are typically the earliest adopters of cellular phones, pocket pagers, and whatnot.) (Don't flame me for stating the obvious. I'm not advocating restrictions on crypto, or invoking the Four Horsemen of the Infocalypse.) * Finally, I have a "fax modem" on my Macintosh, as many of you do. Guess what? I went and got a real fax machine. Lots of reasons. First, my fax modem had to be installed just right...if inits or preferences got subtly shifted, it stopped working properly. Second, sending things was a bitch. (Had to have the scanner up and working, which was not often, etc.) Third, robustness. This is relevant to the cryptophone issue because many folks believe only the "bump in the cord" model--where the crypto module is just a bump in the phone cord--will work for most people. Most users will not have their 486 + SoundBlaster + other stuff set up and working for routine phone calls. (Configurations changing, various OSes, etc.) (The Internet versions make it more advantageous to use one's computer, so I have more hope for them than I do for modem-to-modem versions. Incorporating a voice communication module into other programs--telnet?--might be an idea. And Java and HotJava fit in somehow....) So, I hope to get PGPFone when it appears, but I'm not convinced it'll be the biggest revolution imaginable. --Tim May ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net (Got net?) | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-728-0152 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Corralitos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: Purple Boxes
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:08 AM 8/12/95, Sauroth wrote: >Actually quite a few hackers/phreaks have been encrypting phone >conversations for a while. Not by any complex mathematics but >simple modifications to the phone frequencies...Don't have any >sites handy but for those interested I'll look up some of my old >material. I'll also check a large compendium of boxes to see if >Purple has been designated. Anyone interested in box plans of >different colors e-mail me. And the "simple modifications to the phone frequencies" points to why such things are not "strong crypto." At best, security through obscurity. At worst, self delusion. It gets back to the threat model. If the threat model is interception by the neighborhood kids, then schemes for frequency-hopping, scrambling, "warbling," and PhasorPhone-like diddling are OK. If the threat model is the local police department tapping one's phone, probably not enough, as they likely can gain access to the E-Systems DigiTrac 6700 and trivially unscramble the signal. Long term, only robust, strong crypto works (Michael Handler's "civil liberties through complex mathematics"). --Tim May ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net (Got net?) | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-728-0152 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Corralitos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: PRZ encrypted voice software release imminent
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In article <199508120857.BAA11361(a)ix5.ix.netcom.com>, stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com (Bill Stewart) wrote: >Yes, lots of us aren't using modems faster than 14400 now, but you can get a >14.4/19.2 modem at Fry's for well under $100. (19.2 is unfortunately >not quite enough to 16 kbps, given start and stop bits, unless you do >synchronous [...] >Anybody who needs to avoid government or business-competitor eavesdroppers >can probably >afford $150 in extra hardware for their PC. > >This doesn't apply to international communications or folks in the boonies, >where it's hard to get full performance out of modems, so you Commie >spies and Earth First!ers will need more expensive high-tech equipment :-)... Here is my usually plea to anyone designing a computer telephony application that uses modems: please always include a low bandwidth codec! I am on a brand new DMS-100 and have new lines running from the CO to my house. I can still not go over 9600bps. My only alternative is ISDN, which isn't just another $150, but $1000. Please give the user a choice of codecs that allows for minimization of the requirenments alony _any_ of the three axis of the perfomance cube. - -- - -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred. - --- [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 iQBFAwUBMCzhMCoZzwIn1bdtAQFKXAGAoS3CU0svmkGps3khnqS+tblUR5te9iV9 p6Ifw9jeQlkL0T7uA8W1DUWKE7M4s+O6 =o9A4 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Purple Boxes
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In article <9508121008.AA10417(a)anon.penet.fi>, an264373(a)anon.penet.fi (Sauroth) wrote: >Actually quite a few hackers/phreaks have been encrypting phone >conversations for a while. Not by any complex mathematics but >simple modifications to the phone frequencies...Don't have any >sites handy but for those interested I'll look up some of my old >material. This is encryption of the type that, as Bruce Schneier would say, prevents your little sister from listening in on your phone call. Trivial to break. - -- - -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred. - --- [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 iQBFAwUBMCziXSoZzwIn1bdtAQFLaQGA2e01U8TnIReKoNnq6UuUJsTvsfYK2tVk f0By3gfne/eGlUJDPyIGXJ+tnuAKAilh =N+fX -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Stupid XOR Question
by Anonymous User 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

ok dumb questions here......... how do i xor a simple string of plaintext? I am running linux 1.2.4

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Re: Stupid XOR Question
by Carl Ellison 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>Date: Sat, 12 Aug 1995 10:05:16 -0700 >From: Anonymous User <nobody(a)c2.org> >Subject: Stupid XOR Question >ok dumb questions here......... > >how do i xor a simple string of plaintext? > In C, you open file f and while (((c = getc(stdin))!=EOF)&&((d = getc(f))!=EOF)) putc(c^d, stdout) ; If I remember correctly, Adam Back <aba(a)dcs.exeter.ac.uk> has a signature block for the full C program to do this. It's that tiny. In a way, that program is better than RSA in 3 lines of PERL. It's provably unbreakable (provided the ranno source, f, is used only once and is truly random). +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Carl M. Ellison cme(a)acm.org http://www.clark.net/pub/cme/home.html | |PGP: E0414C79B5AF36750217BC1A57386478 & 61E2DE7FCB9D7984E9C8048BA63221A2 | | ``Officer, officer, arrest that man! He's whistling a dirty song.'' | +----------------------------------------------------------- Jean Ellison -+

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