December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: The OS wars and DOOM...
by rfreeman＠netaxs.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>Given that games usually program close to the hardware, and are >therefore the _most_ difficult things to port from one environment >to another, it really makes one wonder why Excel isn't out for >(for example) Linux or BSD today. > I can think of one good reason for starters: Microsoft makes Excel. Microsoft makes Windoze. Windoze runs on IBM's and Linux runs X-Windows on IBM's. Microsoft doesn't make Linux which already has a tremendous advantage in cost and capability. Now how many people would pay to upgrade to Windoze 95 if there were a true multitasking OS which was free and more efficient and capable of operating on more limited systems and with as strong a software base? If I could get Microsoft Office for Linux, I would have switched myself. Unfortuantely, I don't have the disk space for both DOS and Linux, and I need the commercial grade word-processors, etc... There isn't all that much that needs to be added to an OS like Linux to make it easy for the general public (perhaps a set of default settings that don't require much fiddling by a unix wizard). Finally, once Microsoft promotes a unix-based OS by making software for it, people will start realizing how much free stuff there already is for unix, and they will stop buying all those nifty utility packages that they buy for DOS/Windoze. And lastly, heaven forbid, people will have access to a windowed OS with command line capability! Now we couldn't have that now, could we? :) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Richard T. Freeman <rfreeman(a)netaxs.com> - finger for pgp key 3D CB AF BD FF E8 0B 10 4E 09 27 00 8D 27 E1 93 http://www.netaxs.com/~rfreeman - ftp.netaxs.com/people/rfreeman

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RE: Doling out keyspace (was Re: There is no True Key)
by Bolivar Shagnasty 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> > - Each helper requests N bits of keyspace. > > - That chunk is doled out "randomly" by the server. >Is there any reason why the server should have to dole out the in the >first place? If a reasonable seed is available, there's no reason each >helper couldn't just generate a random starting key on its own (with a >uniform distribution). The owner of the key being cracked jumps in and "randomly" selects the part of the keyspace containing the key, then reports back in the negative. This defense of the key is reduced if the server doles out pieces of the keyspace randomly, selected only for size, and further reduced if the same space is given out multiple times to different requestors. Bolivar

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HOUDINI ON CRYPTO
by Sandy Sandfort 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C'punks, I ran across an old book I bought when I was an adolescent. Like most boys (I don't know about girls) I went through a phase when I was interested in magic. The name of the book was "Houdini on Magic." In it, there is a section about Houdini's fascination with cryptography. He talks about relatively primative substitution ciphers and the like. One example, though, I thought might be of interest to Cypherpunks. He said the following inscription was written over the Decalogue in a country church. Apparently, no one was able to read it for over 200 years. Can you?: PRSRVYPRFCTMNVRKPTHSPRCPTSTN S a n d y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Re: Ssh "security hole": proposed fix
by David Mazieres 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Well, a while ago I suggested the following as simplified (and therefore easier to find bugs in) ssh protocol: > PREAMBLE: > > (1) A -> B: A > (2) B -> A: Cb, PKsb, PKb > (3) A -> B: {Kab}_PKsb, {A, B, Cb}_Kab > (4) B -> A: {{A, B, Cb, Kab, PKsb}_SKb}_Kab > > SSH_AUTH_RHOSTS: > > (5) A -> B: 0 > > SSH_AUTH_RHOSTS_RSA: > SSH_AUTH_RSA: > > (5) A -> B: {{A, B, Cb, Kab}_SKa, PKa}_Kab > > SSH_AUTH_PASSWORD: > > (5) A -> B: {Ka}_Kab I was assuming that you would basically have to tolerate man-in-the-middle style attacks if A did not know PKb before the exchange. However, I have since realized that it is easy to have one's public key in an NFS mounted home directory when talking to a host one has never talked to before. Thus, B can know PKa even if A does not know PKb. This is enough to prevent man in the middle attacks if we modify the protocol slightly: PREAMBLE: (1) A -> B: A (2) B -> A: Cb, PKsb, PKb (3) A -> B: {Kab}_PKsb, {A, B, Cb}_Kab (4) B -> A: {{A, B, Cb, Kab, PKsb}_SKb}_Kab SSH_AUTH_RHOSTS: SSH_AUTH_PASSWORD: (5) A -> B: 0 SSH_AUTH_RHOSTS_RSA: SSH_AUTH_RSA: (5) A -> B: {{A, B, Cb, Kab, PKsb}_SKa, PKa}_Kab ^^^^ IF AUTHENTICATION NOT SUFFICIENT: (6) B -> A: {"Passwd:"}_Kab (7) A -> B: {Ka}_Kab ; Ka is A's password David

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Re: Non-US mixmaster sites
by C.CREUTZIG＠BIONIC.zerberus.de 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Ad> remailer(a)replay.com Ad> remailer(a)flame.alias.net Ad> remailer(a)utopia.hacktic.nl mixmaster(a)bi-node.zerberus.de is up and running. --- Christopher Creutzig | c.creutzig(a)bionic.zerberus.de PGP-verschlüsselte Nachrichten bevorzugt -- benutzt Briefumschläge!

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Mixmaster for DOS Yet?
by bluebird＠alpha.c2.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

[Please reply via netmail or Cc: - I have only periodic access to list.] Is the Mixmaster user software for DOS platforms completed yet? Thanks for any help.

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Re: Java (was Netscape: the big win)
by alan.pugh＠internetmci.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > There are many crypto-anarchy applications as well: > Key cracking. If you can write a key-cracker and keyspace fetcher in > Java, then people can join key cracking efforts as easily looking up > an URL. It may not be nearly as efficient as the highly optimized C > versions used in the current RC4-40 efforts, but there's going to be > millions of potential workers this way. If you were charging money > to break keys (or you were looking for keys that are very valuable > to you), you could set up the worker client to accept e-cash for in > return for searching keyspace "Click here to earn money while you > aren't using your machine..." Ensuring that workers are actually > searching the keyspace and other implementation details is left as an > exercise for the reader. > > e-instrument or information exchanges, with Java interfaces for bidding, > buying, selling, etc... i think i prefer the idea mentioned previously on the list where it works pretty much like a lottery. you could operate it in one of two ways. if the encrypted data was particularly valuable to its owner and was willing to put up a reward for the key, there would be an incentive for people to spend idle time running through keyspace. if it was structured as a reward, no money need be paid until the key is found. it could also be set up more like a traditional lottery where you 'buy' x amont of keyspace and if you hit it, all e-cash collected would go to you. there would be many problems with running this. nothing could keep someone from just running keys on their own in the hope of hitting it, then buy the keyspace that contains it if he got a hit. if the keyspace were allocated sequentially, and the person looking for the key only paid to the person who initially 'purchased' the keyspace, the person who got it could advertise for the person who got the space, although this would be problematic. if someone really wanted to do this, it would be _much_ easier to just run the operation similar to what was performed here in cypherpunks recently with the person who first reports the hit getting a reward of some amount, less a modest amount for the person/group coordinating the effort. amp <0003701548(a)mcimail.com> <alan.pugh(a)internetmci.com> Key fingerprint = A7 97 70 0F E2 5B 95 7C DB 7C 2B BF 0F E1 69 1D July 22, 1995 14:35 if someone wants a key and is willing to pay someone DataHavens, which would probably require complex (internally) software to use. I'm sure the online casino people are salivating over the prospects too... Basically any fancy crypto application that requires a custom client to operate... Since its platform independent, efforts will be put to better use as well. andrew -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.61 iQEVAwUBMBEazygP1O9KJoPBAQGHFwgAiO2ha7BFw04Fu3RNuk9FLFaZNrUYrFjR 5VBNkWeE3JOol7xSfrd7V8IzE2UyrVEwa4eyx5jHrPVQYxC9UTHzUW5nG3/vMefD gtCsQQcz5hL3Qbv6Cn2dqkTkWGbL7y/MxmblBm0u8vdX6/LPjAVTfucNrN9KxDY/ NXDM3tr9FclAWch6VKiXvjMeoognXNtpFfI76ReZzimJ4Yyoy9naGQ8BLdPiU1Xb mZIuFnVQWJe56YlBBgXo1aLsAcg48oWYCSMQXPRiQ/Bd6kL/Q6KHv34IbV8WVYib 9XjJd84JU+he5LDOIn9SO7gLXkRuBiiRsOalX89jjwAvFZwQuLMpGQ== =rqot -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ********************************************* * / Only God can see the whole * * O[%\%\%{<>===========================- * * \ Mandlebrot Set at Once! * * amp * * <0003701548(a)mcimail.com> * * <alan.pugh(a)internetmci.com> * ********************************************* Key fingerprint = A7 97 70 0F E2 5B 95 7C DB 7C 2B BF 0F E1 69 1D

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Re: Something occured to me
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In article <199507221725.NAA18382(a)bb.hks.net>, jburrell(a)crl.com ("Jason Burrell") wrote: >The pity, of course, is that we can't get Exon for passing around a book >that he said contained child pornography, since he's immune while he's on >the Senate floor. Wouln't the book become part of the Congressional Record? I'd love to know what Exon considers child pornography. - -- - -- 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 iQBFAwUBMBG51CoZzwIn1bdtAQHXmwF/b07myILkBJ6NugS+rSx6+R2hfuDb4j37 AlVZmKLkB1j5cgAkfeyAByLalIv7lDAL =GoSe -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: HOUDINI ON CRYPTO
by blancw＠accessone.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: Sandy Sandfort . . . there is a section about Houdini's fascination with cryptography. He talks about relatively primative substitution ciphers and the like. One example, though, I thought might be of interest to Cypherpunks. He said the following inscription was written over the Decalogue in a country church. Apparently, no one was able to read it for over 200 years. Can you?: PRSRVYPRFCTMNVRKPTHSPRCPTSTN .................................... It looks to be something like this to me: PRESERVE YE PERFECT MEN ?VR? KEEP THIS PERCEPT (or PRECEPT) SATAN .. Blanc

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Something good for a laugh.....
by Censored Girls Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- <sigh> I am in hell....... Still stuck without a good PPP connection. Been this way for over a week. I guess all my fans now have something good to giggle about. </sigh> <hope> I'll be at it hard on Monday, and somehow this will get fixed. My IP address changed, and I think it's the problem. </hope> Love Always, Carol Anne -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMBG7y4rpjEWs1wBlAQGUZQQArrRBlENKVnhvL23VPyH9TR3r3M+CytiU MoU4XwN18onfXzohJZmafcYJLBvb7aFPnPi8Kx/lHRO2Hx0cSlYIC1Hq3rACh1Tl ZsFtpiWwm3empZXQQL5jx3WOkX8VSKpjrlrUoR+jFYJ74AqapcXXJt90bYlP0jYF b5BRcZBVj4o= =kPNj -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Member Internet Society - Certified BETSI Programmer - WWW Page Creation ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carol Anne Braddock <--now running linux 1.0.9 for your pleasure carolann(a)censored.org __ __ ____ ___ ___ ____ carolab(a)primenet.com /__)/__) / / / / /_ /\ / /_ / carolb(a)spring.com / / \ / / / / /__ / \/ /___ / ------------------------------------------------------------------------- A great place to start My Cyber Doc...

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