December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

PERRY-GRAMS (Does Perry speak for Cypherpunks?)
by gjeffers＠socketis.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

PERRY-GRAMS (Does Perry speak for Cypherpunks?) I have a solution to the Perry off-topic problem: PERRY-GRAMS. I got this idea from the following text of Tim May's:. ----------------- start Tim May text --------------------------------- Perry is Perry. He has certainly written his share of rants and "off-topic" posts, as have we all. Literally thousands of his posts over the past 3 years reside on my disk drives, and certainly until recently most of them were not about writing code. --------------------end Tim May text --------------------------------- Firstly, what is a Perry-Gram? 1. Find a long Cypherpunk post by Perry that is in your opinion, "off-topic". Keep the header. 2. Add the full post of Perry's "Ciphergroupies" post which I have thoughtfully included at the end of this post. Include header. 3. Add text asking Perry to defend his off-topic post as appropriate to Cypherpunks. For true effectiveness, you really need to post several Perry-Grams per provocation. To be really effective, Cypherpunk "Ciphergroupies" will need to do a little networking. Most don't have much in the way of Cypherpunk archives - but some do. If you want to make some Perry-Grams but lack the archives, then post a call to Cypherpunks to have someone with archives to send you as many long, "off-topic" posts by Perry as they can. With a little cooperation, we can build up a data base of Perry "off-topic" posts. Unfortunately, my Cypherpunk archives were lost, so I won't be much help. - I am at a loss for Perry's words. However, a lot of Cypherpunks keep lots of old posts. I am willing to store at least one 1.44 meg diskette of Perry-Grams in compressed .zip format. Trade them like baseball cards. Of course, with computers, that's sharing :-). If you're having problems getting people with archives to help you, then contact Tim May. I suspect that Tim (Bless his Generosity) will be willing to dig up some potential Perry-Grams material for you. Treasure your Perry-Grams. They are not merely for the current Perry threads. If you save them, then you can whip them out in the future when Perry does more of his nasty, hateful "off-topic" attacks. I recommend Perry-Gram diskettes. I think this is the best way to bell the Perry- cat. Let Perry deny his own words! :-) :-) :-) Crypto relevance: Cypherpunks cannot be well described as just a list for techno freaks who love Crypto. I believe that most of the heavy crypto coders & theorists would be just as happy to be working on AI, linkers, natural language parsers, etc.. - were it not for POLITICAL CONSID- ERATIONS! I think most of the active people on Cypherpunks despise central political control & are active in order to stop it. Cypherpunks is motivationally driven by this political consideration. Perry did not spend $50k & "spend months of [his] life struggling to..." just because he thinks that computer crypto is "RAD KOOL". Then why drive out our polemists & our conspiracy buffs? Conspiracy theory is the theory of the working of states by non-establishment writers. Our political writers are "crying fire" when "danger of fire" is evident to them. They MUST give out the alarm. Most people are ignorant of the degree of danger that we are in from the power- mad illigitmate United States "Federal" State. Thank God for "extremist right-wing kooks" who do conspiracy writing. They may yet save us from establishment "left-wing Liberal kooks" who seem desperate to bankrupt us & turn America into a police state. Not that the Republicans are much better. They seem to be on a mission to cut Democratic spending by 5%. - As the Russians say "Prophylactic politics." - When there is public discontent with the elite's policies, give the people an insincere group of politicians to cater to the public's grievances. -------- start of Perry E. Metzger "Ciphergroupie" post ---------- Received: from toad.com by relay3.UU.NET with SMTP id QQzcct17133; Wed, 9 Aug 1995 21:53:27 -0400 Received: by toad.com id AA08720; Wed, 9 Aug 95 18:35:44 PDT Received: from panix4.panix.com by toad.com id AA08714; Wed, 9 Aug 95 18:35:40 PDT Received: from panix2.panix.com (panix2.panix.com [198.7.0.3]) by panix4.panix.com (8.6.12/8.6.12+PanixU1.1) with SMTP id VAA03975; Wed, 9 Aug 1995 21:34:13 -0400 Message-Id: <199508100134.VAA03975(a)panix4.panix.com> To: KALLISTE(a)delphi.com Cc: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Subject: Re: Only 1/3 of Government Computers Down So Far In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 09 Aug 1995 12:29:59 EDT." <01HTVAYUCH6W90PB08(a)delphi.com> Reply-To: perry(a)piermont.com X-Reposting-Policy: redistribute only with permission Date: Wed, 09 Aug 1995 21:34:12 -0400 From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry(a)panix.com> Sender: owner-cypherpunks(a)toad.com Precedence: bulk KALLISTE(a)delphi.com writes: > Many people are interested in cryptology because they don't > want the NSA (among others) invading their privacy. So, the question is this: do people want to follow the standard "ooh, lets shudder at the conspiracy theories" track, and fall flat on their faces, or do they want to see cryptography implemented and widely deployed? The noise levels on this list have driven most of the important crypto types off it. People like Phil Karn and Steve Bellovin, who actually implement stuff, aren't here any more. Instead, we have a vast flood of ciphergroupies who love to post the latest funny bit they found on the net, discuss whether David Koresh was being unfairly persecuted, and how many bits of toe lint they found last week. What we used to have was the cafe where the politically motivated cryptographers hung out and gossiped. Now we have an open sewer in which the occassional pearl still floats, and the cryptographers are mostly gone. Those of us who want to discuss cryptography here have been displaced. If your goal is to impede communication about cryptography, you've admirably succeeded. You've cut off one more place where people were discussing how to deploy real-world solutions. Tim May is wrong. I don't care what you call a "cypherpunk" -- thats your business. However, the useful people *are* the people who write code, spend long hours working to get standards implemented, work lobbying in Congress, etc. Those of you who just rant, like Tim, were very useful two years ago, but its getting rather thin listening to you guys make it impossible to discuss real work while you blather. (Sorry, Tim. However, as long as you are going to call me "abusive" I might as well speak my mind. If you are going to do the time, might as well do the crime.) > The Foster story concerns the chief NSA privacy-invasion of modern > times: spying on domestic banking transactions. So it's relevant. Actually, what you've been posting has been even below the standards of journalistic integrity (i.e. few) that you find on a Pacifica radio station. I don't even care if all the conspiracies are real. Isn't what is out in the open enough? If the invasions of privacy that the government acknowledges and the crap like Clipper that they try to foist on us isn't horrifying enough, what weak-assed conspiracy theory that someone came up with while tripping is going to do it for you. Reality is frightening enough. FINCEN is real. The NSA really spied on people at least until the congressional hearings in the '70s. The government really invades privacy every day. Why do I need crap? > The Grand Inquisitor role is getting a little old. So if > you want to continue to play it, my response is: Fuck Off. > > -Orlin Frankly, Orlin, I think you are, with respect to the goals we are trying to advance here, a useless lump of flesh. I've spent about $50,000 of my own money trying to make the internet safe for root-eaters like yourself. I've spent months of my life struggling to get RFCs out, and I'm spending most of this month locked in my apartment writing code. Right now, we are coordinating an effort to try to get get IPSEC widely implemented in the next several months and deployed by spring. What do you do, exactly, other than generate chaff to make it impossible for any real work to be seen on the radar? When people bring up real work, like cryptographic libraries or Wei's stuff or the work I've been doing in the IETF and that sort of thing people like Matt Blaze notice, and maybe Ray Cromwell and Hal Finney (cypherpunks both, not ciphergroupies) try to discuss things, but the folks like you basically drown everything out by making more noise about random conspiracy garbage. Frankly, if anyone is helping the NSA, its you. They don't want to see universally deployed crypto. You could be out trying to spread cryptography by coding, by handing people crypto when they need it, or any one of dozens of other things. Instead, what you are doing is making it impossible for people to try to get work done. I have no idea what you are like personally. Maybe you're a nice, smart guy. Maybe you are really a useful person in your other life. However, I don't think your posting more conspiracy tracts is improving life as we know it. You have become an impediment -- a lump of rock in the highway. You aren't part of the solution -- you are part of the problem. Perry ----------------end Perry E. Metzger "Ciphergroupie" post -------------- PUSH EM BACK! PUSH EM BACK! WWWAAAYYYY BBBAAACCCK! BBBEEEAAATTTT STATE! Gary Jeffers

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Re: PRZ encrypted voice software release imminent
by Bill Stewart 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:59 AM 8/11/95 -0700, you wrote: >the requirements for live voice encryption are pretty significant: >a fast computer and fast modem. this alone is only a subset >of those people using PGP right now. The tradeoffs are speech encoding quality, and we basically crossed that line a year or two ago for the high end, and are heading toward mass capability. 9600 baud high-quality speech takes lots of crunching, 13.3 kbps GSM takes a Sparc 2 or maybe a Pentium, 16 kbps ADPCM is dirt trivial and can probably run on an 8086. The coding options with Nautilus run on 386s. And you can get by with less if you're willing to put up with half-duplex. 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 or start playing with V.42 a bit, but it's close. Sound cards are down in the $50 range, and give you the analog/digital conversion as well as some computation. Adding a sound card is a bit of work, given the wonderful operating systems on many PCs :-), but folks put them in along with CDROMs so they can run all the latest multimedia applications, or high-end versions of DOOM. 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 :-)... #--- # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, Freelance Information Architect, stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com # Phone +1-510-247-0664 Pager/Voicemail 1-408-787-1281 #--- Storyteller makes no choice - soon you will not hear his voice. His job was to shed light, and not to master. RIP, Jerry

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Re: "S1" encryption system
by Hal 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: Carl Ellison <cme(a)TIS.COM> > Has it already been observed that the key scheduling repeats keys every > 5 rounds? There have been a couple of good messages on sci.crypt, one by Colin Plumb and one by Thomas Jakobsen. The latter mentioned something similar re key scheduling. I hadn't noticed it. Chalk up another apparent weakness. Hal

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Purple Boxes
by an264373＠anon.penet.fi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> it would be called the "purple box" because I have not heard > of any other devices called "purple boxes" (i.e. this string > in the "colorful" hacker namespace does not seem to be used up yet) > and also the famous WWII compromised japanese diplomatic codes > were called Purple. 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. Sauroth ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To find out more about the anon service, send mail to help(a)anon.penet.fi. If you reply to this message, your message WILL be *automatically* anonymized and you are allocated an anon id. Read the help file to prevent this. Please report any problems, inappropriate use etc. to admin(a)anon.penet.fi.

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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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