December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

SAC_lam
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

11-25-95. Washrag: "Hacking Away at the Internet's Web. Security Concerns Grow as Saboteurs Target On-Line Sites." Computer hackers are turning their unwelcome attentions to the World Wide Web. Web sites are among the easiest places on the Internet to disrupt and sabotage, experts say, in part because many of the people who set up such displays pay little attention to security. Such unprotected systems located outside of a secure network are often called "sacrificial lambs," noted a manager at Trusted Information Systems Inc. SAC_lam (8 kb)

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NOF_uss
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Science, Nov 17, 1995: "Security Schemes Aspire to No Fuss System Protection." Because of the painful trade offs between security and usability that come with current protective measures, computer scientists have heen investigating new ways to detect and ward off intruders that present fewer obstacles to users and administrators. Two of the most intriguing directions announced at the Baltimore security conference were reported by researchers at Purdue University's Computer Operations, Audit, and Security Technology laboratory (COAST). The first was an attempt to harness techniques from artificial intelligence to detect intrusions; the second, a pilot test of what has been called software forensics -- an effort to recognize malign programs by identifying the fingerprints of their creators. NOF_uss (15 kb)

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Learning Elliptic Curves
by norm＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I have found an easy introduction to elliptic curves. It is "Rational Points on Elliptic Curves" by Joseph H. Silverman & John Tate. (Springer-Verlag ISBN: 0-387-97825-9 or 3-540-97825-9) It is a breezy undergraduate introduction. It emphasizes the mathematical elegance. It mentions crypto applications but does not delve deeply. Schneier recommends "Elliptic Curve Public Key Cryptosystems" by Alfred J. Menezes. (Kluwer Academic Publishers ISBN: 0-7923-9368-6) That book has only a very compressed theory section which already requires knowledge of field theory. I think that the first book is a good intro to the second, which does cover crypto applications. What I learned is that elliptic curves are an alternative to finite fields for crpto purposes. Here is what they have in common: There are many (2^70 -- 2^2000) values any one of which can be represented in the machine in constant space. a_i is the ith one of these values. If someone sends you a_i it is real hard to figure out what i is. There is an operation that isn't too expensive for computing a_(i+j) given a_i and a_j. For some big integer i you can compute a_i in about (log i)^3 steps. For RSA, knowing how to do these two computations does not reveal what the period of the sequence is, i.e. what is the first i such that a_0 = a_i. Knowing the period is tantamount to knowing the private key.

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PGP Distribution Site at MIT *DOWN*
by jis＠mit.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- The anonymous FTP server running on net-dist.mit.edu (which is also bitsy.mit.edu) is currently down due to a failure of the disk drive that hosts the files. We expect to replace the disk this afternoon (Saturday) and begin restoral operational as soon as the new disk is cabled up. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have full service restored shortly. -Jeff -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMLdruMUtR20Nv5BtAQELyAP/ekj4hTskW7rEqW5lTidmE67yjqxDWlj0 ahCYBpGOHyE6SRmoCNpjAyHkTu0As1rfdcyZOziDdlHkYWgyxPu3yjrQ9J5yvpM7 V+Q2EWSHHePjlXx9oyHa6FwkgwUkwTAQpuZBC9fu9Jp0HxPs7a6JC+6WSAJi342J EDGnqFtxTp8= =+MsK -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: MIT Distribution Site (FTP) for PGP and Other Products *DOWN*
by jis＠mit.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In article <jis-2511951419240001(a)road-warrior.mit.edu>, jis(a)mit.edu (Jeffrey I. Schiller) wrote: > The anonymous FTP server running on net-dist.mit.edu (which is also > bitsy.mit.edu) is currently down due to a failure of the disk drive > that hosts the files. We expect to replace the disk this afternoon > (Saturday) and begin restoral operational as soon as the new disk > is cabled up. Service is now restored (on a new disk). -Jeff -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMLeu8sUtR20Nv5BtAQGQGgP8CCm6SJdkxNAv125clOeWq/3VEFMBGgx7 GTpZIKcZutWSqBbC8ATUDoyqcIURR+xEUvKxegktauYkS+fdfHnqsD84OnA1lG2X 4bOwO8G9zA2Uy93lcVrM4WrAYE1J4hseiuhFK6T4kGbHek91ZU/dY5xGjgo+3Wrm FeYXRwfujJY= =hAXB -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Gingrich, "crypto coalition" & dysfunctional philosophy
by jimbell＠pacifier.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The detweiler tentacle is afraid to debate me... >To: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri(a)netcom.com> >From: jimbell(a)pacifier.com (jim bell) >Subject: Re: Gingrich, "crypto coalition" & dysfunctional philosophy > >>well, I don't really care about convincing anarchists that you're >>a bozo. it's reasonable people who it would scare me if they began >>to take you seriously. > >Then start being "scared." I guess you have lots of practice. > >> frankly I'm not convinced that anyone with >>half a brain is taking you seriously. > >I don't have to convince you of anything! You wimped out! You claimed that you would be happy to debate me IN PUBLIC! Well, I did and you ran away with you tail between your legs! > >Stop being a wuss! If you're as correct as you claim you are, you have no reason to fear. Debate, dammit! >

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AI and Author-ID Security
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The AI and author-ID security programs covered in the Nov 17 Science article are described in detail at: <http://www.cs.purdue.edu/coast/coast.html> Active Defense of a Computer System Using Autonomous Agents Mark Crosbie and E. H. Spafford; Department of Computer Sciences, Purdue University; CSD-TR-95-008; 1995. Defending a Computer System Using Autonomous Agents Mark Crosbie and E. H. Spafford; Department of Computer Sciences, Purdue University; CSD-TR-95-022; 1995. Authorship Analysis: Identifying the Author of a Program Ivan Krsul; Department of Computer Sciences, Purdue University; MS Thesis; CSD-TR-94-030; 1994.

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Re: [NOISE] Chi Sun Times SS# Sweepstakes
by Lynne L. Harrison 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:54 AM 11/27/95 -0600, Alex Strasheim wrote: >The Chicago Sun-Times is running a contest in which readers are asked to >send in their social security numbers. Someone will win a cash prize >after a random drawing. > >I can't figure out the angle on this. If they simply want to run a >promotional contest, why are they asking for ssn's? If there's an >ulterior motive, what is it? Are they going to sell the list? Would they >have a use for it themselves? Alex - There may be *an ulterior motive* of getting the person's ssn, i.e., for the purpose of the newspaper (and the winner) reporting winnings to IRS. In addition, the newspaper may also feel that, in selecting a 10-digit number, it probably will not repeat such as someone's birthdate. Personally, I lean towards the former. > >The frustrating thing is that there are probably many millions of >Americans who will give away the keys to the store for next to nothing. >The feds probably made a tactical error: instead of trying to force >mandatory key escrow down our throats, they ought to have offered everyone >who is willing to submit to voluntary escrow a chance to win a Chrysler >Minivan. I agree with you. I believe *greed* is the operating word.... Regards- Lynne ******************************************************* Lynne L. Harrison, Esq. | "The key to life: Poughkeepsie, New York | - Get up; E-mail: | - Survive; lharrison(a)mhv.net | - Go to bed." *******************************************************

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No Subject
by jimbell＠pacifier.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>From POP3(a)abaco.coastalnet.com. Sat Nov 25 21:32:38 1995 Return-Path: <dkincaid(a)home.dave.us> Received: from home.dave.us (pm-nb1-49.coastalnet.com) by abaco.coastalnet.com (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA03138; Sat, 25 Nov 95 21:30:18 EST Resent-Date: Sat, 25 Nov 1995 17:00:16 -0800 Resent-From: dkincaid(a)home.dave.us Resent-Message-Id: <9511260230.AA03138(a)abaco.coastalnet.com> Received: by home.dave.us id AA01536 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for cn1290(a)coastalnet.com) Sat, 25 Nov 1995 21:27:17 -0500 Resent-To: cn1290(a)coastalnet.com Message-Id: <m0tJUWY-0008yoC(a)pacifier.com> X-Sender: jimbell(a)pacifier.com X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Version 1.4.4 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Precedence: bulk Sender: jimbell(a)pacifier.com (jim bell) From: jimbell(a)pacifier.com (jim bell) To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Cc: vznuri(a)netcom.com Subject: Re: Gingrich, "crypto coalition" & dysfunctional philosophy Date: Sat, 25 Nov 1995 17:00:16 -0800 The detweiler tentacle is afraid to debate me... >To: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri(a)netcom.com> >From: jimbell(a)pacifier.com (jim bell) >Subject: Re: Gingrich, "crypto coalition" & dysfunctional philosophy > >>well, I don't really care about convincing anarchists that you're >>a bozo. it's reasonable people who it would scare me if they began >>to take you seriously. > >Then start being "scared." I guess you have lots of practice. > >> frankly I'm not convinced that anyone with >>half a brain is taking you seriously. > >I don't have to convince you of anything! You wimped out! You claimed that you would be happy to debate me IN PUBLIC! Well, I did and you ran away with you tail between your legs! > >Stop being a wuss! If you're as correct as you claim you are, you have no reason to fear. Debate, dammit! >

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No Subject
by aleph＠toad.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>From POP3(a)abaco.coastalnet.com. Sat Nov 25 21:32:39 1995 Return-Path: <dkincaid(a)home.dave.us> Received: from home.dave.us (pm-nb1-49.coastalnet.com) by abaco.coastalnet.com (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA03139; Sat, 25 Nov 95 21:30:20 EST Resent-Date: Sat, 25 Nov 1995 00:02:29 -0600 (CST) Resent-From: dkincaid(a)home.dave.us Resent-Message-Id: <9511260230.AA03139(a)abaco.coastalnet.com> Received: by home.dave.us id AA01530 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for cn1290(a)coastalnet.com) Sat, 25 Nov 1995 21:26:44 -0500 Resent-To: cn1290(a)coastalnet.com Message-Id: <Pine.SUN.3.91.951124235921.16448A(a)dfw.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Precedence: bulk Sender: Aleph One <aleph1(a)dfw.net> From: Aleph One <aleph1(a)dfw.net> To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Subject: Cypherpunk Certification Authority Date: Sat, 25 Nov 1995 00:02:29 -0600 (CST) Since now Netscape allows for user defined certification authorities I would like to hear some ideas for a Cybpherpunk CA. Probably run by one of the respected member in the group such as Sammer, Perry or Tim. I would like to hear some discussion about creating the certificates based on the web of trust of your PGP key, etc. Any takers? Aleph One / aleph1(a)dfw.net http://underground.org/ KeyID 1024/948FD6B5 Fingerprint EE C9 E8 AA CB AF 09 61 8C 39 EA 47 A8 6A B8 01

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