December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Transitive trust and MLM
by loki＠infonex.com 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

At 11:32 AM 5/8/96, Raph Levien wrote: <SNIP> > One encouraging consequence of this model is that densely connected >subgraphs can result in highly trusted keys even if p itself is quite >small. In a clique of size k, the trust is (very) roughly 1-(1-p)^k. For >example, if p is a mere 50%, then in a clique of size 10, each key in >the clique is trusted with a probability of 99.9%. > This computation is (I think) known as the network reachability >problem, and is probably quite hard to evaluate. In practice, you'd >probably want to compute upper and lower bounds instead, > > Let's see if we can come up with a model that preserves this property >of giving high trust values to densely connected keys, yet is also >highly resistant to (some plausible model) of attacks against the Web of >trust. > >Raph I like this. The most obvious attack on key signatures is to cross sign a huge number of bogus keys, is of no benefit. As the density of this bugus-clique increases, it comes closer and closer to acting as a single entity for trust calculations. Then your trust calculation for any key in the clique is simply your trust of the real key which signed all the bogus ones. It should be no time at all before most reputable key signers cut all links to that key. Another nice property of this calculation of probability is that it automatically drops off exponentially with the number of links (at least along any one chain). We need to think about how much we want multiplicity of paths to bolster our trust. Here is the scenario I want to avoid: Mallet creates a large number of keys: A, B, C[...]. C is a large set of keys. A is the Key Mallet uses publicly. It has a few signatures. B is the key Mallet uses to sign keys who's trust he wants to boost. In addition to signing B with A, Mallet also signes all the C[i] with A, and signs B with all the C[i]. This multiplicity of paths should not boost the trust in any key which is reached through this complex. In general it may be difficult to decipher which paths you want to follow in multiply (and cyclically) connected paths. I suppose one approach to this would be to pick various ways of calculating trust, and see if anyone can come up examples to attacks to exploit them. -Lance ---------------------------------------------------------- Lance Cottrell loki(a)obscura.com PGP 2.6 key available by finger or server. Mixmaster, the next generation remailer, is now available! http://www.obscura.com/~loki/Welcome.html or FTP to obscura.com "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra. Suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night the ice weasels come." --Nietzsche ----------------------------------------------------------

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Re: Remailer in a box
by loki＠infonex.com 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

At 6:55 PM 5/8/96, E. ALLEN SMITH wrote: > Questions. How much memory does the Mixmaster remailer take up? My remailer (with source code and spooled messages) is 1.4M. >What >accesses/permissions/etcetera on a machine do I need to have in order to have >it running on an account? It will run out of any account. A procmail script could be used to direct the mail to Mixmaster (or the front end scripts). If you use the account for other things, you can have the procmail script only forward the Mixmaster messages. >Has anyone set up one such that it will only remail >from & to a set of addresses (e.g., other remailers)? I, for instance, wouldn't >be willing to deal with the hassles involved with running a remailer that was >either what the end user would see (thus getting potentially deluged with help >questions) or the end mailer (thus getting potentially in problems if someone >abuses the remailer)... but I (and others) might if it was set up just for >chaining. (Yes, I know I'd need a UNIX account... I'm looking into that.) This could be done with a trivial modification to the source and destination blocking lists (just change the sense of the checking). Cyberpass (www.cyberpass.net) offers UNIX accounts without dialin access for $7 per month. These are available anonymously, and can be paid for with ecash. > Speaking of UNIX, does anyone have any existing programs to >automatically mail out at random intervals a looping or /dev/null directed >message through the remailers, in order to increase security against traffic >analysis? > Thanks, > -Allen Yes, but I only give it to remailer operators. The "bramble" might get flooded otherwise. Operators see the repercussions of their actions. -Lance ---------------------------------------------------------- Lance Cottrell loki(a)obscura.com PGP 2.6 key available by finger or server. Mixmaster, the next generation remailer, is now available! http://www.obscura.com/~loki/Welcome.html or FTP to obscura.com "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra. Suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night the ice weasels come." --Nietzsche ----------------------------------------------------------

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Cyberspace--Silencing the Net
by hrwatchnyc＠igc.apc.org 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

EFFORTS TO CENSOR THE INTERNET EXPAND U.S. a Miserable Role Model with Passage of Communications Decency Act May 10, 1996 (New York) Governments around the world, claiming they want to protect children, thwart terrorists or silence racists and hate mongers, are rushing to eradicate freedom of expression on the Internet. "The U.S. Congress and the Clinton administration, reacting to recent hysteria over cyberporn,' led the way by passing the Communications Decency Act," says Karen Sorensen, Human Rights Watch on-line research associate. "It is particularly crucial now, in the early stages of vast technological change, that all governments reaffirm their commitment to respect the rights of citizens to communicate freely, and for the United States as the birthplace of the Internet, to be a model for free speech, not censorship," she adds. Human Rights Watch is a plaintiff in the lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the CDA on constitutional grounds. The hearings in the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. Federal District Court on February 8 (the day it was signed into law) end today in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The judges are expected to rule shortly thereafter. In addition, Human Rights Watch is calling on the nations participating in the G7 Ministerial Conference on the Information Society and Development to be held in South Africa from May 13-15, 1996, to repudiate the international trend toward censorship and to express unequivocal support for free expression guarantees on-line. Among the G7 countries Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States only the U.S. has actually passed legislation curtailing freedom of expression on-line. The trend toward restricting on-line communication is growing, according to Silencing the Net: The Threat to Freedom of Expression On-line, which documents restrictions that have been put in place in at least twenty countries, including the following: -- China, which requires users and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to register with authorities; -- Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, which permit only a single, government- controlled gateway for Internet service; -- United States, which has enacted new Internet-specific legislation that imposes more restrictive regulations on electronic expression than those currently applied to printed expression; -- India, which charges exorbitant rates for international access through the state-owned phone company; -- Germany, which has cut off access to particular host computers or Internet sites; -- Singapore, which has chosen to regulate the Internet as if it were a broadcast medium, and requires political and religious content providers to register with the state; and -- New Zealand, which classifies computer disks as publications and has seized and restricted them accordingly. Human Rights Watch recommends principles for international and regional bodies and nations to follow when formulating public policy and laws affecting the Internet, sets forth the international legal principles governing on-line expression, and, examines some of the current attempts around the globe to censor on-line communication. The 24-page report is available via e-mail at sorensk(a)hrw.org or from the Human Rights Gopher: URL: gopher://gopher.humanrights.org:5000/11/int/hrw/general Paper copies of Silencing the Net are available from the Publications Department, Human Rights Watch, 485 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017-6104 for $3.60 (domestic), $4.50 (international). Visa/MasterCard accepted. Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch is a nongovernmental organization established in 1978 to monitor and promote the observance of internationally recognized human rights in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and among the signatories of the Helsinki accords. It is supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. The staff includes Kenneth Roth, executive director; Cynthia Brown, program director; Holly J. Burkhalter, advocacy director; Barbara Guglielmo, finance and administration director; Robert Kimzey, publications director; Jeri Laber, special advisor; Gara LaMarche, associate director; Lotte Leicht, Brussels office director; Juan Mndez, general counsel; Susan Osnos, communications director; Jemera Rone, counsel; and Joanna Weschler, United Nations representative. Robert L. Bernstein is the chair of the board and Adrian W. DeWind is vice chair. Human Rights Watch 485 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10017-6104 TEL: 212/972-8400 FAX: 212/972-0905 E-mail: hrwnyc(a)hrw.org 1522 K Street, N.W. Washington D.C. 20005 TEL: 202/371-6592 FAX: 202/371-0124 E-mail: hrwdc(a)hrw.org

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MEETING: Cypherpunks May 11th San Francisco Bay Area Meeting
by Hugh Daniel 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

The monthly meeting of any Cypherpunks in the San Francisco Bay area will happen this Saturday May 11th, 12:00 noon till about dinner time (say 18:00, 6pm). We are going to try meeting in back of the Tresidder Union at Stanford University in the court yard (by the elevator tower). Tresidder Union is a little (peninsula) west of the Stanford main Quad, there is a parking lot just p-west of of the Union that you can park in on weekends. The best automotive access is from the west via Junipero Serra Blvd. (also called Foothill Expressway, Santa Cruz Ave & Alameda De Las Pulgus) into the 'back' of the Stanford Campus, look it up on a map folks. For some semi-useful maps try: http://www.stanford.edu/home/visitors/maps.html There is a chance we will get a room to meet in, in that case there will be a sign/person telling you where to go. If not there is a raised area in the court yard (under the tree) that will be the gathering area. In the case of rain (and no room) we will meet in the pub in the (peninsula) south west corner of the Union. If you have things you want to talk about at this meeting, or can help in some way please email me. ||ugh Daniel hugh(a)toad.com Vague Agenda: 12:00 Meeting intro, Hugh Daniel on Crypto GUI's and toolkits to build them. Discussion on Crypto GUI design. 12:30 Review of various Crypto GUI's (lead by Hugh Daniel) Various Java applets CyberCash Wallet Various Graphic PGP Shells Skey Others? Please email examples of good or bad Crypto GUI's to demo at the meeting. I have a FreeBSD/Windross-95 laptop to demo them on (we could use a larger display then my laptop screen). 13:30 Norm Hardy on Keys(capabilities), what they are, how they can make things secure if done right, and what the functional difference might look like to an end user. 14:30 Break 15:00 Electronic Communities presentation on "E", an extension of Java to provide Keys(capabilities) in a commercial environment. 16:00 Marianne Mueller & John Gilmore report on the recent Java Security workshop. 17:00 Open for breaking issues, future meeting planing etc. 18:00 Break for dinner. At 20:00 there will be a PenSFA party ( PenSFA is the Peninsula Area Science Fiction Assn.) in San Carlos (12 miles up Alameda De Las Pulgus). Talk to me at the meeting for more info. For dinner I will suggest 'Thai City', about a 2 kilometers south of Page Mill at 4329 El Camino Real. It is on the Peninsula East side of the road, white building with a purple stripe around it and some {}`s (really). +1 415 493 0643

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FW: Science Project Fair
by Husa, Carl (MSX) 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

>---------- >From: Beverly. Ferguson[SMTP:103014.3727@CompuServe.COM] >Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 1996 9:38 PM >To: KOMBUCHA DIGEST; PARACELSUS DIGEST >Subject: Science Project Fair > > >Originally Posted To: > >>Date: Fri, 3 May 1996 09:58:55 -0400 >>Sender: Methods of Teaching Mathematics <TEACHMAT(a)UICVM.UIC.EDU> >>From: Peggy R Shearin <pshearin(a)WARREN.CES.NCSU.EDU> >>Subject: Science Fair Project > >>>Hi, our names are Stevie and Amanda. We are in the 5th grade at >>>the Phillipston Memorial school, Phillipston, Massachusetts, USA. >>>We are doing a science project on the Internet. We want to see >>>how many responses we can get back in two weeks. (We are only >>>sending out 2 letters). > >>>Please respond and then send this letter to anyone you >>>communicate with on the Internet. > >>>Respond to smc(a)tiac.net. >>>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > >>>1. Where do you live (state and country)? > > >>>2. From whom did you get this letter? > > >>>Thank you, >>>Stevie and Amanda > >------------------------------ > >

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Re: Penet-style web remailer?
by camcc＠abraxis.com 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

At 09:17 PM 5/8/96 EDT, you wrote: > http://noah.pair.com/anon.html. It appears to be >sort of a penet-style anonymous remailer, only without return messages. Anyone >know anything else about it? -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I have tried noah.pair.com in several tests and for seemingly secure communications with good results. In addition I have carried on an e-mail conversation with him. Give him a try. Alec camcc(a)abraxis.com -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMZHduCKJGkNBIH7lAQF8HgQArQRgSTMWL0WcAkv9Byk1ZghBYsI9AxRF mxE3nGnHu4H8dhMQXZtUOoY0LN7GkdcCYH8LBab91XwaJCYp3j5WqVt4xPP+feF5 hUTch6VUb/dPB1VYEfHjwNXPAhkOuM2Noarq3cFqbhJNK4UkC1IzNhy1rrhE2yZ+ Yyzv8ppwe4g= =d9bl -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Remailer fot NT
by Lou Zirko 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Date: Thu May 09 09:28:20 1996 Does anyone know of a remailer that runs undet NT. If not, any source that might be ripe for a port. Lou Z. Lou Zirko (502)383-2175 Zystems lzirko(a)isdn.net "We're all bozos on this bus" - Nick Danger, Third Eye -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3i Charset: noconv iQEVAwUBMZIBJBKvccEAmlQ9AQGs5Af+I8BfY640aj/e483mDzbdHOioEaPrQmZ1 R8rA7H0Kg29VU4/4f+Y5J66ZshMVr4ojOYzj8/H7mrsCjsZPx7MjBqiIH1pbUouG ky0NvGLw+HeBRWZz1OSElDUYE+QMHnMr2CxYnaepS/91erJmpt0xE5/oXVohEQOq q/ARLWAYw4FJ6n7cgDDfkcxp5scHthLsAzMCbuHxfsvzAm/1LdU/QFvUWG2+BNv3 4Hx2TWasGWaSfX/+zZGuXHA123JW2frE98o+nRORcM5y7kCOaXPP69xp+aAJsGdh wf7M/ekRhBjfJgdOLtgID+zKBJbZEHA3kGgCmHdz1ynoWiXnMcTlcw== =bWV8 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Looking for someone to speak on JAVA security issues (fwd)
by TQDB 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 09 May 1996 03:25:29 -0700 From: The Dark Tangent <dtangent(a)defcon.org> To: dc-stuff(a)fc.net Subject: Looking for someone to speak on JAVA security issues If you or someone you know has seen a Java security expert who would speak at DEF CON, please have them contact me! -- Hey! All my mail is sniffed! Don't forget to PGP important stuff. PGP Key (2.3a & 2.6) on key servers or mail me. Voice (AT&T) 0-700-TANGENT DEF CON mailing list, mail: majordomo(a)fc.net with "subscribe dc-announce" in the body. DEF CON FTP: ftp.fc.net /pub/defcon http://www.defcon.org

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hks newsgroup
by Kent Briggs 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

hks.lists.cypherpunks has shown no new articles in the past three weeks. I've resubscribed to the mailing list but have seen no mention of the newsgroup's status. What happened to hks and is it ever coming back up? Kent

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re: Dempster-Shafer...(re: Transitive
by tcmay＠got.net 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

At 5:18 AM 5/9/96, watson(a)tds.com wrote: >tcmay's approach is elegant, and it's refreshing to find a practical use >for AI approaches. I think it needs one more step, though. If we learn >to quantify our trust in a key, we still need to know what the threshold >should be for a given application. Maybe I can get by with a 0.05 Bel >for posting to cypherpunks, but maybe I want a 0.95 for a monetary >transaction. Seems to need a comprehensive risk management approach, [was the rest accidentally cut off?] Anyway, I agree that a more comprehensive system is needed. But even attaching belief estimates to keys, for example, goes a long way in letting others than do some transitive calculations. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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