December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

WashPost report on airline security plan
by David Lesher 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Today's WashPost reports that one plan the new commission is studying is a massive Big Brother database of any&everyone boarding a plane. ""Suspects"" will then be subjected to extra attention. -- A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz(a)nrk.com & no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433 is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

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Waging War On Singapore
by qut＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

So what is the information that the Singapore dictatorship is trying to ban? Whatever it is, the Singapore internal networks should be flooded with it. How to get an internet account in Singapore, preferably anonymous?

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WARNING vIRuS!
by kickboxer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

There is a new and VERY dangerous virus called the HAZ-MAT virus! it fucks up the sectors on your hd, and really messes up the partition tables. It does this once a week, picking a random time to do it. 99.9% of virus scanners and other antivirus programs will not recognize it, for it is a totally new strain, using a never before seen code.... Be warned! The HAZ-MAT virus usually resides in JPG, and GIF files... once the files are viewed, the virus takes effect. scan all images upon download!

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found the flight-800 missle thing
by Alan Horowitz 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 22:51:33 -0800 From: Dan Robbins <kl7y(a)alaska.net> To: alanh(a)widomaker.com Subject: RE: Our old thread on airport security (fwd) >Return-Path: <cas(a)alaska.net> >Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 11:46:10 -0800 >X-Sender: cas(a)alaska.net >To: kl7y(a)alaska.net >From: Cas Gadomski <cas(a)alaska.net> >Subject: RE: Our old thread on airport security (fwd) > >>Return-Path: <jcs1(a)MAILNET.ho.ATT.com> >>From: jcs1(a)MAILNET.ho.att.com >>Original-From: jcs1(a)MAILNET.ho.ATT.com >>Original-From: "Schaefer, John" <jcs1(a)MAILNET.ho.ATT.com> >>To: "'Cas Gadomski'" <cas(a)alaska.net> >>Subject: RE: Our old thread on airport security (fwd) >>Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 10:32:38 -0400 >> >>Cas: >> >>As far as I know, PETN while often used as a detonator, is also a >>component of many initiators (a "booster" rather than a detonator--that >>is the detonator fires the larger booster charge, which fires the main >>charge) but it is also found as a main charge many weapons. >> >>Am not familiar with what we/"they" use as a bursting charge in SAMs but >>I would expect that they would use something with major blast >>capabilities like PETN. I've always like Octol for a big blast but >>there are all kinds of things out there now. As to fragments the >>message is right on target. One report from the crash sited frag damage >>of plane parts and some bodies but the subject never appeared in the >>press again. >> >>For air to ground against surface targets or tunnels NOTHING beats a >>fuel-air bomb. Next best thing to a nuke. (One story out of the Sandbox >>War relates a couple of British SAS folks observing from a distance a >>concentration of enemy when the USAF unloaded an FAE bomb on the target. >> The Brits called their HQ to report that the US had gone nuclear! >> >>Am still wondering about the "missile" theory. An errant SM-1 is highly >>unlikely, and Stingers and Strellas have a very small warhead (2-3 >>pounds) and the plane would have been at the far limit of their range >>even if fire from directly underneath. We may never know what happened. >> (One really way-out theory was that it as done in by a major SAM fired >>from a submarine by China/Iran/Iraq/Martians, etc. (take your pick). >>Next will be it was shot down by a particle beam weapon fired from a >>UFO. >> >>If I was a terrorist who wanted to do an airliner externally the best >>way would be to sit in a very small fiberglass boat about a half-mile >>off shore of JFK very late at night or very early in the morning (to >>avoid spectators) and get them with a Stinger/Strella on climb out. >>Toss the launcher overboard and paddle away. >> >>As to terrorist bombs in crowded places I still can't believe that some >>nut hasn't used dynamite and a couple of propane tanks--MAJOR bang >>there. A standard "home" size tank as used for cooking with a big >>initiator would probably clear a major mall. Very scary. >> >>As of late Sue and I avoid, if at all possible, crowded public places >>like malls, shopping centers, and theaters. They're disasters waiting >>to happen. >> >>As to sending obnox mail to the "postmaster"--yup, that works. >> >>If you want to really worry read Tom Clancy's new book "Executive >>Decision." >> >>Stout heart and good cheer, >> >>John >> >> >> >>>---------- >>>From: Cas Gadomski[SMTP:cas@alaska.net] >>>Sent: Friday, August 30, 1996 4:52 AM >>>To: Schaefer, John >>>Subject: Our old thread on airport security (fwd) >>> >>> >>>John . . . >>> >>>What do you think??? I'll forward any clarifications and/or updates >>>and >>>confirmations as I get them. >>> >>> Cas. >>> >>>>Return-Path: <kl7y(a)alaska.net> >>>>Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 18:20:13 -0800 >>>>X-Sender: kl7y(a)alaska.net >>>>To: cas(a)alaska.net >>>>From: Dan Robbins <kl7y(a)alaska.net> >>>>Subject: Our old thread on airport security (fwd) >>>> >>>>One problem with this. My friend at work who used to be in EOD >>>>said PETN is found only in detonators and occasionally in boosters, not >>>>in the explosives themselves. He said he knew of no US weapon or bomb >>>>that used PETN in the main charge See 6) below. If PETN is >>>>only in the detonator, then there would not be very much of it in any >>>>explosion. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>>Return-Path: <alanh(a)widomaker.com> >>>>>Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 19:41:05 -0400 (EDT) >>>>>From: Alan Horowitz <alanh(a)widomaker.com> >>>>>X-Sender: alanh@wilma >>>>>To: jennett(a)citicom.com, kl7y(a)alaska.net >>>>>Subject: Our old thread on airport security (fwd) >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>---------- Forwarded message ---------- >>>>>Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 14:51:54 +1300 >>>>>From: Joop Teernstra <terastra(a)TERABYTZ.CO.NZ> >>>>>Reply-To: Cebu Discussion List <CEBU-L(a)CEBU.USC.EDU.PH> >>>>>To: Multiple recipients of list CEBU-L <CEBU-L(a)CEBU.USC.EDU.PH> >>>>>Subject: Our old thread on airport security >>>>> >>>>>Dear fellow airtravellers, >>>>> >>>>>I think the following is relevant to a point I made at that last >>>>>discussion, >>>>>and I like to share it with you, even if some of you may have seen it >>>>>already: >>>>> >>>>>>Newsgroups: alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater,alt.conspiracy >>>>>>Subject: Re: POSSIBILITY OF AN RBS 70 SAM ON TWA 800 >>>>>>Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 09:48:51 GMT >>>>>>Organization: The Scannerist >>>>>>Lines: 144 >>>>>>Message-ID: <4vrs85$3cp(a)ash.ridgecrest.ca.us> >>>>>>References: <011303Z25081996(a)anon.penet.fi> >>>>>>Reply-To: cheshire(a)ridgecrest.ca.us >>>>>>NNTP-Posting-Host: annex033.ridgecrest.ca.us >>>>>>X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.0.82 >>>>>>Xref: news.express.co.nz alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater:60503 >>>>>alt.conspiracy:198774 >>>>>> >>>>>>an623250(a)anon.penet.fi wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>Very concise report. It is also interesting to note that you mention, >>>>>>"Tungsten, perhaps? " Tungsten pellets are not the only thing used by >>>>>>ground to air weapons. Sidewinder [Chaparral] is known to use an >>>>>>"expandable rod" war head. Also, a casing of FRANGABLE tungsten is >>>>>>being used in some weapons. This means that the case itself explodes >>>>>>into thousands of razor sharp pieces. So sharp that you could shave >>>>>>wih them. Bad news for anyone or anything within reach. :-{ >>>>>> >>>>>>>From: RONALD LEWIS <INTELLIGYST(a)WORLDNET.ATT.NET> >>>>>>>Subject: POSSIBILITY OF AN RBS 70 SAM ON TWA 800 >>>>>>>To: Multiple recipients of list FLIGHT-800 >>>>>>> <FLIGHT-800(a)HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM> >>>>>> >>>>>>>According to the 8-23-96 edition of the New York Times, residue of PETN >>>>>>>explosive has been confirmed on wreckage of TWA Flight 800. We now have >>>>>>>either a bomb or a missile as the cause. >>>>>> >>>>>>>PETN is said to be a component of missile warheads as well. >>>>>>>Interesting how >>>>>>>that was mentioned in all of the news reports tonight on various networks >>>>>>>and even local TV. Now that the investigators have concluded that it >>>>>>>definitely was a bomb or a missile, they are supposedly going through and >>>>>>>trying to collect evidence to indicate which it was. >>>>>> >>>>>>>Two things highly significant: 1) Weeks ago, a reliable source >>>>>>>advised me >>>>>>>that the investigators were not worried about explosive residue fading in >>>>>>>salt water because they had other evidence. Components of a missile, >>>>>>>perhaps? Couldn't say. >>>>>> >>>>>>>2) Same source told me the other day that the investigators were now >>>>>>>conducting "metalurgical studies", i.e., they were looking for and >>>>>>>analzying certain types of metal. Tungsten, perhaps? Bombs don't >>>>>>>contain >>>>>>>tungsten but SAM warheads are often surrounded by tungsten balls or >>>>>>>pellets. >>>>>>>They help cut the metal skin of their target aircraft. >>>>>> >>>>>>>OTHER NOTES: >>>>>> >>>>>>>1) Rocket motor of a missile would be capable of touching off a fire in >>>>>>>nearby fuel tanks. An Exocet missile sank the destroyer SHEFFIELD >>>>>>>in the >>>>>>>Falklands War without the warhead even detonating. The missile cut >>>>>>>through >>>>>>>the hull, severed fuel lines and the rocket motor touched off the spilled >>>>>>>fuel, causing a fatal fire. >>>>>> >>>>>>>2) Something ejected the air conditiioning plant in the first >>>>>>>debris field. >>>>>>>What would blow out the missing bottom of the aircraft center without >>>>>>>collapsing the internal structures, then manage to blow the forward >>>>>>>fuselage >>>>>>>off, rip away the right side of the fuselage and cause burn marks >>>>>>>there and >>>>>>>in the adjacent wing? A titanic explosion which quickly ripped the >>>>>>>fuselage >>>>>>>apart faster than Pan Am 103 went. >>>>>> >>>>>>>3) The sound on the cockpit voice recorder is different from any >>>>>>>other they >>>>>>>have heard before on two other 747s downed by bombs (Pan Am and Air >>>>>>>India). >>>>>>>Perhaps the sound was not caused by a bomb? It seems we have only a >>>>>>>bomb or >>>>>>>a missile left at this point. If it's not a bomb, then....? >>>>>> >>>>>>>4) Nose gear damaged in its hold. Nose gear door gone. Right side >>>>>>>forward >>>>>>>cargo hatch blown off in first field. The doors and AC unit located >>>>>>>together. How does a bomb inside the center fuselage do such damage >>>>>>>to the >>>>>>>nose gear area? It doesn't seem possible. However, an external >>>>>>>blast and >>>>>>>shock wave would be consistent with this, especially if it initiated >>>>>>>at the >>>>>>>left rear and traveled forward, rippling along the bottom of the >>>>>>>aircraft. >>>>>>>It would be very interesting to note if the nose gear door found in >>>>>>>Area #3 >>>>>>>(the "first" debris field, that closest to JFK) happens to have been from >>>>>>>the right side. >>>>>> >>>>>>>5) Latest pieces of wreckage with fuselage stringers and stiffeners >>>>>>>AGAIN >>>>>>>show at least subtle evidence of an external explosion rippling the outer >>>>>>>fuselage inward. Look at the video of all outer hull sections recovered. >>>>>>>The outer skin is pushed inward around the stringers. If it had been an >>>>>>>internal bomb, the metal would be almost universally bowed OUTWARD >>>>>>>away from >>>>>>>the stringers and ribs. But they aren't. In virually every case I have >>>>>>>seen so far, the sheet metal is not pulled AWAY from the stringers. They >>>>>>>may be popped loose but even in those rare cases, the indentations on the >>>>>>>outer skin make it appear as though the stringers have been pushed inward >>>>>>>away from the outer sheet metal, not as though the steet metal had been >>>>>>>pused outward away from the stringers. >>>>>> >>>>>>>6) If a bomb, why so little PETN? Why isn't it virtually >>>>>>>everywhere? Pan >>>>>>>AM 103 HAD lots of it even though the bomb went off contained in a cargo >>>>>>>bin. What would account for so little PETN in this case? >>>>>> >>>>>>>A proximity fuze detonation of a missile would touch off the blast >>>>>>>outside >>>>>>>the aircraft. Kinetic energy would still send a large portion of it into >>>>>>>the aircraft, penetrating it and passing through, but most of the >>>>>>>explosive >>>>>>>residue would burn away or dissipate outside of the aircraft. If >>>>>>>they can >>>>>>>find fragments of the 747 underbelly and subject them to tests, I >>>>>>>strongly >>>>>>>believe they will find higher concentrations of both PETN residue and >>>>>>>tungsten fragments embedded in the metal. >>>>>> >>>>>>>If this was a bomb, it had to be enormously powerful, skillfully >>>>>>>planted or >>>>>>>just unfortunately "lucky." The entire bottom of the plane around the >>>>>>>center wing box is said to be missing but, bewteen the passenger >>>>>>>cabin and >>>>>>>the outer surface of the bottom of the plane is some of the most robust >>>>>>>construction known to exist on the 747. How is it, then, that that the >>>>>>>"device" was able to blow off the front of the fuselage, blow away >>>>>>>at least >>>>>>>the right side of the fuselage, then make it past the heavy-duty >>>>>>>wings and >>>>>>>AC unit to shread the bottom of the plane into fragments so small >>>>>>>they may >>>>>>>have to dredge to recover them? >>>>>> >>>>>>>It seems that only a missile could rip away the bottom exterior upon >>>>>>>contact >>>>>>>to blast away the AC unit lying right above that area. As the hot >>>>>>>remains >>>>>>>of the missile body continue into the aircraft, they could tear open the >>>>>>>center fuel tanks and, with the compression of air and kinetic >>>>>>>energy, blow >>>>>>>out the right side and cause separation of the forward fuselage. The >>>>>>>thousands of tungsten fragments and the armor-piercing capability of >>>>>>>the RBS >>>>>>>70 would surely be capable of such incredible damage. It has destroyed >>>>>>>light armored vehicles when fired in the air-to-ground mode, so it >>>>>>>shouldn't >>>>>>>be hard to imagine it doing severe damage to the thin skin of a >>>>>>>pressurized >>>>>>>airliner hull at 13000+ feet. >>>>>> >>>>>>>And there are precedents for using SAMs against airliners and civilian >>>>planes. >>>>>> >>>>>>>In the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, airliners were being used >>>>>>>to ferry >>>>>>>out refugees and to bring in weapons and supplies during the civil >>>>>>>war with >>>>>>>Abkhazian separatists. SAM gunners, in boats out on the Black Sea, are >>>>>>>known to have shot down at LEAST two airliners as they approached >>>>>>>and took >>>>>>>off from Sukhumi, Georgia. >>>>>> >>>>>>>In April, 1995, a Falcon executive jet carrying the president of >>>>>>>Rwanda was >>>>>>>on final approach to Kigali airfield in the capital city of Rwanda >>>>>>>when it >>>>>>>was shot down by a shoulder-fired SAM (RBS 70 is NOT shoulder-fired >>>>>>>but is a >>>>>>>MANPAD, or man-portable system mounted on a pedestal mount). >>>>>> >>>>>>>It has happened before, it may have happened with TWA 800. Now, what >>>>>>>measures do we take to make sure it doesn't happen again? >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>>Ron Lewis >>>>>>>CHIEF MILITARY & AVIATION ANALYST >>>>>>>THE INTELLIGYST GROUP >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>>--****ATTENTION****--****ATTENTION****--****ATTENTION****--***ATTENT >>>>>>>ON*** >>>>>>>Your e-mail reply to this message WILL be *automatically* ANONYMIZED. >>>>>>>Please, report inappropriate use to abuse(a)anon.penet.fi >>>>>>>For information (incl. non-anon reply) write to help(a)anon.penet.fi >>>>>>>If you have any problems, address them to admin(a)anon.penet.fi >>>>>> >>>>>>Dr Pepper >>>>>>10 - 2 - 4 >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>Uh, oh! >>>>>Joop Teernstra >>>>>http://serve.com/terastra >>>>>If you want to make up your mind about an argument, see who attacks the >>>>>person, rather than the matter at hand. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>* CEBU-L DISCUSSION LIST * Comments/Complaints, write: >>>>>ADMIN(a)CEBU.USC.EDU.PH >>>>>To unsubscribe, write: LISTSERV(a)CEBU.USC.EDU.PH w/ body text: SIGNOFF >>>>>CEBU-L >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> > > >

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Moscowchannel.com hack
by Joel McNamara 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Not really crypto, but related to the DOJ hack in a way. Moscow Channel is a pretty slick, Russian news/commentary page. Their Web site was hacked and altered by someone who didn't seem to like Russians all that well. See: http://www.moscowchannel.com/ While not as elaborate as the DOJ hack, it's interesting that Web page vandalism is starting to turn into a unique form of protest and social commentary. As Web sites with security holes increase, my guess is vandalism will increase incrementally. Both in terms of random graffiti, and targeted attacks. Just a matter of time before some builds a dedicated Satan type tool that scans for HTTP server holes or messed up file permissions to make locating potential victims easy.

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Re: Code Review Guidelines (draft)
by stewarts＠ix.netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 09:58 AM 8/29/96 -0500, Igor wrote: >The decision that have just made is not a technical decision, it is >a business decision. You just decided that the needs of security >outweight the need to be able to deal with 100% of potential customers. I strongly agree. You've also potentially annoyed a bunch of Europeans, Unicode-speakers, and other users of non-ASCII alphabets. Just because the domain name in somebody's address is case-insensitive (and culturally-insensitive :-) ASCII, that doesn't mean their user name will be also, especially if their _real_ mail system is some ugly proprietary thing like Microso-Cc:PR0FS-HS.400 or if their name is Swedish or Chinese. > ..... X.400 ..... /OU=foo/O=bar/C=KREV/ (X.400 may be evil, but it does exist :-) > [ ! is almost dead ] ! is still around, especially for gateways to proprietary mail systems. You also need to add colon : and maybe comma , . # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com # <A HREF="http://idiom.com/~wcs"> Reassign Authority!

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mailing lists
by patrickbc＠juno.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

If any body knows any good mailings lists please tell me. -P. Cummings- Patrickbc(a)juno.com

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Below-bit-level encoding
by Dale Thorn 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Does anyone have info or know of a text source on less-than-bit-level file preparation? I presume the crypto techniques would be the usual stuff; I'd like to dig into bit deconstruction a little, and a text which has a chapter or more devoted to this and other esoteric file processing would be helpful. Note that this is not substitution or bit-packing or whatever. Thanx.

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Re: DON'T Nuke Singapore Back into the Stone Age
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 6:35 AM 8/31/96, Arun Mehta wrote: >There are two sides to this: after all, it is the Singaporeans who finally >have to sort out this problem with their government, and denying them >the Usenet platform for discussion would only hinder that process. The point is to make clear to them that the Usenet and similar Web sites are global in nature, not subject to censorship without a very high local cost. If discussions of Lee Kwan Yew's dynasty are considered illegal, then Singaporans will have to choose not to carry the various newsgroups into which *I* post such messages! (This was done by many of us during the Karla Homulka and Teale trial in Canada a couple of years ago: Canada imposed press restrictions on discussion of the trial and the grisly evidence...and then was chagrinned to find that the global Net did not adhere to their notions of what should and could be discussed. They even seized copies of "Wired" at the border, very much akin to Singapore's stone age policies.) >Then again, inappropriate postings are the bane of the Internet: the consensus >on which the Net functions relies heavily on people not posting >inappropriately. This works imperfectly, as all long-time surfers of the Usenet will attest! And _never_ has it involved determinations of "inappropriate" by _governments_! Our point in protesting Singapore's actions (and Germany's, France's, America's, India's, etc., in other cases) is to technologically subvert their notions that their politicians can determine what the Net, Web, and Usenet carry. To be blunt, if Singapore wants to stop me from discussing the dictator Yew and his feeble son, they can't. Except by pulling the plugs on forums in which my posts are carried. I consider this a Good Thing (that politicians in Country A generally have no power to tell citizen-units in Country B what they can say and what they can't). The point of being sometimes "impolite" (*) is to "force their hand." (* I find it Orwellian that being "polite" is taken to mean not saying anything controversial. It was impolite for Salman Rushdie to write "The Satanic Verses," is was impolite for people to mention Karla Homulka in talk.politics.canada, it was impolite to point out that the prime minister of India drinks a glass of his own urine every day, it was impolite to refer to Bill Clinton's dalliances with Paula Jones, and so on. In a free society, all things are discussable. That various countries want to make the Net less free is not something we should support, even if it is more "polite" to accede to the wishes of their dictators, secret policemen, demagogues, preachers, and henchmen.) --Tim May -- [This Bible excerpt awaiting review under the U.S. Communications Decency Act of 1996] And then Lot said, "I have some mighty fine young virgin daughters. Why don't you boys just come on in and fuck them right here in my house - I'll just watch!"....Later, up in the mountains, the younger daughter said: "Dad's getting old. I say we should fuck him before he's too old to fuck." So the two daughters got him drunk and screwed him all that night. Sure enough, Dad got them pregnant, and had an incestuous bastard son....Onan really hated the idea of doing his brother's wife and getting her pregnant while his brother got all the credit, so he pulled out before he came....Remember, it's not a good idea to have sex with your sister, your brother, your parents, your pet dog, or the farm animals, unless of course God tells you to. [excerpts from the Old Testament, Modern Vernacular Translation, TCM, 1996]

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Re: Code Review Guidelines (draft)
by qut＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

! Dave Harman OBC wrote: ! > ! > ! At 09:58 AM 8/29/96 -0500, Igor wrote: ! > ! >The decision that have just made is not a technical decision, it is ! > ! >a business decision. You just decided that the needs of security ! > ! >outweight the need to be able to deal with 100% of potential customers. ! > ! ! > ! I strongly agree. You've also potentially annoyed a bunch of Europeans, ! > ! Unicode-speakers, and other users of non-ASCII alphabets. ! > ! Just because the domain name in somebody's address is case-insensitive ! > ! (and culturally-insensitive :-) ASCII, that doesn't mean their user ! > ! name will be also, especially if their _real_ mail system is some ! > ! ugly proprietary thing like Microso-Cc:PR0FS-HS.400 or if their ! > ! name is Swedish or Chinese. ! > ! > Agreed, the DNS and other systems should be upgraded to 8bit. ! > Unix should also allow / in file names, it can be escaped somehow. ! ! It is not possible. Oh, every value can be escaped, there's no reason that the full 8bit range cannot be incorporated throughout every operating system. It's just legacy junk which keeps us putting up restrictions in everything that we really don't want. Ditto for network software.

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