December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Exploring (RSA (001)
by Scottauge＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Exploring Rivest, Shamir, Adelman algorithm, but hoping someone out there is interested in very large number manipulations. RSA suggests choosing two prime 100 digit numbers p and q for beginning of key generation. These numbers are obviously beyond the long type of a C program. Other than using Mathematica or Maple, I would like to use C or perferrably C++. Just some basics such as multiplication, addition, subtraction, division, mod, etc over the Z set.

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Re: www.anonymizer.com
by bf578＠scn.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> >www.anonymizer.com got a nice plug in David Plotnikoff's column in today's >San Jose Mercury News. He quotes Community ConneXion's motto, "Because on >today's Internet, people do know you're a dog." He also mentions its >similarity to anonymous remailers. His capsule review: > >"On the upside, it's very easy to use and it supports gopher and FTP >transfers as well as Web pages. On the downside, it's predictable slow and >pages, bracketed top and bottom with Anonymizer banners, often don't >display quite right." mailto: links take you to a anonymous remailer web page that lets you choose among remailers. news: can be read anonymously but posting doesn't seem to work yet. If converts all links in a page to use the service. Some info does get through , such as your broswer type. Soon, i guess browsers programmers will start passing info there! Don't know what happens with shttp:? anybody tried? Slowness is probably because the "service" is free and they don't have the funds for more horsepower. They do claim that they cache documents, so if one person gets a page from a slow server then everyone else can get it faster. (of course they'd have to be faster!) -- ------------------------------------------ There are no facts, only interpretations. I always wanted to be somebody,

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Re: Nuke Singapore Back into the Stone Age
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 05:55 PM 8/29/96 -0700, Timothy C. May wrote: >As to why so many of the criticisms of such crackdowns use "weasel >language," such as the example Jean-Francois disagrees with, well, this is >the way the game is played. The alternative to "The government of Singapore >fails to understand the nature of the Net and could do grievous harm to it" >is not quite so diplomatic: > >"Fucking statists. Time to nuke 'em back to the stone age." Additionally, such statements are not actually directed at the fascists they are addressed to. We are well aware that they won't pay any attention to them. They are addressed to private readers. In that case a good mix of polite argumentation by EFF-type groups and "nuke 'em 'till they glow then shoot 'em in the dark" rhetoric from the rest of us is probably the optimal mix. The goal is to convince a critical mass of people to choose to exercise the freedoms they possess because of all our toys here on the Net. Since people are different, a broad spectrum of argumentation is indicated. DCF "What we seek is not the overthrow of the government but a situation in which it gets lost in the shuffle."

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LAT_ice
by jya＠pipeline.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

8-23-96. Science: "Lattices May Put Security Codes on a Firmer Footing." Miklos Ajtai, a mathematician at IBM Almaden, has provided the kind of guarantee of hardness that cryptographers are looking for. He has proved that examples picked at random from a particular class of problems are, with exceedingly rare exceptions, as hard to solve as the hardest ones imaginable. A code that embedded messages in these problems so that only someone equipped with the answers could decode them would provide something close to a guarantee of security. 8-29-96. WaJo: "Cybersleuths Help Make Java Safe for Browsers." Over the past year, Wallach, Dean, Felten and Balfanz have become self-styled policemen for some of the hottest Internet software around. Like many fellow hackers, they find thrills in the search for others' mistakes. But unlike some of their brethren, they're using their skills to make the software better by informing the companies of their findings, rather than exploiting the errors maliciously. ----- http://pwp.usa.pipeline.com/~jya/latice.txt (13kb for 2) LAT_ice ---------- Seth Lloyd, MIT, has a 5-page report on "Universal Quantum Simulators" in Science of 23 August, which confirms Feynman's 1982 conjecture that quantum computers can be programmed to simulate any local quantum system. There are quite a few equations so we have not scanned it to .txt. However, we will scan as JPEG images for those who are interested. Send us a blank message with subject UQS_fey. There will be a delay to honor knothead labor, me.

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Re: Elliptic Curve Y**2 = x**3 + a * x**2 + b
by Erle Greer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> 1: How can I take the suqare root mod p ? This has what to do with CP?

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[NOISE] Re: Elliptic Curve Y**2 = x**3 + a * x**2 + b
by stewarts＠ix.netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 09:38 PM 8/29/96 -0500, you wrote: >> 1: How can I take the suqare root mod p ? > >This has what to do with CP? Talking about actual implementation details for actual cryptographic algorithms? Very little these days*, though I suppose Jim Bell has a solution for that.... [*Not that I'm necessarily in a position to bitch, given the code-to-ranting ratio of my own postings :-)] # 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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(Fwd) Re: New file system
by Deranged Mutant 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I'm not on the list currently, but I this person is looking for info on putting filesystems in other files and I no longer have the refs to what some members of the list were doing. ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- At 12:38 PM 7/26/96 +0000, you wrote: >On 26 Jul 96 at 3:07, free-dos(a)vpro.nl wrote: > >> I ask this here since I can't find anywhere else to ask this. > >> I'm looking for / thinking about writing a library that allows >> for a file system to exist inside of a single file (much >> like the microsoft OLE document). This is needed for a project >> of mine. > >Check the Linux 2.0 distribution. I believe it allows this. There's >also some cypherpunks talk recently about hiding encrypted >filesystems in other files, so you may want to check the archives in >hks.net. > Could you give me a good site to look into this? I tried coast.net with no luck since the source is spread over a good number of directorys. >> Requirements: >> >> Mulitiple files and a hiarchial directory reside in a single >> file. >> >> The file starts out as small as possible then it becomes >> bigger as more files and directorys are added to it. >> >> The files inside the file system can be added, renamed, >> delete, moved, fragged. (there must be a way to defrag the >> files) >> >> Each file in the file system can have mulitiple streams much >> like the NTFS file system. >> >> End of requirements. >> >> Does anyone know of a library like this and if so where >> if not does anyone have any ideas on how this could work. >> Currently i'm looking at modiling the system after the >> UNIX file system. >> >> Any ideas / comments please respond by email to: >> hawk(a)idir.net. >> >> Use subject: 'Re: New file system' >> >> >> e-mail: hawk(a)inf.net > --- No-frills sig. Befriend my mail filter by sending a message with the subject "send help" Key-ID: 5D3F2E99 1996/04/22 wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com (root@magneto) Send a message with the subject "send pgp-key" for a copy of my key.

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RE: Mimic Function Stego Programs?
by Adamsc＠io-online.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Thu, 29 Aug 1996 16:34:05 -0400 (EDT), Damien Lucifer wrote: >I've been working on a text steg'ing program for a while that operates >under a different premise, however. It keeps a dictionary of word pairs, >with each word in the pair being a synonym for the other. It will read >which is why I never finished the decoder. Once i started encoding things, >and realizing how little could be hidden in this manner, I stopped working >At the moment the dictionary is very small; nearly all of the words are >relevant to only pornographic text (since porno is both predictable, and >repetitive, i thought it would be a good place to start). :) And it would let you hide stuff using a flood of Usenet alt.sex.stories posts that could be forwarded somewhere.... It sounds mainly like your program is limited by the small dictionary size. Perhaps you could work up a front end that would make it very easy to extend the dictionary? - "'Anonymity is bad,' says a source who wishes to remain anonymous." - Nuff' said. * Home: Chris Adams <adamsc(a)io-online.com> | http://www.io-online.com/adamsc/adamsc.htp * Autoresponder: send email w/subject of "send resume" or "send PGPKEY" * Work: cadams(a)acucobol.com | V.M. (619)515-4894 | (619)689-6579 * Member in good standing of the GNU whirled hors d'oeuvre

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San Diego CPunk Physical meeting
by Christian Claborne 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- <<<<< NOTE! I have a new address!!! >>>>>> San Diego Area CPUNKS symposium Thursday, Sep. 21, 1996. Invitation to all Cypherpunks to join the San Diego crowd at "The Mission Cafe & Coffee Shop". We discuss cryptography and other related subjects, have the special cypherpunk dinner, and unwind after a long day at the grind stone. Don't forget to bring your public key fingerprint. If you can figure out how to get it on the back of a business card, that would be cool. If you want the suspicious crowd there to sign your key, bring two forms of ID. Hopefully Lance Cottrell will give us an update on Mixmaster and what's going on at San Diego's best ISP. You can also get the scoop on why I resigned from NCR. It wouldn't of course be because someone freaked out when I forwarded the cypherpunk e-mail titled "How to become in international Arms trafficker"... Place: The Mission Cafe & Coffee Shop 3795 Mission Bl in Mission Beach. 488-9060 Time:1800 Their Directions: 8 west to Mission Beach Ingram Exit Take west mission bay drive Go right on Mission Blvd. On the corner of San Jose and mission blvd. It is located between roller coaster and garnett. It's kind of 40s looking building... funky looking (their description, not mine) They serve stuff to eat, coffee stuff, and beer. See you there! New guy, bring your fingerprint. Drop me a note if you plan to attend... NOTE: My primary e-mail address has changed to use my own domain. You can reach me at "claborne(a)cyberthought.com". Permanently replace any other address that you may have for me. I am currently not subscribed to the CP list since my current internet connection is slow (I can't afford anything right now :) 2 -- C -- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 4.0 Personal Edition iQEVAgUBMicd5IP1MBWQ+9udAQHH8gf+IRwyVgQ1SO9ktTnT1St7g9HUM0HwvZZJ IxSQxJ57wVfgwcaCaYvUxnrtkhq6fhW77WTrv/IT2rHMlKJGwX6xN3sF24CUKQ5s Hl3Pxxuqp/HVkXqsQsCdzAGVqrK+DXqbLLJMUSKDLzZUqqfqYA6di8GrB17vNDxT V6LkTVwZsERlofvlA9d+3aEPlSdxgOP47H9TRtqd/XwVuP3C1h+1QPzq9+uzImkG /J51rAzh69U8Kt7R/6RF2qMSKw2FwUEWZa5iN4L7RzVyEly68DkWHedu32iAEdoT v1xqhCnjya457rYvigUEOMZ/Skeb1rOfrdr5UPLY6l/+fwticMbk1Q== =I4Mj -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ... __o .. -\<, Claborne(a)CYBERTHOUGHT.com ...(*)/(*)._ Providing thoughts on your computing problems. http://www.CYBERTHOUGHT.com/cyberthought/ PGP Pub Key fingerprint = 7E BF 38 3F 24 A7 D1 B0 54 44 96 AA 10 D0 5D 51 Avail on Pub Key server. PGP-encrypted e-mail welcome! Dreams. They are just a "screen saver" for the brain.

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Selling your sole to DOJ ...err, devil Zimmermann?
by attila 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

= This is a bit much, if not off the wall. Any glimmer of = truth..? = [snip] = = A lot of people think that PGP encryption is unbreakable and that the = NSA/FBI/CIA/MJ12 cannot read their mail. This is wrong, = [snip] = Since version 2.1, PGP ("Pretty Good Privacy") has been rigged = to allow the NSA to easily break encoded messages. Early in = 1992, the author, Paul Zimmerman, was arrested by Government = agents. He was told that he would be set up for trafficking = narcotics unless he complied. The Government agency's demands = were simple: He was to put a virtually undetectable trapdoor, = designed by the NSA, into all future releases of PGP, and to = tell no-one. well, as to the methodology of threatening (and actually prosecuting) narcotics complicity or conspiracy under Title 18 861(a), I can vouch for the method... all "they" need is a judge like Peck in El Paso (assassinated on the bench) or Foley in Vegas (retired and gone --a hero) --both were better known as "Judge Ray Bean, law west of the Pecos" and just about as knowledgeable and reliable.... First, let me state: this is not a frontal attack on Zimmermann himself, but a question given some of the historical precedents and circumstances, and their implications on the basis of human behavior --particularly the act of saving one's ass. Zimmermann is a political flake, a warmed over 60s liberal. I would find it difficult, despite his apparent altruism and left-over 60s need for redress, to believe that Zimmermann's coding of PGP was other than a commercial stepping stone (judging from both his prior and later actions); and, Zimmermann is nothing but the true liberal he always was --most of the 60s liberals were against the government for one thing only: Vietnam --a morality issue as they saw it --but they are *still* liberals with liberal morality and a 'government solves all' outlook on life. I won't go into chain of command and discipline, but I consider my service to have been *wasted* by a government interested more in a weapons testing playground far more than any ideology or righteous need of the free world (but we sure used the ordinance; after all, the difference between men and boys is the price of their toys!). --but the 60s liberal was inflamed by a sense of (im)morality. therefore, we are back to the same old question: does the leopard ever really change his spots? have you ever seen a liberal who would not sell his soul to the devil? I do not wish to blow a conservative horn, but given: "the ax and the firing squad are merely stones on the road to freedom." --attila the sacrificial lamb is certainly not your average warmed-over 60s liberal who is generally no better than the Stalinist "socialist" sympathizers which dominated both the State Department and the White House during FDR's reign, as their cadres gave the Manhattan project and Eastern Europe to Old Joe. FDR's fiasco was also the first perfect example of OSI/NSA not willing to prosecute since they were cracking Russian crypto. For instance, I always WANTED to believe Alger Hiss was innocent in so much as his son, Tony, was a classmate at Harvard and we were on the editorial board of the Harvard Crimson at the same time --but he certainly wasn't innocent with the recent release of 50 year old NSA files. therefore, I would not even hesitate to say in relation to the accusations against Zimmermann: QUITE POSSIBLE; and I would certainly expect our sleazy government to make the offer. I am not interested in sitting in judgement of Phil Zimmermann --let his conscience be his judge. however: *** WE WOULD BE FOOLS NOT TO EXAMINE WITH A FINE *** *** TOOTH COMB PGP's IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RSA *** *** ALGORITHMS *** secondly, there is nothing to prevent us, as a group, from building a universal RSA application with a portable GUI (I think we can all afford Zinc (yuk... but it covers the platforms cheaply --and this is not an exotic interface requirement), and we can leave open hooks and interfaces for mail, streaming, and every other purpose with a single structure call. ANYONE WISH TO VOLUNTEER? --for both problems. and, if no-one else has the guts to post the new PGP key server compliant system software as freeware source code, I do! "Their" only solution for me is murder, which is certainly not below their dignity; but I am old enough not to care. NOW, given that Zimmermann was supposedly insolvent at the time of the "their" investigation, where did the money come for PGP, Inc. and where did the money come for the acquisition of ViaCrypt (the commercial licensee)? Zimmermann was NOT funded prior to the acquisition and PGP, Inc. was announced virtually the same day the DOJ dropped the case. not intending to slander Phil, but these are types of prosecution deals our "government of whores" (O'Rourke) is famous for proposing --in other words: the premise is open for interpretation. I've always believed it is not only to be clean, but to appear clean in that there is no reason for suspicion of anything but clean... does Zimmermann make the test? HOWEVER, I do think the RSA algorithm (for instance, the freebie RSA routines used in mixmaster) and its associated code are safe to a given bit level which theoretically can be incremented indefinitely as hardware performance advances accordingly. --I seriously question "they" can break the algorithm itself except by brute force. The question is how far up the bitstream are "they?" and, we should never be so complacent as to presume "they" will not land on an algorithmic method to create the primes from the bit stream --after all, they have two of the four numbers and the products... just playing a hypothetical game on "their" fears, "their" pronoucements, "their" tolerance of low number bit encryption, and NSAs use of hardware at least a generation ahead, I would gamble NSA's brute force methods can probably break 1024 bits currently, and in a "reasonable" time. NSA is a game --they will grant the public 64 bits based on their estimate of the time required with a given level of hardware to break EVERY message in a finite number of sub-seconds --leaving the heavy hardware for the good stuff, at this point Thomas Scheling's theories come into play --I took Scheling's first course in "Game Theory" at Harvard in '60 --he was extremely ignorant on number theory and related statistical analysis --we called the course: "War Games." secondly, NSA, and the rest of "them," will play the game of appeasement, fighting the good guys with delaying tactics as they surrender 64, then 128, then 256, etc. --talk, talk, talk... and Nero is still fiddling... meanwhile NSA's capability to crack the good stuff is increasing rapidly enough to keep up with the directive that they must be able to decode EVERYTHING. there are routines to eliminate brute force as a means of decryption, but they are painful and cumbersome in a public key system. plus, publication will bring the morning after visit from two or more spooks in raincoats... who are not your friends. the game of appeasement depends on enough people WANTING (not necessarily willing) to believe that what they hear from big brother is the truth, or maybe better expressed as that old "Faith in America, land of our fathers" routine. anyone around here with insufficient cynicism to buy into NWO appeasement? attila, 29 Aug 96 -- Now, with a black jack mule you wish to harness, you walk up, look him in the eye, and hit him with a 2X4 over the left eye. If he blinks, hit him over the right eye! He'll cooperate --so will politicians.

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