December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Whitehouse responds to Zimmermann pardon letter
by an215712＠anon.penet.fi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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NIST conference summary in CDT
by K. M. Ellis 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The Center for Democracy in Technology policy posting no. 24 provides a pretty good summary of the NIST conference. If anyone is interested, e-mail me privately and I can forward it to you. -=Kathleen M. Ellis=- kelli(a)zeus.towson.edu Geek Code v3.0 http://zeus.towson.edu/~kelli/ GAT dx s++:- a-- C++ uu+++ P+ L++ E- W++ N K W--- O- M- V-- PS+++ PE- y+>+(-) PGP+>++ t+ 5 x+ R tv b+++ DI- D--- G e h* r+ z** Diverse Sexual Orientation Coll.Towson State University DSOC(a)zeus.towson.edu

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When they came for the Jews...
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

********* Citing ``the rapidly expanding presence of organized hate groups on the Internet,'' a leading Jewish human rights group [the Simon Wiesenthal Center] on Tuesday began sending letters to hundreds of Internet access providers and universities asking them to refuse to carry messages that ``promote racism, anti-Semitism, mayhem and violence.'' But Cooper said the ``unprecedented potential and scope of the Internet'' gives people ``incredible power to promote violence, threaten women, denigrate minorities, promote homophobia and conspire against democracy.'' He cited the posting of instructions for making explosive devices, including recipes for Sarin nerve gas and bombs similar to the one that destroyed the Federal Building in Oklahoma City last April 19. *********** In reading the above from today's NYT, I was interested to see the expansion of the protected classes who are not to have unkind things said about them on the Nets. Aside from the usual list of suspects, I noted that *democrats* were also to be protected. I thought that "conspiring against democracy" (something I do daily) was classic political speech and and activity that even the drafters of the American Constitution practiced from time to time. I guess I'm going to have to watch my attacks on democracy if I don't want to get my Net access cut off. DCF "I favor discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color sex, age, alienage, previous condition of servitude, recent interstate travel, handicap, sexual or affectional preference, marital status, Vietnam-era veteran status (or lack thereof), occupation, economic status, and anything else I can think of."

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DC-C'punks meeting
by pfarrell＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Sorry to waste list bandwidth for the 600 folks too far away to care about this... The next DC-area c'punks meeting will be September 16, it will be at the Digex headquarters offices in Beltsville, probably starting about 3:00 PM. Digital Express Group 6800 Virginia Manor Road Beltsville Maryland 20705 (301) 847-5000 Directions to DIGEX >From the Washington Beltway (I495) in Maryland, take Route 1 North. drive on Route 1 a few miles, maybe as many as three or four. You will see a Ritz Camera Center. Turn left onto Ritz Way. At the second street, turn Right onto Virginia Manor Road. You are now near 6800 Virginia Manor Road. Digex is the last building on the Right. If you need more information, email me, or see my http://www.isse.gmu.edu/~pfarrell/dccp page. Pat Pat Farrell grad student http://www.isse.gmu.edu/students/pfarrell Infor. Systems and Software Engineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA PGP key available via finger or request #include standard.disclaimer

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Re: Netscape to patch shareware version
by carolann＠censored.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

As fast as it takes to FTP it over there. I have copies of every server Netscape's got, although I haven't unpacked them or used them. Will this take up another 75 megs on the HD? Lover Always, Carol Anne.....dreaming of her own web server someday. >| Meanwhile, in an as yet unannouced move, the company said it would place >| its commercial browser online for free downloading. [..] THe commercial >| version, sold only in the U.S. contains an unbreakable 128-bit >| encryption scheme. >Ok, any bet on how long it will take? > >/Christian -- Member Internet Society - Certified BETSI Programmer - Webmistress *********************************************************************** Carol Anne Braddock (cab8) carolann(a)censored.org 206.42.112.96 My Homepage The Cyberdoc *********************************************************************** ------------------ PGP.ZIP Part [017/713] ------------------- M8H,),S$8G>&.WP(8IRA`-M['+`Q%&_C"">5-F%LX@<_Q$;*P'',Q$Z/AA[8M MF=O0H+*%(-S%&>S%+FS&<LS%3(Q&#W1"<]2%`H^;,]^1C$'HBN8PX$4SYAU^ MPGD<Q0ZLA0D+,`MCT!LA**4M[-JPAK9F?40!AJ,CW"'%DR#:'9?Q)3[%<DQ` ------------------------------------------------------------- for next chunk to export --> http://dcs.ex.ac.uk/~aba/export/

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Re: Scientology tries to break PGP - and
by keelings＠wu1.wl.aecl.ca 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Incoming from Henry W. Farkas: > [snip] > When the safety is finally removed from the gun at your head (sorry for > the drama) you hand over your alternate secret key. If decrypted with the > "alternate" or "fake" secret key, the encrypted file is wiped until it > reaches a marker; the remainder of the file is displayed. If you use your > "primary" or "real key", the extraneous text is simply stripped. I would just like to point out that, when a LEA comes to you to get at the contents of your computer, (s)he is not going to patiently wait while your system wipes the offending evidence off your hard disk. The first thing they do is make a copy of everything, so they can work from the copy. Besides, you do have backup tapes laying around all over the place, don't you? -- "Remember, obsolescence (Win95) isn't an accident; it's an art form!" keelings(a)wu1.wl.aecl.ca s. keeling, aecl - whiteshell labs

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Secure Device 1.4 (secdr14.zip)
by gjeffers＠socketis.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Dear fellow Cypherpunks, Could someone send me Secure Device 1.4 (Secdr14.zip) ? My ftp software won't accept the huge directory path needed to point at the package on U.S. servers. I am an American citizen at an American site who knows the export regulations. Thank You, Gary Jeffers

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p-NEW digital signatures
by Kent Briggs 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I've been experimenting with discrete logarithm digital signatures. Schneier describes a scheme call p-NEW on page 498 of "AP" (2nd ed). It has the advantage of not requiring an inverse calculation via the extended Euclid algorithm. The signature is shown as: r=mg^(-k) mod p s=k-r'x mod q The verification equation is m=(g^s)(y^r')r mod p r'=r mod q. If p is a strong prime then q=p-1 and r'=r. The public key is y=g^x mod p. x is the private key. k is a random number less than q. m is the message being signed. I'm confused about the negative k value in the r equation. This would lead to 1/g^k which is a fractional number. It seems the equation should be: r=mg^(q-k) mod p Or, I can rearrange both equations like this: r=mg^k mod p s=-k-rx mod p To avoid using negative numbers in the mod function, I can calc s as: s=q-((k+rx) mod q) I tried this with some small integers and the numbers work out. The s calculation will be quick since there is no exponentiation. Most of the time spent in signing a message will be the r calculation. However, the the verification equation [m=(g^s)(y^r)r mod p] has two exponentiation calculations and will take more time. Since a message is only signed once but could be verified many times, I could precompute rg^s during the signing: r=mg^k mod p s=q-((k+rx) mod q) z=rg^s mod p s is discarded and the signature is r and z. The verification is: m=zy^r mod p This slows down the signing but speeds up the verification. Here's the $64K question: Does this compromise the signature's security? Kent Briggs kbriggs(a)execpc.com CIS: 72124,3234

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Re: Netscape to patch shareware version
by Marshall Clow 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>| Meanwhile, in an as yet unannouced move, the company said it would place >| its commercial browser online for free downloading. [..] THe commercial >| version, sold only in the U.S. contains an unbreakable 128-bit >| encryption scheme. > >Hurray! We did it! We did it! :-) Indeed. Congratulations to Damien, Adam, and all the other people who contributed cycles to the "Cypherpunks Key Breaking Ring". > >| Netscape said it received word last week that the State Department had >| cleared that version for release on the Net, but only within the U.S., >| owing to current export laws banning the export of encryption schemes >| stronger than 40 bits. THe company could provide no details by press >| time on how it would ensure that the 128-bit version wouldn't leak beyond >| U.S. borders. > I suspect Netscape will do the minimum so that they will not be held liable. >Ok, any bet on how long it will take? > Less than 3 hours. >| The cypherpunks forced a situation where Net users now have better >| encryption available to them. I'd say this is a big win. > >The power of the Net is actually quite astonishing at times. The >plotting in Ender's Game isn't all that unrealistic after all. (Oh, >well, ruler of the world is a bit of still. ;-)) > Demosthenes

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fcpunx subscribe
by Wendy Fu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

endWendy Fu, Network Manager St. John's University School of Law 8000 Utopia Parkway, Jamaica, NY 11439 E-Mail Address: wfu(a)sjulaw.stjohns.edu Phone: (718)990-1666

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