December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: pgp, edi, s/mime
by Hal Finney 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: Raph Levien <raph(a)cs.berkeley.edu> > I think you're referring to the possibility that PGP 3.0 may use a > public key algorithm other than RSA. However, if this is the case, it > won't be compatible with PGP's installed base. In addition, I don't > believe that there has been a public key encryption algorithm proposed > which is free of patent controversy. I have recently gone to work for PGP, Inc. PGP 3 will support both discrete log and RSA cryptography. It will interoperate with both, so that when you send a message to someone who has an RSA key, it will use RSA, and when you send to someone who has a discrete log (El Gamal/DSS) key, it will use discrete log algorithms. So there is full compatibility with existing keys, while allowing people to move to cryptography which will be patent free in the U.S. after next year. A free version will be available with this functionality, with source code. Existing users of PGP will hopefully find it easy to upgrade. I cannot say when it will be available, other than to say that the functionality exists for generating and using all these kinds of keys, and we have four programmers, including myself, working full time on getting this version out. Hal

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Re: SPA sues C2, other ISPs and users
by James A. Donald 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 02:15 PM 10/12/96 -0700, sameer(a)c2.net wrote: > We'll be doing a press release > for monday. I look forward to supporting the ISPs in whatever manner seems most likely to be effective. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd(a)echeque.com

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Fuck Cyberpromo
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

It seems to me that every time I send a message to cypherpunks, I get a 10k message entitled "RESPONSE FROM CYBERPROMO" from "abusebot(a)savetrees.com (Mail AutoResponder)" . It stands to reason that everyone who posts this list gets the same thing. I've certainly seen enough people here complain about it. So. The messages all say send complaints to wallace(a)cyberpromo.com . That's what I'm going to do. With every message I get from cyberpromo from now on. I would expect that if everyone on this list who gets one of these things -- which I suspect is everyone who posts here lately -- turned right around and sent it on to this wallace(a)cyberpromo.com address, those, er, caprophageous cretins, (thanks, DCF; don't sue me for copyright violations ;-)) would get the hint in a hurry. I'm starting with the one I have, and, of course, I'll also do it for the message I get from sending *this* posting. Cheers, Bob Hettinga ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "The cost of anything is the foregone alternative" -- Walter Johnson The e$ Home Page: http://www.vmeng.com/rah/

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[NOISE] Funny quote in Word-A-Day
by Tom Lojewski 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

How do I get off the cypherpunks list? >Date: Fri, 11 Oct 1996 08:18:24 -0400 (EDT) >From: "P. J. Ponder" <ponder(a)freenet.tlh.fl.us> >To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com >Subject: [NOISE] Funny quote in Word-A-Day >Sender: owner-cypherpunks(a)toad.com > >the Word-A-Day mailing list came up with a humorous quote, >almost germane to some of the ramblings on this list.... > > > >>Reputation: what others are not thinking about you. >> >>To subscribe or unsubscribe, please send a message to >>wsmith(a)wordsmith.org >>with "Subject:" line as "subscribe <Your Real Name>" or "unsubscribe". >>Email anu(a)wordsmith.org if you have any questions, comments or >>suggestions. >>Archives, FAQ, words and more at the WWW site: >>http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/ > >So long, Perry.... >Let us know when you get a new list set up & best wishes. > > >-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- >Version: 2.6.2 >mQCNAzBz1GQAAAEEANGl0daeboCV8dBSLxycjYd5tIJNOmKN2Y8hCXhF5cLt0nVu >NUDMgmUWF4zoZtBDNbtVF0wTTxEcBEHOLjIuZKPeiT7Bw266HhTahXxOIaOXZyDj >5VMISVvt9/Ua31JfxfCwK0iPtojFtKcNU13z/hrYA7Q5LfqsVF4ZsVsZPDGdAAUT >tClQLkouIFBvbmRlciA8cG9uZGVyQG1haWwuaXJtLnN0YXRlLmZsLnVzPg== >=lVU7 >-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- > > > > --------------------------------------------------------- Tom Lojewski - ProNet Consulting - lojewski(a)earthlink.net

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Quadratic residues
by amnesia＠chardos.connix.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Tim C[unt] May's obsessive masturbation has lead to advanced degree of blindness and hairy palms.

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Tim May is a fine person.
by anonymous＠miron.vip.best.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Tim May's razor sharp wit and excellent accurate analyses have added much to this group. His early support of the cypherpunk concept has helped advance the cause of cypherpunkdom. In short, Tim May is the top of the top, the best of the pest. His impeccable tolerance with totally unwarranted scurrilous attacks is truly mind boggling. I think we should all pay Tim may tribute for his fine contributions!

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Re: Fuck Cyberpromo
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 04:38 PM 10/12/96 -0400, Robert Hettinga wrote: >and sent it on to this wallace(a)cyberpromo.com address, those, er, >caprophageous cretins, (thanks, DCF; don't sue me for copyright violations >;-)) would get the hint in a hurry. Unfortunately, I need a new spell checker. The correct spelling is coprophagous cretin. Remember coprolite (fossilized dung). DCF

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Not That Smart Cards
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

New Scientist, 12 October 1996, p. 21. Smart, but not that smart By Mark Ward Credit card companies are turning to smartcards to help them fight fraud. But manufacturing problems may mean that they are no more secure than existing cards. Conventional credit cards hold information in a magnetic strip that typically holds about 200 bytes of information -- enough for the card and version number, expiry date and owner's name. Smartcards have a built-in microprocessor that can handle several kilobytes of data, equivalent to pages of information. Having the tiny computer on board means that each card can have a unique identity, and this ought to help to protect the information held on it. But to give a card an individual electronic signature, its built-in processor has to do a long calculation. This is a time-consuming process, so some card manufacturers intend to issue cards with one of several thousand preprogrammed identities. Each card will therefore have thousands of duplicates, all of which will be vulnerable if a criminal cracks the code for any one of them. In 1994 the credit card companies Europay, Mastercard and Visa got together to draw up a common specification for smartcards, known as EMV The cards will rely for security on the RSA encryption algorithm. This uses two very large numbers, called keys. One is passed around in public and the other remains hidden in the card's memory. The keys are 155-digit prime numbers which are multiplied together to make an even larger number which is then used to code and decode the data on the card. The problem for card manufacturers is working out the large prime numbers in the first place. "Companies making smartcards turn one out every 15 seconds," says Dmitri Markikis, a security analyst at Mondex, a London-based company that is experimenting with smartcards as electronic purses. "But it takes longer -- estimates range from 6 to 30 seconds -- for the card to generate its RSA keys." To speed things up some manufacturers are considering generating 10,000 preset keys and inserting one as each card is made. Louis Guillou, a researcher at France Telecom's Commercial Centre for the Study of Television and Telecommunications highlighted the problem this summer at the Crypto 96 conference in California. The three EMV partners circulate over 800 million credit cards between them, yet are likely to use a limited population of keys. "Trying to reuse the keys several times is very dangerous," says Guillou. Card manufacturers say the problem will be solved as smartcards become more powerful. "Soon the processing power of a smartcard will be such that it will be able to overcome that kind of issue," says Cyril Annarella, a technical consultant for the French company Gemplus, which makes cards for the EMV members. [End]

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Re: LET'S MEET DIMITRI
by Z.B. 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Sat, 12 Oct 1996, Ross Wright wrote: > On or About 12 Oct 96 at 11:28, Steven L Baur wrote: > > Tim's message: > > > Well, to one who inserts "(spit)" after nearly every name he cites, > > and critiques Hayek as "fucking unreadable. Shit.," I suppose Hayek > > must indeed seem unreadable. Shit. > > > > After all, Hayek rarely writes things like: "The senile Von Mises > > (spit) and his Sovok Cabal plotters...." > > > > As to "forcing" your students to read Hayek, just who is in charge? > > If you're the instructor, they can choose to read what you tell them > > to read, or be unprepared on the exams you give and possibly flunk > > the class. What part of "Required Reading" do you or your students > > not understand? > > > > --Tim (spit) May > > I had almost forgotten what started this war of flame. That's not so > bad. > Not very bad at all, considering all of the subsequent messages Vulis posted in response to that one. All of the (spit), (fart), and so on got annoying REAL fast, not to mention the anonymous Tim-bashing messages which he is probably doing as well. Zach Babayco zachb(a)netcom.com <-------finger for PGP public key http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/4127 ----- If you need to know how to set up a mail filter or defend against emailbombs, send me a message with the words "get helpfile" (without the " marks) in the SUBJECT: header. I have several useful FAQ's and documents available.

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Re: exporting signatures only/CAPI (was Re: Why not PGP?)
by nobody＠replay.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Adam Back <aba(a)dcs.ex.ac.uk> wrote: >The problem however, is finding a non-US site to hold the hot potato >once it has been exported. For example 128 bit Netscape beta was >exported a while ago. I don't see it on any non-US sites. You didn't look vary hard.

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