December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: More snake oil: ENIGMA
by attila＠primenet.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

In <v02140b07aeaed1f1f746(a)[10.0.2.15]>, on 11/12/96 at 05:20 PM, azur(a)netcom.com (Steve Schear) said: . Attila said: . .> I wonder if anyone told them the data recovery teams can pull .> multiple layers of data off a disc after it has been stripped? .I've often wondered how effective disk encryption programs, like DiskCrypt, .are at hiding data from a Class III adversary (e.g., NSA). These programs .offer a means of 'cleaning' the data and directory space using randomized .patterns applied one or more times, but this might be insufficient for .removing data written slightly off-track by a previous write cycle. . I don't have any direct experience with 'serious' error recovery either; however, over a few years span listening to some my friends who have not come in from the cold, I received the very definite reading the key is a differential measurement on flux and organization which expands the 'hearing' range exponentially -even if it is multiple destructive formatting. I written software programs for C2 and B1 clearance, including primitives which wiped as they went. I used a pattern which shifted and repeated itself --not too ridiculous on unix if you are using type 2 read/write primitives. messy? yes, in its own simple way. The software was certified by multiple fairly sensitive regula- tory agencies, plus the usual few for whom there is no name. you don't expect, and you do not receive, anything more than a yes/no. but it was in these circumstances I 'heard' the comments on recovery. and their ability to measure that differential gets better every year! No, I do not consider 'erased' disks safe from a determined federal agency. I keep sensitive stuff on zip drives which are removable, and easily crippled forever. that and our principal [a]vocation: stronger cryptography than the hardware can bruteforce or trick. -- Cyberspace and Information are Freedom! FUCK your WIPO, too. -attila

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Re: Censorship on cypherpunks?, from The Netly News
by frantz＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 9:33 AM 11/12/96 -0800, Declan McCullagh wrote: >The Netly News >http://www.netlynews.com/ >November 11, 1996 > >Cypher-Censored >By Declan McCullagh (declan(a)well.com) >... > That is, until recently, when Dimitri Vulis was given the boot. > After he refused to stop posting flames, rants and uninspired personal > attacks, Vulis was summarily removed from the mailing list. > >... > > Thus began a debate over what the concept of censorship means in a > forum devoted to opposing it. Did Gilmore have the right to show Vulis > the virtual door? Or should he have let the ad hominem attacks > continue, encouraging people to set their filters accordingly? The > incident raises deeper questions about how a virtual community can > prevent one person from ruining the forum for all and whether only > government controls on expression can be called "censorship." There is a serious error here. Gilmore did nothing to prevent Vulis from posting to the list. He only prevented Vulis from receiving the list under his own name. And, the as hominem attacks continue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz | The lottery is a tax on | Periwinkle -- Consulting (408)356-8506 | those who can't do math. | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz(a)netcom.com | - Who 1st said this? | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA

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Re: Not. [Was Re: Federal Reserve Bank is ILLEGAL?]
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 02:11 AM 11/13/96 +0000, The Deviant wrote: >On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, jim bell wrote: > >> At 11:57 PM 11/11/96 -0500, Michael Froomkin - U.Miami School of Law wrote: >> Indeed, if Congress chose to license >> >private mints, that would, IMHO be legal. The point here is that the >> >states don't have the power to coin money. >> >> But, apparently, during the 1800's states (?) and individual banks did >> indeed print their own currency. >> >> The way I see it, a positive statement in the Constitution that the Feds >> have the power to coin money does not necessarily exclude other >> people/banks/states/foreign countries from doing likewise. >> > >Hrmm.. One might point out that the only thing required for someone to >"mint" (and I use this term loosely) money is for popular belief that the >money is worth something. What do you think a cashier's check is? Other >notable versions are (and I'm sure somebody is going to say "but its >represintative of the US Dollar", even though its all dealing with money >that really isn't there) is AmEx, MasterCard, Visa, etc. This is yet another reason the Federal government is going to find it so difficult to ban or regulate digital cash. With the collective precedents of paper money, then checks, then credit cards, then traveler's checks, then debit cards, and so forth, the addition of yet another medium of exchange doesn't appear to be a really new concept. Also, as far as I understand it, there is nothing illegal about spending (or accepting) foreign money inside the US, and in many if not most countries it is, likewise, not illegal to spend foreign money there as well. Obviously, the precedents allowing digital cash far outweigh those which could be marshalled to prohibit it.\ Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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FW: Returned mail: User Unknown
by Butler, Scott 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Can whoever is responsible for this please stop. This is about the 30th one that I have received. Thanx Scott >>The address you mailed to is no longer valid. >>This is probably because the user in question was an >>old Open Net subscriber. Open Net is NO LONGER an ISP, >>and has not been since May 1996. > >>We have no redirection address for that user. Please >>remove them from any mailing lists you might have. > >>This response was generated automatically. > >

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Re: Not. [Was Re: Federal Reserve Bank is ILLEGAL?]
by Richard L. Field 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:35 AM 11/12/96 -0800, Jim Bell wrote: >...The way I see it, a positive statement in the Constitution that the Feds >have the power to coin money does not necessarily exclude other >people/banks/states/foreign countries from doing likewise. No need to turn this into Constitutional Law 101, but you might wish to look at Article I, Section 10. - Rich

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Q: where is `/etc/passwd' on WindowsNT
by Thomas Vogler 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

hi all, i am looking on information where WindowsNT stores its database of hashed passwords (in the registry ? below the key \\hklm\security\sam\domains\account\users ?) and how they are stored / hashed (md4 ?) ? any information welcome... ttfn thomas -- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | jolifanto bambla o falli bambla / gro_iga m'pfa habla horem / egiga | | goramen / higo bloiko russula huju / hollaka hollala / anlogo bung / blago | | bung blago bung / bosso fataka / | || | / schampa wulla wussa olobo / hej | | tatta gorem / eschige zunbada / wulubu ssubudu uluwu ssubudu / tumba ba-umf | | / kusa gauma / ba - umf // hugo ball, 'karawane' | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Thomas Vogler, tvo(a)software-ag.de, http://pcool/~tvo/ | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Phone: [49]-(6151)-92-2484 FAX: [49]-(6151)-92-2610 | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | statements in here are my own and not neccesarily those of my employer | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Data leak in Estonia
by Jüri Kaljundi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The following are some news clips from Baltic News Service about a scandal in Estonia, where some government and private databases were sold on black market on CD-ROM disks. This brings up an interesting question, who should own information like police and IRS databases, and is it illegal to copy such information once it is available. Juri Kaljundi jk(a)stallion.ee --- SECRET INFO IS SOLD ON BLACK MARKET, ESTONIAN POLICE SAY TALLINN, Nov 09, BNS - Classified information of important state institutions is available on the black market, according to Estonian security police and central criminal police officials. A database containing information on hundreds of thousands of people, collected by the Tax Department, Estonian Mobile Telephone and Radiolinja companies, the Social Affairs Ministry and several other state agencies and large companies, has hit the black market, the Eesti Paevaleht daily reported on Saturday. Supposedly, also Customs Department and national car registry databases have been secretly copied. The CD-ROM with the confidential informations costs about 50,000 kroons, according to the daily. Security Police Director General Juri Pihl and acting deputy director of the central criminal police, Andres Anvelt, confirmed that numerous institutional databases are available on the black market. Anvelt said he had happened to see a pirate copy of the buildings registry showing all transactions with buildings and their owners. "I've also heard that information on who owns which telephone number has leaked from mobile telephone companies," he added. Pihl said security police would investigate information leaks only when they concerned security police itself. Looking into database thefts is not directly the province of security police, he said. Such a secret database is a powerful weapon in the hands of organized crime, the daily said. Criminals have managed to take advantage of the insufficient protection of electronic databases and are sometimes better informed than the police, Anvelt confessed. Baltic News Service --- ESTONIAN COMMITEE CLAIMS IT HAS NO INFORMATION ON DATABASES ON BLACK MARKET TALLINN, Nov 11, BNS - Chairman of the Estonian parliament's security police committee, Vahur Glaase, said he had not enough information on allegedly illicit trafficking in classified databases. "I have too little information to draw any conclusions," chairman of the parliamentary committee controlling the activity of the Estonian security police told BNS. The Eesti Paevaleht daily Saturday claimed that a database containing information of the taxation department, the Eesti Mobiiltelefon and Radiolinja mobile telephone companies, the social affairs ministry and some other agencies and companies on hundreds of thousands of people had arrived on the Estonian black market. Presumably, the illegally copied database also contains data of the customs department and the motor vehicles registration center. Glaase said that while a large proportion of the official information is open to the public, the publication of a classified telephone number is a crime. "This seems to smack of misprision, and police must start investigating it when an application is filed," Glaase said. According to the Eesti Paevaleht report a CD-ROM with the illegal database costs about 50,000 kroons. The paper claimed that the pirated information is a powerful weapon in the hands of criminals. Security police general director Juri Pihl and central criminal police acting assistant director Andres Anvelt confirmed there was black-market traffic in many institutions' databases. Pihl said that the security police would launch an inquiry into the information leak if it also concerned the security police. He said investigation of database theft was not an immediate task of the security police. According to the criminal code, the potential punishment for destroying or manipulating with other people's electronically recorded information is punishable with a prison sentence for a term of up to one year. Baltic News Service --- ESTONIAN CABINET EXPRESSES SHOCK AT GOVERNMENT DATA LEAK TALLINN, Nov 12, BNS - The Estonian Cabinet is shocked by the appearance on the black market of government information, foreign minister and acting prime minister Siim Kallas said. "It is a complicated problem and the Cabinet is shocked by it," Kallas told reporters on Tuesday. Kallas said Interior Minister Mart Rask had known about the information leak since two months ago. "Investigation of the leak has started at the Interior Ministry and by today criminal proceedings have been taken in the first case," Kallas said. Kallas said that in the nearest future the Cabinet would adopt a decision obliging state institutions to protect the information at their disposal. "The security systems and leaking connections must be checked," he said. The acting prime minister said that it was important to establish how, by which channels and through whom the information came to the black market. Baltic News Service --- ESTONIAN POLICE QUESTION FIRST PEOPLE IN DATABASES LEAK CASE TALLINN, Nov 13, BNS - Estonian police Tuesday questioned several people in connection with criminal action brought in the databases leak case. An interview with an alleged author of the black market databases, Imre Perli, has been scheduled for Wednesday. Tallinn police deputy prefect Peeter Sults told BNS that investigators had contacted Perli by telephone and he had promised to come for an interview. "Perli is not a suspect," Sults said. "Criminal action was brought concerning the fact of the leak, not any concrete person." Sults said the perons interviewed were connected with institutions from which information had allegedly leaked out. The Tallinn criminal police brought criminal action in the classified information leak case on Tuesday. The action was taken concerning violations of regulations of government register keeping or of the use of the information contained in such registers. The punishment stipulated for this in the criminal code is a fine or a prison sentence for a term of up to two years. The press has claimed that most of the classified databases were compiled by Perli, until September an Eesti Mobiiltelefon mobile telephone company employee. He may also have compiled the motor vehicles register database by which car owners can be established. Databases containing thousands of mobile and ordinary telephone numbers, traffic offences, as well as data of the motor vehicles and companies registers are currently being offered for sale in Estonia. Such databases are of high value for organized crime. Baltic News Service

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Re: pgp3
by Gary Howland 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Gary Howland wrote: > > > > > Someone suggested to me that Derek posted a draft spec for PGP 3.0. > > > Anyone know of the whereabouts of this document. > > > > Yes. That document has evolved to RFC 1991: > > > > 1991 I D. Atkins, W. Stallings, P. Zimmermann, "PGP Message Exchange > > Formats", 08/16/1996. (Pages=21) (Format=.txt) Hmm - I don't know I managed to make this post - I had started writing a reply, but exited my mailer, and for some reason it decided to send a cut down version of the unfinished mail anyway ... > Nope. This RFC is merely a rehash of the pgformat.doc file in the PGP > 2.6.? distribution. I'm doing an independent implementation of the PGP > 2.6 message formats, and found this document unclear in a few spots. For > example, can anyone else figure out the weird CFB variant mode from this > document? I used a debugger on the PGP code to help me figure it out. Exactly - I spent ages on the same thing. Then there's the problem that packet length headers must be specific lengths for various types (eg. key certificates must have a 2 byte length, even if only one is required). It is also not clear what the exported key certificates should contain, the spec simply mentioning that there should be no trust packets etc. etc. > The PGP 3.0 "spec" that you're referring to is actually a draft for a > PGP library API. A couple of those got circulated on some PGP mailing > lists, but none have been publicly released, another example of the > secrecy surrounding the whole PGP effort. > > Now that PGP Inc. is happening, it's not exactly clear whether the PGP > 3.0 release is going to include an API closely resembling these drafts. I agree with your comments. For example, we are developing PGP compatible libraries in both Perl and Java, and are going to add SHA, Blowfish, T-DES, etc., along with a better key ring format, encrypted key rings, and features such as key generation from a passphrase, and we would very much like to remain compatible with the new PGP, but how can we when there is so little information available? I think we need a forum to discuss PGP development issues - I would be happy to set one up if there was interest. Best regards, Gary -- pub 1024/C001D00D 1996/01/22 Gary Howland <gary(a)systemics.com> Key fingerprint = 0C FB 60 61 4D 3B 24 7D 1C 89 1D BE 1F EE 09 06

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Re: Taxation Thought Experiment
by Gary Howland 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> o TAXES THOUGHT EXPERIMENT > > 1) I generate $100 of productivity for my company > 2) Company is taxed %30, $70 left > 3) Company pay shareholders and costs, $30 is left > 4) Company pays me > 5) I pay 40% in taxes, so $18 left > 6) With $18 I can buy a $16.82 object (%07 sales tax). > > Results: > 1) I see $16.82 realization from $100 productivity increase. > * Govt. gets $49.26 of my productivity, or nearly 3 times the amount I get. The government gets $59.26, not $49.26 (30+16+12+1.26). That leaves you with 16.74 (not 16.82) - they get nearly four times as much. In other countries the situation may be worse, not only due to different rates of tax, but because of social security contributions, employers tax, and the like. Then if you spend your money on beer or fags, you may be paying even more tax, due to taxes on alcohol and tobacco, leaving the government with perhaps 10 times as much money as you. Many imported goods also have a tax on them (eg. motorcycle import tax is around 50% in the UK). It is probably more fun to do these calculations without involving the shareholders, since they are, after all, earning their "cut". [ Crypto relevance? Assasination taxation? ] Gary -- "Of course the US Constitution isn't perfect; but it's a lot better than what we have now." -- Unknown. pub 1024/C001D00D 1996/01/22 Gary Howland <gary(a)systemics.com> Key fingerprint = 0C FB 60 61 4D 3B 24 7D 1C 89 1D BE 1F EE 09 06

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FW: Returned mail: User Unknown
by Butler, Scott 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> >>The address you mailed to is no longer valid. >>This is probably because the user in question was an >>old Open Net subscriber. Open Net is NO LONGER an ISP, >>and has not been since May 1996. > >>We have no redirection address for that user. Please >>remove them from any mailing lists you might have. > >>This response was generated automatically. > Can whoever is responsible for this please........STOP IT ! Thanx ScOtT >;-D

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