December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

RE: Mass-market crypto phones
by Mullen Patrick 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

_______________________________________________________________________________ From: Lucky Green on Fri, Nov 22, 1996 14:52 <snip> >quality is fine. Note that a fast IP connection may or may not suffice. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <snip> >sending UDP packets over the Internet new problems arise. One packet ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ <snip> >--Lucky I was going to just listen to the way this thread is going because I find it fascinating, but now that it has been spelled out, I must make a very important distinction between my idea and PGPFone, WebPhone, etc. -- These are Web-based programs designed to speak over very long distances for "free" (neglecting ISP charges, etc.), adding the extra functionality of encrypting your data along the way so sniffers, etc can't listen in on your conversation. My encryptophone(tm) :-) is purely a modem-modem protocol. This way, even at 14.4k you get all of your throughput. No TCP/IP overhead. No busy Net. No "Why won't my ISP hold a connection longer than TWO MINUTES!?!?". The idea I was tossing around was a simple modem program which takes digitized voice, encrypts it, pumps it through the phone line directly to the modem on the other side which undoes it all. (Yes, I know this is a simplified view.) I also know it may not be as useful as the web-based products, but I also know you don't have to worry about the aforementioned problems and neither party has to have a Net account. This eliminates some of the problems which have been sent to me. Of course, some of the problems still apply and must be addressed. I guess now's the time to admit that the first and foremost problem is that I have never programmed my soundcard... I appreciate the tips and pointers everyone has been giving me tremendously. Hopefully, this thread doesn't do a complete reversal, because I am storing all hints/suggestions/tips to be used when I can finally get this project going. (I'm stubborn. I need to at least try it, if for no other reason than to get the knowledge... :-) Thanks! PM

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CNET News Dispatch November 22, 1996
by The CNET newsletter 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

************************************* CNET NEWS DISPATCH/SPECIAL COMDEX ISSUE Friday, November 22, 1996 San Francisco, California, USA ************************************* Welcome to the sixth and last in a series of SPECIAL COMDEX ISSUES of the CNET NEWS DISPATCH, bringing you the latest on the people, products, and parties at this exciting event. Check out our Comdex page at: http://www.news.com/Categories/Index/0%2C3%2C38%2C00.html?nd ************************************* CNET NEWS DISPATCH is a daily newsletter that summarizes the up-to-the minute technology news presented by CNET's NEWS.COM. It tempts readers with coverage of today's hottest stories, news in the making, (in)credible rumors, and other indispensable information. For complete versions of the stories updated all day long, head over to: http://www.news.com/?nd ************************************* CONTENTS SCOOPS AND TOP STORIES AOL tries to play "The Price is Right" with customers Microsoft catches up to its own browser in Macland Gates & Grove prove great minds think and clink alike It puts the whole...world...in your lap Despite IPO mishaps, tech firms still getting VC $$$ ANNOUNCEMENTS An easy way for you to customize NEWS.COM Search the site for particular topics and articles Send us your questions, comments, flotsam, and jetsam How to subscribe and unsubscribe Late-breaking stories just a click away with Desk Top News ************************************* AOL TRIES TO PLAY "THE PRICE IS RIGHT" WITH CUSTOMERS As if he didn't have enough to worry about--blackouts, churn, the growth of the Web--Steve Case and friends are also wrangling with attorneys generals in 17 states. The problem is AOL's new pricing policy, which can be summed up as: "Unless you say 'no,' your rate goes from $9.95 to $19.95." At pixel time (previously "press time"), the skirmishes were just beginning. http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C5674%2C00.html?nd MICROSOFT CATCHES UP TO ITS OWN BROWSER IN MACLAND Explorer for Mac users rejoice! Your hybrid platform/browser choice has just been significantly enhanced by the arrival of Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine. Some of the Web's most bleeding-edge firms are now rushing to embrace this new entrant into the market. http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C5675%2C00.html?nd GATES & GROVE PROVE GREAT MINDS THINK AND CLINK ALIKE First his friend and business buddy Bill Gates misses, then frantically swerves to catch, the opportunities of the exploding Internet market. Now Intel chief Andy Grove seems to have jumped into an exploding market late enough to possibly fall off. Ironically, the product at the center of this battle is Windows CE, made by none other than Microsoft itself. http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C5676%2C00.html?nd IT PUTS THE WHOLE...WORLD...IN YOUR LAP People will buy 190,000 of them this year and 4.1 million by 2000. They come in 20 varieties and move four times faster than analog modem speeds. It fits in your pocket, but can take you thousands of miles in seconds. http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C5669%2C00.html DESPITE IPO MISHAPS, TECH FIRMS STILL GETTING VC $$$ You've heard about Wired canceling its IPO. Twice. You've heard that the VC-money-for-neat-Net-ideas bubble has burst. You've heard about apocalyptic traffic jams that could choke the Web. But to get the real story on how investors and venture capitalists feel about Net-related firms nowadays, the old adage of "follow the money" yields interesting results. http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C5673%2C00.html?nd ************************************* ANNOUNCEMENTS AN EASY WAY FOR YOU TO CUSTOMIZE NEWS.COM So many bits, so little time? Sounds like you need Custom News. Identify the topics, keywords, or sections you're most interested in, and Custom News will a create a page of headlines and summaries for all stories that match your criteria. Check it out at: http://www.news.com/Personalization/Entry/1%2C21%2C%2C00.html?nocache=1 SEARCH THE SITE FOR PARTICULAR TOPICS AND ARTICLES Search the entire NEWS.COM database for stories you saw in News Dispatch, or track any story we've run. http://www.news.com/Searching/Entry/0%2C17%2C0%2C00.html?nd SEND US QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, FLOTSAM, AND JETSAM If you have any questions, suggestions or remarks, send us a message: newsdispatch(a)cnet.com HOW TO SUBSCRIBE AND TO UNSUBSCRIBE To subscribe to News Dispatch: Send mail to listserv(a)dispatch.cnet.com with the message: subscribe news-dispatch (your name) in the message body. To unsubscribe send the message: unsubscribe news-dispatch LATE-BREAKING STORIES A CLICK AWAY WITH DESK TOP NEWS How would you like having split-second access to the very latest news on the Net? Our Desk Top News feature puts our 20 most recent stories right there on your desktop for you to review at any time. Here's how it works: 1. From any story, click Desk Top News in the top right. 2. A window will open showing our last 20 stories. 3. Click on a headline to display the story. 4. Desk Top News updates itself every 30 minutes. 5. You become known as Ms./Mr. Cyber-Info. It feels good. http://www.news.com/Help/Item/0%2C24%2C12%2C00.html?nd ************************************* CNET: The Computer Network http://www.cnet.com/ http://www.news.com/ http://www.gamecenter.com/ http://www.download.com/ http://www.search.com/ http://www.shareware.com/

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/dev/random and similar
by Three Blind Mice 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

There was a thread here a while back about /dev/random and similar devices for Linux, but I managed to lose the mails and the hks.net archives still aren't working (any news on that?). If someone could tell me where I could find such a driver, I would appreciate it very much. TIA! --3bmice

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re: sci fi
by Alan Olsen 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 09:50 PM 11/21/96 -0800, John Anonymous MacDonald wrote: >Without a doubt contemporary SciFi authors such as Vinge and Stephenson have produced >great thought provoking works. Always a good read. > >But sometimes I'm drawn back to the rollicking rampages of EE Doc Smith or the playful >frollicks of Harry Harrison. While not presenting a plausible vision of our future >they do offer a significant amount of enjoyment. Pure brain candy! For absolute brain candy, I recommend "Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers". EE.Doc Smith meets the Hardy Boys. The ending I had to read twice... >So will some exceptionally creative sort spend 3 or 4 hundred pages exploring >BlackNet and the future of global networking? We can only hope. >Or has anyone looked at what has happened to trivial networks like >IRC's EFnet to see a potential model for how global networking will become >balkanized under bandwidth constraints, server cycle shortages, >and over worked sysadmins? One physical connection and many virtual, >private networks with limitted interoperability and crossover. The internet of >the near future may not be the open paradise it is today. The bandwidth will increase and people will find bigger and better ways to chew it up. Governments will make bigger and bigger claims to why their set of petty rule outweigh other governemnts petty rules, increasing fear, uncertanty and doubt in the process. All in all, things will change and life will go on. (Unless we all die and then all bets are off.) >I read in InfoWorld that the Telco Dereg act may destroy the local loop market >for T1 lines from LD COs. As many as 900,000 new T1's may become available at bargain >rates on the order of $40 per month with end point hardware under $700. Watch >PairGain Technologies as they are the leader in this hardware market and have >some real interesting vox/data over twisted pair toys. Mmmm! Bandwidth! I hear of people complaining how much time is spent online. This is going to be a heroin-like fix to those sort of people. (I already have access to a t-1. It can be pretty damn addicting. At least when the rest of the net is willing to cooperate...) I expect that the big winners in the bandwidth wars will be the hard drive manufacturers. Imagine the amount of crap that will accumulate when downloads take seconds instead on minutes (or hours). Buy your stock now! >Sheesh, I start out talking SciFi and end up talking PairGain! I guess the future >is now. Actually the future was last week. Sorry. You missed it. --- | "Remember: You can't have BSDM without BSD." | |"The moral PGP Diffie taught Zimmermann unites all| Disclaimer: | | mankind free in one-key-steganography-privacy!" | Ignore the man | |`finger -l alano(a)teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key | behind the keyboard.| | http://www.ctrl-alt-del.com/~alan/ |alan(a)ctrl-alt-del.com|

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Re: IPG Algorith Broken!
by Jim Ray 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Date: Sun Nov 24 09:59:36 1996 Uni wrote: > On Sat, 23 Nov 1996 wichita(a)cyberstation.net wrote: > > > To obtain your organization free operational demonstration copy, > please > > send an e-mail request to: > > > > ipgsales(a)cyberstation.net > > > > You must include your snail-mail address and telephone number in said > > request. > > Now THIS has potential! Indeed. Note that he calls it "organization free" above. Obviously, his operation's entire marketing department is an excellent source of randomness.:) JMR Regards, Jim Ray DNRC Minister of Encryption Advocacy One of the "legitimate concerns of law enforcement" seems to be that I was born innocent until proven guilty and not the other way around. -- me Please note new 2000bit PGPkey & address <jmr(a)shopmiami.com> PGP id.A7D63DA9 98 1F 39 BA 93 86 B4 F5 57 52 64 0E DA BA 2C 71 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQEPAwUBMphi3DUhsGSn1j2pAQHJ0gfQzgWGEb2lJ3KSPWGn3td/k2veuxZDjkHu OlITK3W6zT9MUWqh4KrdvQkt7Z/RzRls+uJPr7ZChS8f6FSHHvGWSmnTBZb+Bav8 JGJqcq+b/BwuUJ0RmVbGL9N7BCCXICroIdGQc1R+DmUuTMcqaAxD9bYWYbs/JSr0 Q00u3L/w8djc74sR2dS3PWmwF9PGLlmKrVQijY/q7WUNhKJDoZR4w511hswVHn1N BMjR49s+5Gh3N6eaRnKx/B2GnByhvL5Sgai2uPAqT5tFiA7R1nxnHZIlgMplYKsw 27nUWGYFpM+gP/wppw1neZqJcu4xKzg25IN4QIe86T78oA== =WUGy -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Star Trek: First Contact
by frantz＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

For the fans of E.E.(Doc) Smith, go see this movie. OBCrypto: Data locks the main computer with a fractal cypher. OBMoney: Picard states the they don't have money in the 24th century. Instead they work for the good of mankind. Nanotechnology must have made everything material possible, so the only reward left is status (aka reputation). ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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how much entropy in common answers
by Pat Farrell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I've been playing arround with some code to implement CME's secret sharing using low entropy answers. (His write-up is in http://www.clark.net/pub/cme/html/rump96.html) In the write-up, Carl says " That means that it has very low entropy. For example, a person's first name has only about 8 bits of entropy. Car makes and models have only 2 to 4 bits of entropy -- especially if one is naming cars desirable to a teenager." Further on, he says "Therefore, if each answer has entropy E, the attacker must correctly guess T=(EK) bits of answers. If T exceeds 90 bits or so, then the user is reasonably secure from answer-guessing attacks." (where K is the number of questions) My question is, how do we measure the entropy of each answer so we can calculate when we've got 90 or so bits. I know when I was a teenager, the list of car lust objects was short, and everyone wanted a Mustang or Camaro, so the entropy of those two choices was much less than half a bit. A similar idea was mentioned in a critique of the plot of West Side Story. The question is, on a hot night in Spanish Harlem, what percentage of women are named "Maria"? Clearly there are cultural issues involved. The entropy in a question such as "what is your favorite brother's name?" is low in an Irish family like mine where names cluster arround choices such as are Patrick, John, Sean, and Dan. So how do we measure the entropy objectively? Thanks Pat Pat Farrell CyberCash, Inc. (703) 715-7834 pfarrell(a)cybercash.com #include standard.disclaimer

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RE: Mass-market crypto phones
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:40 AM 11/22/96 -0800, Lucky Green wrote: >The LEA's are not intested in saving the public money. They are >interested in preserving and expanding their power. If it costs >$1,000,000 per wiretap, who cares? The government has men with guns that >can always go out and extort more cash from the population. > >--Lucky They could if they would; but they can't so they won't. Governments (like real people) always collect as much revenue as they possibly can at a given time. If they could figure out a way to get more they would. To argue otherwise is to imply that they are not maximizing their total monetary and psychic income and are forebearing to grab all they could. I don't think members of this list should pay The Great Enemy such a compliment. Remember the findings of the Public Choice school. DCF

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Alias list for killfiling Grubor
by Mark O. Aldrich 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

For those who haven't explored the rich, sick history of John M. Grubor (aka "aga(a)dhp.com"), he uses a variety of aliases. While the "aga" account seems popular right now, he usually pops over to another when his killfile ratio gets too high. To help save time and effort, the following is offered from the Grubor FAQ that circulates on the Net with some regularity (look in alt.bonehead.john-grubor or alt.general.grubor): Grubor has used, and continues to use, many aliases; usually through free trial AOL, Prodigy or Compuserve accounts; but he has also paid for many accounts on local providers. Some of Grubor's aliases: -manus(a)manus.org (his vanity domain) -anything else at manus.org -drg(a)telerama.lm.com (likely dead) -various pgh.org addresses (apparently another vanity account) -Zeus (an usaor.net account, now dead) -maryjane (a Compuserve address, dead) -DrMacho (drmacho(a)pgh.nauticom.net, dead) -Vwqe99b(a)prodigy.com (formerly using the alias "Amy Martin" now "Stanley Brown"; one of two accounts used for posting the infamous "List of Homosexuals in the Internet"--not dead, but rarely used) -Law Doctor or Doctor of Law used with his drg(a)manus.org and drg(a)pgh.nauticom.net (dead) accounts -two other AOL accounts--lawsystems@ and jgrubor@--are dead. -aga(a)dhp.com (still active, but rarely used) -zando(a)ix.netcom.com (a former favorite, likely dead. He used many different aliases with this one claiming alternately that this account belongs to his mother and his wife. All indications are that he is the only one who used it.) He has also used CyberLawMaster, Lord Grubor, Lord Grub, and others with his manus.org and ix.netcom.com addresses. He morphs his aliases frequently in an admitted attempt to foil killfiles. Possible aliases/morph accounts are: -nancybett(a)aol.com (dead) All other accounts are generally verified as belonging to Grubor or not rather quickly. <end FAQ extract> He is now also using "drgrubor(a)aol.com". Because AOL will toss him fairly quickly if he's too abusive (and he's already posting under that ID using "cunt" and "cock" references), he'll probably not morph over there with the idiocy he's been posting here. If he does post from that account, I'd suggest a mass mailing to AOL the moment it happens. He's got a KOTM award, but the small blurbs they publish don't do justice to this small and pathetic little man. He posts CONSTANTLY to the Usenet, so checking things like DejaNews will help identify if it's really him (his volume of posts seems to _never_ be what you'd call "lite"). His DHP (DataHaven Project) domain is run by two hackers, Wipeout and Panzer Boy. Can't say anything based on fact, but I'd say that from their Web pages that they aren't likely to really care what he says and aren't going to respond to complaints sent to "postmaster(a)dhp.com". If someone with accurate info on who's selling line time to DHP can poney up a responsible party to whom complaints can be sent, that might help. Now, if we could just get this Grubor weenie hooked up with Helena Kobrin, maybe they could cause some impossible "stupidity polarization" and set off an implosion that will drive both of them straight to hell and forever off the face of the Earth. Where's Jim Bell when you need him? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |It's a small world and it smells bad | Mark Aldrich | |I'd buy another if I had | GRCI INFOSEC Engineering | |Back | maldrich(a)grci.com | |What I paid | MAldrich(a)dockmaster.ncsc.mil| |For another mother****er in a motorcade |Quote from "Sisters of Mercy"| |_______________________________________________________________________| |The author is PGP Empowered. Public key at: finger maldrich(a)grci.com | | The opinions expressed herein are strictly those of the author | | and my employer gets no credit for them whatsoever. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: The public sees no need for crypto at this time
by frantz＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:25 AM 11/21/96 -0800, Timothy C. May wrote: >I believe that at this time the differential market value to customers of >having strong crypto in telephones is near-zero, and in cell-phones is only >slightly greater. [reasoning deleted]. I generally agree with Tim about consumers. However, I remember working on a theater production where we were using Radio Shack 2-way headphones for communication. One day while we were setting up, we were able to overhear a woman discussing (presumably with a girlfriend) her boyfriend and their sex life over a portable telephone. You can bet that every available headset was in use and all other work stopped. Where I think there is a market and an awareness of a need is in the corporate world. I recently saw a corporate security policy which specifically restricted discussing classified information on portable or cell phones. If I were in France (to pick on just one guilty country), I would not want to discuss secrets involving competitive position vs. a French company on a landline connection. The big driving force for companies is how much the facility costs. (I recently heard a price of $700 for non-crypto phones.) If the cost is low enough, company employees will have these boxes in their homes. The other big obstacle is standards. As far as I can tell, every crypto phone has its own protocol. If there were a standard set of protocols, it would greatly help the market, as it has for so many other products. As a first step, I suggest that Eric Blossom and PGP Inc. work together to develop a mode where their products can communicate with each other. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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