December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

CJ Update
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>From Alia Johnson <lodi(a)well.com>, CJ's sister, today: I'm writing to say that CJ has arrived at the Springfield Medical Referral Center, where he will be held for a month or more (the phone says U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners) for "examination". Here is the address: Carl E. Johnson Register # 05987-196 U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners P.O. Box 4000 Springfield, Missouri 65801 Also, to my delight, I received a letter from him today. He sounds okay. CJ in his letter asks for physical mailing addresses for some of the cypherpunks (no one specifically) so that he can send you things to post since I will be travelling. [End Alia] --------- We'll be happy to digitize and/or post any mail from CJ folks want to share, anonymous and/or encrypted always welcome: Fax: 212-799-4003 Vox: 212-873-8700 Snail: John Young 251 West 89th Steet, Suite 6E New York, NY 10024 We've put all our PGP keys at: http://jya.com/jya-keys.txt And a bunch of keys for the wild bunch of Totos: http://jya.com/totos-keys.htm

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Please Verify to Complete Your eGroups.com Registration
by eGroups.com Help 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Thank you for requesting an eGroups.com account. To complete your registration, you MUST ENTER the following number into the Web form at http://www.egroups.com/register?email=cypherpunks%40cyberpass.net&vid=22118… (equivalent to the form on your browser). Number: 22118666 This step ensures that only you can control your e-mail subscriptions. If you have any questions, please visit http://www.egroups.com/info/help.html Thanks! Sincerely, The eGroups.com Team

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IP: [FP] Ohio gets Computerized Fingerprint System
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: "ScanThisNews" <mcdonalds(a)airnet.net> Subject: IP: [FP] Ohio gets Computerized Fingerprint System Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 19:34:28 -0500 To: ignition-point(a)majordomo.pobox.com ====================================================================== SCAN THIS NEWS ------------------------------------------------- http://www.ag.ohio.gov/pressrel/livescan.htm FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 25, 1997 Attorney General Betty Montgomery Brings New Technology to Ohio Law Enforcement Montgomery Gives Computerized Fingerprint Systems Free of Charge to Help in the Fight Against Crime Columbus -- In an effort to assist local law enforcement and improve Ohios criminal history records, Attorney General Betty D. Montgomery today announced that 23 law enforcement agencies in Ohio will be receiving Live-Scan systems at no cost to the agencies. Through federal grants and money from the Attorney Generals budget, Live-Scan computerized fingerprint identification systems have been purchased and are being distributed to law enforcement agencies across the state. The agencies that send the most fingerprint cards to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) were chosen to receive Live-Scan. Montgomery was joined by representatives from several law enforcement agencies that will be receiving Live-Scan systems and local public officials in announcing this new technology being given to more than 20 law enforcement agencies. "I want to thank the Attorney Generals Office for this modernized equipment, which will help law enforcements advancement in building the bridge to the 21st century, with technology in crime fighting," said Franklin County Sheriff Jim Karnes. Live-Scan provides high-quality electronic fingerprint images through state-of-the-art computer imaging. Most Ohio law enforcement agencies rely on the traditional form of using ink to slowly roll each individual fingerprint onto cards. With Live-Scan, fingers are placed directly onto a scanner without having to use ink. The image is stored electronically, and copies of the card can be printed at any time. This new system will give law enforcement consistently higher quality fingerprints to use for processing and identification. These new systems will also electronically send the fingerprint cards to BCI. This will be an important step in ensuring the quality of Ohios criminal history records. BCI will now be able to receive records in a more timely fashion and virtually eliminate the possibility of records being lost or not sent. The systems will assist local law enforcement by cutting-down on the number of hours needed to process fingerprint cards by eliminating the timely duplicative process of fingerprinting. The Live-Scan systems will be linked late this fall to BCIs Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). AFIS is a computer system that holds the fingerprint images and criminal history records of more than 1.2 million criminals in Ohio. With Live-Scan, law enforcement agencies will be able to quickly search AFIS for matches to their fingerprint cards. This will be extremely useful if someone with a prior record tries to give an alias or refuses to disclose his or her name. The agency can scan the suspects fingerprints and check them against the database at BCI for a match. "Heres the bottom line: This technology will allow police to identify criminals faster and more accurately than anything even dreamed of just years ago," Montgomery said. The Live-Scan systems were purchased for almost $1.1 million from Identix Inc. of California. Ohio is joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the U.S. Marshal, and numerous other federal agencies, states, and cities that have also purchased Live-Scan systems from Identix Inc. Each system retails for $70,000 but the Attorney General was able to negotiate a purchase price for a much lower cost of $44,220. Law enforcement agencies that already have Live-Scan systems and meet requirements of the National Institute of Standards and Technology will be connected with Ohios AFIS as part of the contract with Identix Inc. The contract also allows any local law enforcement agency to purchase a Live-Scan system within the next year at the same price negotiated by the Attorney General. Attorney General Montgomery also announced that her office plans to purchase additional Live-Scan systems in the beginning of next year to be distributed to more law enforcement agencies across the state. -30- Below is the list of agencies receiving Live-Scan systems: Cleveland Police Department Cuyahoga County Sheriffs Office Clermont County Sheriffs Office Delaware County Sheriffs Office Franklin County Sheriffs Office Clark County Sheriffs Office Pickaway County Sheriffs Office Miami Township Police Department Columbiana County Sheriffs Office Lake County Sheriffs Office Licking County Sheriffs Office Mahoning County Sheriffs Office Highland County Sheriffs Office Boardman Police Department Elyria Police Department Allen County Sheriffs Office Lorain Police Department Coshocton County Sheriffs Office Whitehall Police Department Miamisburg Police Department Springdale Police Department Kent Police Department Medina County Sheriffs Office ======================================================================= Don't believe anything you read on the Net unless: 1) you can confirm it with another source, and/or 2) it is consistent with what you already know to be true. ======================================================================= Reply to: <fingerprint(a)networkusa.org> ======================================================================= To subscribe to the free Scan This News newsletter, send a message to <majordomo(a)efga.org> and type "subscribe scan" in the BODY. Or, to be removed type "unsubscribe scan" in the message BODY. For additional instructions see www.efga.org/about/maillist.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Scan This News" is Sponsored by S.C.A.N. Host of the "FIGHT THE FINGERPRINT!" web page: www.networkusa.org/fingerprint.shtml ======================================================================= ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************

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IP: [BioWeekly_Email] Announcement
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: Bioweekly Special Announcement <bioweekly(a)biodigest.com> Subject: IP: [BioWeekly_Email] Announcement Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 18:17:12 -0500 To: ignition-point(a)majordomo.pobox.com We thought you might be interested in some recent announcements regarding Banking on Biometrics =9298 which is just around the corner. The conference is on October 12-14, 1998 in Dallas, Texas, US. New speakers recently added include: Randall Fowler, CEO, Identix Corp.;=20 Frank Smead, SpeakerKey Marketing Manager, ITT Industries;=20 Other outstanding presenters include:=20 Jim Wayman, US National Biometric Test Center John Woodward, Attorney and Biometric Legal Consultant Jeremy Newman, President, PenOp Corp.=20 Adam Backenroth, Chase Manhattan Bank Dr. Joseph Atick, CEO, Visionics Corp. Colleen Madigan, SafLINK Corp. Gail Koehler, Purdue Empl. Fed. Credit Union James O=92Dell, CUNA Mutual Insurance Group Robert Van Naarden, Sensar, Inc.=20 Michelle Roberts, Texas Bankers Association Ray Findley, Pres., American Card, Inc.=20 Chris Olsen-Potter, Identicator, Inc. Raj Nanavati, International Biometric Group Judith Markowitz, J.Markowitz Consultants Ron Beyner, T-NETIX, Inc.=20 Francis Declercq, Keyware Corp. Mike Grimes, Miros Corp.=20 =3D=3D> GET YOUR FREE REGISTRATION THROUGH OUR GROUP DISCOUNT PROGRAM Connect with Southwest Airlines to get your lowest possible airline rates to Dallas =85.. but better yet, register two of your clients, business associates, customers, prospects, friends or family and attend the conference FREE. You can register three persons for the price of two - and that third person could be YOU. Conference registration is $490. =20 Our group discount is excellent for any company wanting to send a group of employees for an employee training program. Registration fees drop to $350 each for 4-5 persons, $300 each for 6-10 persons and to $260 each for over 10 registrants. =3D=3D> BIOMETRIC VIDEO TAKING SHAPE The first biometric infomercial is taking shape and will be available during and after the conference. If you register NOW, you=92ll get a free copy at the conference. If you want a copy later, we=92ll be glad to sell you one. Suggested cost (still pending) is $125. =3D=3D> NEED MORE INFORMATION ON BIOMETRICS There will be biometric consultants at the conference who will be glad to answer your questions and provide you with more information.=20 =3D=3D> VISIT THE CONFERENCE WEB SITE FOR MORE DETAILS AND RESERVATION INFORMATION -=20 http://www.biodigest.com or call Linda Bikoff - (202) 337-0023, Email - Lbikoff(a)aol.com. ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************

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IP: Hackers-turned-consultants see business boom
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: believer(a)telepath.com Subject: IP: Hackers-turned-consultants see business boom Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 11:53:29 -0500 To: believer(a)telepath.com Source: Fox News - AP On guard now, hackers-turned-consultants see business boom 11.00 a.m. ET (1501 GMT) September 19, 1998 By Chris Allbritton, Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) The hacker calling himself Mudge pushed his long hair back, scratched his beard and stared at the computer screen. He knew there was something wrong with the data traffic he was watching, but what was it? A week earlier, Mudge and his fellow hackers in their hangout known as the L0pht pronounced "loft'' had acquired some software that was supposed to let computers talk to each other in code. But as Mudge watched the data he realized someone else was doing the same and maybe even decoding it, which shouldn't happen. "So you are saying that you're using DES to communicate between the computers?'' Mudge recalled asking representatives of the software maker. Yes, they said, they were using DES, a standard encryption method that for years was considered virtually uncrackable. But this wasn't DES, thought Mudge. It's almost as if... Whoa. He blinked and felt the adrenaline kick in. This wasn't secure at all. In fact, the encoding was only slightly more complex than the simple cyphers kids did in grade school where "A'' is set to 1, "B'' is set to 2, and so on. The company was selling this software as a secure product, charging customers up to $10,000. And yet, it had a security hole big enough to waltz through. Instead of exploiting this knowledge, Mudge confronted the company. "You realize there isn't any secure or 'strong' encoding being used in your communications between the computers, don't you?'' he asked. "Well...'' "And that you claimed you were using DES to encrypt the data,'' he pressed. "That will go in the next revision.'' Mudge is a "real'' hacker one who used to snoop around the nation's electronic infrastructure for the sheer love of knowing how it worked. His kind today are sighted about as often as the timberwolf, and society has attached to them the same level of legend. Like the wolf, they were once considered a scourge. Law enforcement and telecommunication companies investigated and arrested many of them during the late 1980s and early '90s. Today, many elite hackers of the past are making a go at legitimate work, getting paid big bucks by Fortune 500 companies to explore computer networks and find the weak spots. And none too soon. The void left by the old hackers has been filled by a new, more destructive generation. So today, Mudge who uses a pseudonym like others in the hacker community, a world where anonymity keeps you out of trouble wears a white hat. As part of L0pht, the hacker think tank, he and six comrades hole up in a South End loft space in Boston and spend their evenings peeling open software and computer networks to see how they work. When they find vulnerabilities in supposedly secure systems, they publish their findings on the World Wide Web in hopes of embarrassing the companies into fixing the problems. A recent example: They posted notice via the Internet of a problem that makes Lotus Notes vulnerable to malicious hackers. A Lotus spokesman said the company was aware of the flaw but it was extremely technical and unlikely to affect anyone. The hackers at L0pht have made enemies among industry people, but they command respect. They were even called to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs in May. Why do they publish what they find? "If that information doesn't get out,'' Mudge replies, "then only the bad guys will have it.'' The "bad guys'' are the hacker cliche: secretive teen-age boys lurking online, stealing credit card numbers, breaking into Pentagon systems, and generally causing trouble. One of L0pht's members, Kingpin, was just such a cad when he was younger, extending his online shenanigans to real-world breaking and entering. Today, L0pht keeps him out of mischief, he said. "We're like midnight basketball for hackers,'' said Weld Pond, another member. Malicious hacking seems to be on the rise. Nearly two out of three companies reported unauthorized use of their computer systems in the past year, according to a study by the Computer Security Institute and the FBI. Another study, from Software AG Americas, said 7 percent of companies reported a "very serious'' security breach, and an additional 16 percent reported "worrisome'' breaches. However, 72 percent said the intrusions were relatively minor with no damage. American companies spent almost $6.3 billion on computer security last year, according to research firm DataQuest. The market is expected to grow to $13 billion by 2000. Government computers are vulnerable, too. The Defense Department suffered almost 250,000 hacks in 1995, the General Accounting Office reported. Most were detected only long after the attack. This is why business booms for good-guy hackers. Jeff Moss, a security expert with Secure Computing Inc., runs a $995-a-ticket professional conference for network administrators, where hackers-cum-consultants mingle with military brass and CEOs. "I don't feel like a sellout,'' said Moss, who wouldn't elaborate on his hacking background. "People used to do this because they were really into it. Now you can be into it and be paid.'' News reports show why such services are needed: Earlier this month, hackers struck the Web site of The New York Times, forcing the company to shutter it for hours. Spokeswoman Nancy Nielsen said the break-in was being treated as a crime, not a prank. The FBI's computer crime unit was investigating. This spring, two California teen-agers were arrested for trying to hack the Pentagon's computers. Israeli teen Ehud Tenebaum, a k a "The Analyzer,'' said he mentored the two on how to do it. The two Cloverdale, Calif., youths pleaded guilty in late July and were placed on probation. Kevin Mitnick, the only hacker to make the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, was arrested in 1995, accused of stealing 20,000 credit card numbers. He remains in prison. A film called "TakeDown,'' about the electronic sleuthing that led to Mitnick's capture, is in the works. Comments protesting Mitnick's prosecution were left during the hack of the New York Times Web site. In 1994, Vladimir Levin, a graduate of St. Petersburg Tekhnologichesky University, allegedly masterminded a Russian hacker gang and stole $10 million from Citibank computers. A year later, he was arrested by Interpol at Heathrow airport in London. "Lemme tell ya,'' growled Mark Abene one night over Japanese steak skewers. "Kids these days, they got no respect for their elders.'' Abene, known among fellow hackers as Phiber Optik, should know. He was one of those no-account kids in the 1980s when he discovered telephones and computers. For almost 10 years, he wandered freely through the nation's telephone computer systems and, oh, the things he did and saw. Celebrities' credit reports were his for the taking. Unlimited free phone calls from pilfered long-distance calling card numbers. Private phone lines for his buddies, not listed anywhere. And the arcane knowledge of trunk lines, switches, the entire glory of the network that connected New York City to the rest of the world. But Abene's ticket to ride was canceled in January 1994, when, at age 22, he entered Pennsylvania's Schuylkill Prison to begin serving a year-and-a-day sentence for computer trespassing. The FBI and the Secret Service described him as a menace. The sentencing judge said Abene, as a spokesman for the hacking community, would be made an example. © 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved. ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************

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IP: Pentagon curbs Web content
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: believer(a)telepath.com Subject: IP: Pentagon curbs Web content Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 07:43:45 -0500 To: believer(a)telepath.com Source: ComputerWorld http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/all/98091838dod (Online News, 09/18/98 01:07 PM) Pentagon curbs Web content By Sharon Machlis Top Pentagon officials are scouring military Web sites to see if too much information is being made public -- data that could potentially help the country's enemies. Some observers fear that listing members of specific military units could help terrorists find revenge targets, for example, particularly after an operation such as the recent missile strikes in Afghanistan and the Sudan. "Basically, the military does stupid things," said Ira Winkler, a former analyst at the National Security Agency and author of the books Corporate Espionage and Through the Eyes of the Enemy. "The military does not exercise good operational security when it comes to their Web sites ... There's no valid reason for a military unit to have a Web site," Winkler said. Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre and the military's Joint Staff have been checking for Web postings such as building plans, research and development efforts and "personnel information that could perhaps provide too much information," said Defense Department spokesman Kenneth Bacon, in a statement. A more formal, militarywide policy on what should and shouldn't be put on the Web is in the works, added department spokesman Susan Hansen. Winkler said it is ill-advised to post things such as personnel lists or commanders' biographies -- which often include family information -- on the Web. He also recommended against companies posting similar information about corporate officers. In fact, some companies already restrict the data they post about personnel and even product pricing -- although the concern is less about terrorists and more about competitors. "We're in the process now, as I believe many private companies are, of trying to sort out what the right balance is between providing useful information and providing more information than is necessary," Bacon said. Copyright © 1998 Computerworld, Inc. ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************

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IP: Use of SWAT Teams on the Rise
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: believer(a)telepath.com Subject: IP: Use of SWAT Teams on the Rise Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 12:11:32 -0500 To: believer(a)telepath.com Source: Charlotte (N.Carolina) Observer http://www.charlotte.com/observer/local/pub/031225.htm Published Saturday, September 19, 1998 SWAT team approach less risky, police say Use of squads on rise around region, nation By LEIGH DYER Staff Writer Across the country, police departments are using SWAT teams to deal with high-risk situations like the Sept. 4 drug raid that ended with a Charlotte man dead. Court papers said police were looking for evidence of drug dealing, but they found no drugs in the Mayfair Avenue home. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say the paramilitary-style squad reduces the risks to officers and the public in dangerous situations. But some critics say using the SWAT team for search warrants is too heavy-handed. Records show the Charlotte-Mecklenburg team is used sparingly. Last year, SWAT officers were involved in 14 of the 441 warrants served by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. Of 251 warrants executed from January to Aug. 31, SWAT team members served 15. Of the 29 raids before Charles Irwin Potts' death, one resulted in minor injuries. Potts' death is the first shooting during a search warrant since the team organized in 1992. It's less clear how often the team succeeds in finding what it's after. In almost every raid, the team reports either an arrest or a seizure of weapons or drugs. But they don't always seize the goods they were looking for. The Sept. 4 raid netted three guns and gambling equipment -- but no evidence of the cocaine dealing an informant told them they'd find. Maj. Piper Charles, who is in charge of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg team, said that when the team is used is not based on the likelihood of finding drugs. Instead, it's based on the likelihood of facing armed resistance. ``The primary purpose is to save lives,'' said Charles. ``A successful mission is one in which absolutely no one gets hurt.'' More scrutiny SWAT calls range from negotiation with hostage-takers to quelling riots to raids for guns, drugs or evidence of other criminal activity. The 42-member Charlotte-Mecklenburg Special Weapons and Tactics team uses special equipment, including heavy body armor and laser-sighted guns. The duty is part time. Team members are also assigned to other regular patrol duties. Nationally, the increased use of SWAT teams has drawn praise from those who say their tactics are safer than traditional law--enforcement methods. But Peter Kraska, a criminology professor at Eastern Kentucky University who has tracked SWAT teams, said they have a downside. ``Often when you see them in a neighborhood piling out of a vehicle . . . it gives the community an impression they're kind of under siege,'' he said. Regionally, SWAT teams have become more active in counties including Gaston, Union and Cabarrus in recent years. Sgt. Jeff Eisenhour, commander of the Gaston County Police SWAT team, said most operations go more smoothly with such a well-trained team, rather than regular patrol officers. ``The biggest advantage is the training,'' he said. ``Everybody knows what everyone is doing.'' The Potts shooting has put the methods and policies of the SWAT team under a microscope, said Charlotte-Mecklenburg's Charles. Those methods include the use of ``flash-bangs,'' a diversionary device thrown into a room to stun and distract occupants with a bang and bright lights while SWAT team members storm in. ``My position is that you're not going to find a safer way to do it,'' Charles said. As SWAT teams grow in popularity, they have encountered more questions about their use. In Fitchburg, Mass., west of Boston, civil libertarians criticized a SWAT team after its members arrested a group of young men in 1993 for lingering on a sidewalk. And in Louisville, Ky., family members of a man killed in a SWAT raid in March 1997 sued, challenging the police procedures. The suit alleges that a flash-bang may have disoriented the man so much he didn't realize he was pointing his gun at police officers. The suit is pending. In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, though, officers say the devices may have saved lives many times, including during a raid on Jan. 22 when a suspect dropped a gun after a flash-bang went off. ``I have heard that sometimes people are not properly using their SWAT teams,'' said Roy House, an instructor at Central Piedmont Community College who conducts regional SWAT training. ``That's a leadership problem.'' House, who is also a reserve member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg team, believes the benefits of the teams outweigh any criticism. ``I would think it's better to go in there and be a little heavy-handed than to go in there and be outnumbered . . . or outgunned,'' he said. ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************

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IP: Crypto Controls Threaten Human Rights
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: believer(a)telepath.com Subject: IP: Crypto Controls Threaten Human Rights Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 17:06:43 -0500 To: believer(a)telepath.com Source: OneWorld Magazine http://www.oneworld.org/news/today/index.html Crypto Controls Threaten Human Rights Vienna conference warned against restricting free expression (New York, September 18, 1998) -- Human Rights Watch today urged an international conference on technology, now meeting in Vienna, not to expand controls on encryption technologies. The organization said that cryptographic products are critical to the ability of human rights defenders around the world to transmit sensitive information without detection by repressive governments. The conference is reviewing the 1996 Wassenaar Arrangement, an international agreement signed by 30 countries to govern the proliferation of military technology. Dissidents and human rights organizations under repressive regimes frequently use encryption technologies to share information. Encryption has the power to authenticate the identity of these authors to their partners abroad, while protecting their identity from despots at home. The United States has adopted relatively restrictive encryption policies, which prohibit the global dsitribution of software used to encrypt text. In particular, Washington has outlawed the export of the most popular software among human rights activists, Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), although the Wassenaar Arrangement explicitly exempts crypto-software, like PGP, that is widely available in the public domain. Human Rights Watch warned the other participants in the Vienna conference not to incorporate such restrictive policies into the Wassenaar Arrangement, or to further limit the global distribution, development, or use of strong encryption hardware or software. "Encryption is more than a shield for human rights activists," said Jagdish Parikh, associate online researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Coded language is still language, and it must be protected as a basic human right to free expression." Parikh noted that the right to free expression is set forth in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which most members of Wassenaar Arrangement are party. Human Rights Watch said that encryption is also an important bulwark against violations of privacy in an age where computerization and data banks enable the collection of huge amounts of personal information about individuals. Moreover, international law requires states not only to refrain from arbitrary interference with privacy, but to affirmatively protect its citizens from such attacks. "The sorts of countries most eager to ban the use of encryption, such as China and Iran, are not known for respecting freedom of speech," said Parikh. "Using encryption should not subject an individual to criminal sanction, any more than using Pig Latin or Swahili does." Many human rights activists around the world would be spared retaliation and abuse if crypto-software were more widely available, Parikh said. ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************

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IP: "Bioarmageddon"
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: believer(a)telepath.com Subject: IP: "Bioarmageddon" Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 06:56:14 -0500 To: believer(a)telepath.com Source: New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com/nsplus/insight/bioterrorism/bioarmageddon.html Bioterrorism Special Report: Bioarmageddon By Debora MacKenzie Sooner or later there is going to be a biological attack on a major city. Are we prepared to deal with it? Not a chance, says Debora MacKenzie It begins with a threat. A terrorist group declares that unless its demands are met within 48 hours, it will release anthrax over San Francisco. Two days later, a private plane flies across the Bay, spreading an aerosol cloud that shimmers briefly in the sunlight before disappearing. Scenario one: thousands are killed in the panic as 2 million people flee the city. Another 1·6 million inhale anthrax spores. Antibiotics are rushed in, but the hospitals are overwhelmed and not everyone receives treatment. Most of the country's limited stock of anthrax vaccine has already been given to soldiers. Emergency crews provide little help as there are only four germ-proof suits in the whole city. More than a million of the Bay Area's 6.5 million residents die. Scenario two: in the two days before the attack, citizens seal their doors and windows with germ-proof tape. They listen to the radio for instructions, their gas masks, drugs and disinfectants ready. Few panic. When sensors around the city confirm that the cloud contains anthrax spores, hospitals receive the appropriate antibiotics and vaccines. Trained emergency teams with germ-proof suits and tents set up in the places where automated weather analyses show the deadly cloud will drift. With advance preparation and rapid response only 100,000 people die. A terrorist who plans to drop anthrax over San Francisco tomorrow can count on causing the murder and mayhem described in the first scenario--at least according to the simulation that generated these scenarios last year. The question facing policy makers now is: how do we move toward the second scenario? That terrorists may someday turn to biological weapons is no longer a matter of debate (see "All fall down", New Scientist, 11 May 1996, p 32). "Terrorism has changed," says Brad Roberts of the US government-backed Institute for Defense Analyses in Virginia. "Traditional terrorists wanted political concessions," he says. "But now, some groups say their main aim is mass casualties. That makes biological weapons appealing." Terrorists would have little trouble getting their hands on the technology. Hearings in South Africa in June revealed that the apartheid government produced terrorist weapons containing anthrax, Salmonella and cholera. Soviet scientists who have prepared weapons-grade anthrax and smallpox are known to have emigrated, possibly to well-funded terrorist groups like the one run by Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Even small groups such as the Aum Shinrikyo sect in Japan have been able to cook up vats of Salmonella or botulin, the toxin that causes botulism. With bioweapons so readily available, how can governments protect us from a terrorist armed with anthrax, smallpox or plague? In May, scientists, policy makers and security experts gathered in Stockholm to discuss how to limit the devastation of a biological attack on civilians. Until now, most biological defence strategies have been geared to protecting soldiers on the battlefield rather than ordinary people in cities. The situations are quite different, and novel technologies are needed for civilian defence. Suppose a commuter stumbled across a time bomb filled with anthrax on an underground railway platform. Until this year, no police force in the world had any way to disarm such a device safely. One novel solution that attracted attention at Stockholm was a tent full of antiseptic foam. Researchers at Irvin Aerospace in Fort Erie, Ontario, have developed a dome-shaped tent made of ultratough Mylar that can be filled with a stiff foam--the exact composition of which is a closely guarded secret--that kills germs and also neutralises chemical weapons. Once covered by the foam-filled tent, the bomb can be safely detonated. But what if germs are already in the air? The protective suits and masks used by most emergency services don't have seals tight enough to exclude microorganisms, making them useless against biological attacks, says Jack Sawicki, a former fireman who now works for Geomet Technologies near Washington DC. And the lack of standards for gas masks sold to civilians in most countries makes it as likely that a mask will suffocate you as save you, he says. The suits developed for the military do work--their tight joints and zippers keep bugs out--but they are too pricey for the average fire department. Both Geomet and Irvin Aerospace are about to market civilian bio-suits. In the meantime, other companies are designing protective gear that actually kills pathogens. Molecular Geodesics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for example, is developing a suit made of a tough, sponge-like polymer that traps bacteria and viruses, which are then destroyed by disinfectants incorporated into the fabric. Stealthy attack None of this gear will do any good, however, if the emergency services do not know there has been an attack. And an assault may not be obvious. A terrorist might not use a weapon that goes off with a dramatic bang, or even produces an obvious cloud of germs. The first hint of a biological attack may be a sudden cluster of sick people. Even that will be missed unless someone is watching. And few are. In the US, financial cutbacks have crippled programmes to track disease outbreaks, natural or deliberate. Some could be either, such as food poisoning caused by Escherichia coli O157 or Salmonella. Medical agencies fear that the extra money requested by President Bill Clinton this spring as part of an anti-terrorist initiative will not be enough to create an adequate surveillance network. In Europe, disease surveillance is only beginning to be organised on the continent-wide scale needed to track a biological emergency. But in addition to monitoring infected people, Nicholas Staritsyn of the State Research Centre for Applied Microbiology near Moscow says that more effort should be made to find out which bugs live where. For example, a particular variety of anthrax may occur naturally in South Africa, but not in Canada. Having access to such information could help authorities to distinguish between natural outbreaks and deliberate attacks. Even when infected people start turning up at local hospitals, early diagnosis of their illness might not be easy, says Steve Morse, who heads the US programme on new diagnostic technologies run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The first symptoms of anthrax, plague and many other potential agents of bioterrorism resemble those of flu: headaches, fevers, aching muscles, coughing. What's more, some of these symptoms might be brought on by panic attacks, which are likely to be widespread among people who have just been told that they are the victims of a biological attack. One answer discussed in Stockholm would be for hospitals to have the type of high-tech detectors being developed to identify airborne pathogens on the battlefield. With a detector at each bedside, doctors could pick out the volatile molecules released by damaged lung membranes at a very early stage of infection and instantly tell whether a patient was a victim of a biological attack, says Mildred Donlon, head of environmental detection research at DARPA. Eventually, DARPA would like to develop a detector that weighs no more than 2 kilograms, can identify as few as two particles of 20 different biological agents in a sample of air, costs less than $5000 and does not give false negatives. Such detectors could be deployed around cities to give early warning of airborne disease. In the meantime, researchers led by Wayne Bryden at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore are working on revamping the traditional laboratory workhorse, the mass spectrometer, for use in the field or in hospitals. They've reduced this unwieldy piece of equipment to a suitcase-sized machine that can distinguish between, say, Shigella, which causes dysentery, and Salmonella. A shoebox-sized version, says Bryden, could be ready in five years. Other researchers are experimenting with devices that would not seem out of place in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Tiny electronic chips that contain living nerve cells may someday warn of the presence of bacterial toxins, many of which are nerve poisons. Like a canary in a coal mine, the neurons on the chip will chatter until something kills them. "Anything that stops it singing is immediate cause for alarm," says Donlon. While the "canary on a chip" could detect a broad range of toxins, other devices are designed to identify specific pathogens. One prototype consists of a fibre-optic tube lined with antibodies coupled to light-emitting molecules. In the presence of plague or anthrax bacteria, or the toxins botulin or ricin, the molecules light up. Outwitting our defences Devices based on antibodies are far from foolproof. First, you need to have the correct antibodies--not easy when you consider the vast number of pathogens you'd need to include, and their ever-changing repertoire of surface proteins. "And even the right antibodies can identify only what is on the outside of a particle," Donlon points out. Bugs can be encapsulated in gels or biological polymers to foil antibodies, or normally harmless bacteria engineered to carry nasty genes. "I want to know what is on the inside," she says. To do this, DARPA-funded researchers are developing identification techniques based on RNA analysis. Unlike DNA, which is now used to identify unknown organisms, RNA is plentiful inside cells and need not be amplified before identification begins. And messenger RNA molecules reveal not only what a microorganism is, but what toxins it is making. Once the biological agent has been identified, how do you combat it? Vaccinating people before they are exposed is one answer. This is the strategy the military is betting on. Last year, the US military launched a programme to develop vaccines against potential biological weapons. It will create jabs for diseases for which none exist, such as Ebola, and improve existing vaccines--including the 30-year-old anthrax vaccine being given to 2·4 million American soldiers. But vaccines are no cure-all. An attacker need only generate a germ that sports different antigens to those used in a vaccine to render that vaccine ineffective. Plus, as bioterrorists get more sophisticated, they will develop novel, possibly artificial, pathogens against which conventional vaccines will be useless, predicts Morse. To get around these problems, DARPA is looking at ways of developing vaccines quickly enough for them to be created, mass-produced and distributed after an attack. The first step, which many researchers including those in the fast-paced field of genomics are now working on, involves speeding up DNA sequencing so that an unknown pathogen's genes could be detailed in a day. The resulting sequences could then be the basis for developing an instant DNA vaccine. Making the vaccine is only half the problem, however. Soldiers can be ordered to take shots, but immunising the rest of the population is another matter. Civilians are unlikely to volunteer for the dozens of vaccinations that would be necessary to protect them against every conceivable biological threat. An attack would make many change their minds, but in such circumstances there might not be enough to go around. Although Clinton has called for the stockpiling of vaccines, the US has only 5 million doses of smallpox vaccine--not enough to contain a hypothetical attack, says Ken Berry, president of the American Academy of Emergency Physicians. Ken Alibek, the former second-in-command of the Soviet germ warfare programme who revealed earlier this year that the Soviets had weaponised tonnes of smallpox, argues that it is short-sighted to put too much effort into developing vaccines. Instead, says Alibek, who is now at the Batelle Institute in Virginia, researchers should concentrate on ways to treat victims of biological weapons. Today's antibiotics may be useless because germs could be equipped with genes for resistance to all of them. Russian scientists have already created such a strain of anthrax (This Week, 28 February, p 4). For any treatment to be effective amid the potential chaos of a bioterrorist attack, speed will be of the essence. At the Stockholm meeting, researchers reported their efforts to develop drugs that work against a wide variety of infections and so can be used even before definitive diagnosis. Some are trying to take advantage of recently identified similarities in the way many pathogens produce disease to develop broad-spectrum drugs. For example, Ebola, anthrax and plague all kill their victims by inducing a widespread inflammatory reaction similar to toxic shock syndrome. A team in Cincinnati is testing an anti-inflammatory drug that could stop all of them. Another gang of bacteria--including plague, Salmonella, Shigella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (one of the bacteria that can cause pneumonia and meningitis)--relies on very similar proteins to latch onto human cells and inject toxins. Drugs that block this system might save people from all these germs, Åke Forsberg of the Swedish Defence Research Establishment in Umeå told the meeting. The trouble with all these new anti-bioweapon gizmos, gadgets and medicines is that it's far from certain that they would be available in time to shield the first major city targeted for a bioterrorist attack. At the moment, the US is one of the few countries taking the bioterrorist threat seriously. Sweden, France and Israel have trained emergency teams and stockpiled gas masks. Other countries do not seem concerned. "The threat of bioterrorism has not seized our European friends," says Mike Moodie of the Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute, a think-tank near Washington DC. "They feel it's too improbable." Perhaps they should reconsider. Berry, who helped run the doomsday simulations that ravaged San Francisco, says: "Security experts are not asking if a biological attack on a civilian population is going to happen, but when." >From New Scientist, 19 September 1998 © Copyright New Scientist, RBI Limited 1998 ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************

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IP: IRS official predicts Y2K snafus
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

From: believer(a)telepath.com Subject: IP: IRS official predicts Y2K snafus Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 12:20:40 -0500 To: believer(a)telepath.com Source: Government Executive Magazine http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0998/091798n1.htm September 17, 1998 DAILY BRIEFING IRS official predicts Y2K snafus By Nancy Ferris nferris(a)govexec.com The new chief information officer at the IRS is predicting there will be tax processing problems in the upcoming filing season because of the agency's speeded-up program to fix year 2000 bugs in its computer systems. CIO Paul J. Cosgrave, speaking today at a luncheon meeting of the Association for Federal Information Resources Management, said 98 percent of the IRS's software will be fixed by early next year, when the 1998 filing season begins. But, he added, "there will be some problems" because not all of the fixes will be perfect. Asked afterward how serious the problems would be, Cosgrave said it was too early to tell. The agency is working hard to minimize their effect, he added. The good news, he said, is that when the century change actually occurs on Dec. 31, 1999, the IRS will have put its Y2K problems behind it. "We're a year early," he said. The agency is spending close to $1 billion on Y2K fixes. Cosgrave, a well-known consultant, was brought in to help the IRS straighten out its troubled systems modernization program and build new systems to support the reorganized agency. He said the IRS will exercise more central control over information technology and try to standardize the systems environment. "Today we have 17 e-mail systems in the IRS," he said by way of example. The reorganization announced by IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti will replace the service's current regional structure with four new units serving specific groups of customers. That change, combined with the systems modernization program, will lead to new job responsibilities for many IRS employees, Cosgrave said. The agency will move some headquarters functions to field offices and move some back office employees to customer service jobs. But because it can't relocate many of the affected workers, it plans to "use more remote assignment work," where employees in one location work for managers in another, Cosgrave said. The IRS also will dramatically increase its investment in employee training, from $3.5 million this year to $11 million two years from now. ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************

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