December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Sensar knows!
by X 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

<the last line of this is a funny double entendre> HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU, SENSAR By Peter D. Henig <mailto:peteh@redherring.com> Red Herring Online November 3, 1998 You walk out the door and down the street to find the closest ATM machine, but reaching into your wallet -- "oops" -- you forgot your cash card. Don't you hate that? Well, if Sensar, a biometrics manufacturer of iris identification products has anything to say about it, you'll soon be tossing that ATM card in the can. Sensar has announced the world's largest ever combined equity investment in the field of personal electronic identification -- which is actually a bigger deal than you might think. Moving a step closer, as the company puts it, "toward making PINs and passwords obsolete," Citibank, NCR, J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch's wholly-owned subsidiary, KECALP Inc., and others have invested an aggregate of $28 million in Sensar as the company attempts to further roll out its iris identification pilot programs around the world in the hopes of owning this futuristic segment of the biometrics market targeted at the financial services and banking industries. Who cares? Who cares about equity stakes in biometrics companies? Good question, and the same one we asked when the company came a-pitching us their story. It turns out, however, that biometrics is -- as Sensar likes to remind us -- an emerging technology that could soon turn into a hot, if not huge, market around the globe. With the initial results of their European pilot program (set up in a small city outside London), it's "going very, very well, and I do mean very well." According to Per-Olof Loof, Senior Vice President of NCR's Financial Solutions Group, Sensar is pumped to push forward with its iris recognition products, shooting for commercial roll out in 1999, and a real ramp up of shipping product by 2000 and 2001. The Sensar Secure Iris Identification System is currently being used in NCR ATMs and at teller stations at Nationwide Building Society, the United Kingdom's largest savings and loan. Sensar's Iris Identification product was also used by professional athletes for access control and security at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Citibank, an equity investor, has also launched an in-house pilot program using its employees to test iris scan technology. And just how big is this market? While company officials wouldn't be pinned down on specific forecasts, Mr. Olof noted that there are 20 billion customer transactions annually on NCR ATM machines alone, and that NCR has 37 percent market share. That's not a bad partner for a private company like Sensar to have. Moreover, Tom Drury, president and CEO of Sensar noted that there are currently 900,000 ATMs worldwide and 160,000 new machines shipping each year. Smile! The unique aspect of Sensar's products is that you may not even be aware you're being watched. Sensar's iris identification products use standard video cameras and real-time image processing to acquire a picture of a person's iris (the colored portion of the eye), digitally encode it, and compare it with one on file -- all in the space of a few seconds. It allows for highly accurate identification (comparing features across a whole database) and verification (comparing features with a single template) in a user friendly environment; second in accuracy only to retina identification using sans-laser beams. In layman's terms, this might mean opening up an account at your local bank by simply sitting down, having them take a snapshot of your eyeballs, and then hitting the ATMs or tellers for some cash. According to the company, iris recognition uses digitally encoded images of the iris to provide a highly accurate, easy-to-use and virtually fraud-proof means to verify a customer's identity. With 266 identification characteristics, the iris is the human body's most unique physical structure. And unlike other measurable human features in the face, hand, voice or fingerprint, the patterns in the iris do not change over time; receeding hairlines be damned. They're not alone "This landmark agreement puts iris identification light years ahead of any other personal electronic identification technology," said Mr. Drury. "Clearly, this agreement validates Sensar's product as the most accurate, customer-friendly, cost effective personal electronic identification product ever developed." That's not bad cheerleading, but Sensar is clearly not the only biometric firm in the identification market's field of vision. According to the Gartner Group (IT <http://www2.nordby.com/herring/returnquote.asp?SYMBOL=IT>), Miros and Visionics were the first companies to enter the facial recognition market, although facial recognition tends to be a less accurate means of identification. These two companies offer far cheaper products than Sensar, and are targeting applications to such markets as PC and network access and online transactions. Sensar, however, will also be designing for and marketing to the online environment, as it envisions iris technology hitting the desktop environment. While the Gartner Group forecasts that the more widely accepted fingerprint recognition techniques will be the remote access standard of choice through 2001, it also predicts that "aggressive financial organizations will begin full-scale rollouts of iris recognition for tellers and ATMs by 2000." Hence, the $28 million equity stake in Sensar by this highbrow club of financial institutions. By 2002, Gartner analysts predict iris recognition will be the biometric of choice, an area where IrisScan Inc. holds an exclusive patent. (Sensar uses the iris recognition process developed and licensed from IriScan, Inc., and has the exclusive use of that technology for all financial services transactions.) And as far as exit strategy goes, everybody, including Sensar, still has dreams of Silicon Valley dollars dancing in their heads. "We have a classic Silicon Valley entrepreneurial team," said Mr. Drury, who is located in New Jersey, "and we consider an IPO as a definite exit strategy." We'll be watching.

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NYC Smartcards Die
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Chase, Visa and Mastercard have closed down their smartcard trial on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the NYT reports today. It also says Mondex has closed its Swindon trial. The problem in NY is that the system was too cumbersome to use, needing special readers that were not always up to snuff, compared to the familiar and reliable system for credit cards. Bribing users with start up cash didn't work either. No one ever reloaded their cards. Not all merchants took them, especially those handling only cash transactions. Also, the cards could not be used outside the trial area, and the paper says, "everybody leaves the Upper West Side," without saying where they go to kill time for the day like out of work Koreans who dare not admit the sublimity of being jobless at long last -- money cannot buy the joy. Spokespersons say that they misjudged the customer's desire for cash-like freedom and anonymity (my words). That the best prospect for smartcard future lies in captive users such as college campuses and the military where they expect an all-purpose card will catch on by providing handy ID and money, as well as (unsaid) perfect monitoring and data-gathering. I'll keep my $12-balance card (never found a place to accept it) on the chance that it will be a valuable collector's item for the Edsel Electronic Opium Museum. And we never leave the Upper West Side, well, once, to go to the Harvard Club for a swell DCSNY. Great group, grim dump.

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17 Dec '03

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Dead man running; metabolism no problem to candidates
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 03:13 PM 11/3/98 -0800, Bill Stewart wrote: >On the other hand, it's still tempting to see about putting Frank Zappa >on the ballot. He is a bit metabolically challenged these days, Here in LA, we had a Dead Man Running for sheriff. This Shermie Block character croaked before the race, but his party still urged voting for him, to spite his opponent. (Some "board" would appoint a replacement, so the vote was actually for the board.)

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No Subject
by atlantis＠earthlink.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

11/04/98 Y2K Solution! 8 Pine Circle Dr., Silicon Valley, Calif. USA OTC Company "TCFG" 21 st. Century Frontier Group has through several members of their administrative research department leaked vital information about their companies efforts. Everyone was tight lipped and interviews were refused, and through un-named sources we have learned that the technology and software solution are in the process of being patented! In over 1640 trials, using various data systems the use of the new technology and software solved the Y2K problem 100% of the time. This small publicly traded company "TCFG" which is just 3 years old is through various sources now negotiating with the "Big Boys"! "TCFG" the letters to look for!

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hoping to obtains copies of documentation ...
by Steven Cooper 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

There are two informative documents available from GEMPLUS (France) as part of their development kit for their GPK4000 smartcard. 1. GPK4000 Application Notes (for public key applications) Banking, Personal Identification, Internet Transactions 2. Electronic Purse Architecture for MPCOS-EMV (for DES and 3-DES applications) Unfortunately, it the kit costs more than US$4k. Any chance some kind soul could forward a copy of these documents? If so, email me directly to make arrangements. -- scoop

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0851244.shtml
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Advertisement Welcome to Slashdot Science News Technology Star Wars Prequels The Internet faq code awards slashNET older stuff rob's page submit story book reviews user account ask slashdot advertising supporters past polls features about jobs BSI Review:Handbook of Applied Cryptography Encryption Posted by Hemos on Wednesday November 04, @08:51AM from the just-the-facts-ma'am dept. Giving some actual theory to the whole cryptography discussion, Ian S. Nelson's review of Handbook of Applied Cryptography takes a look at this veritable tome of information. This isn't a book for those of you trying to figure out exactly what the NSA actually does; this is for the real meat and numbers behind it all. Click below for more info. REVIEW: Handbook of Applied Cryptography Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot, Scott A. Vanstone CRC Press (ISBN 0-8493-8523-7) Nutshell Review: Required reading for any cryptography freak. Rating: 9/10 The Scenario CRC Press has been building a series of books on discrete mathematics and its applications. Doug Stinson wrote the theory book on cryptography (Cryptography: Theory and Practice (ISBN: 0-8493-8521-0, if you don't like this book you'll vomit when you see the Stinson book) and this is the application book on cryptography. It's close to 800 pages chocked full of information. I must confess that I'm a cryptography freak and I'm a little sick of the constant political discussions and lack of tech talk, this book is all tech and might even be a little much if you're not into math. It's a wonderful companion to the Schneier books (Applied Cryptography 1st or 2nd Edition A.K.A. "the crypto bible") if you're into the nitty gritty details of cryptography. What's Bad? I really like this book and I can't find a lot that I don't like about it... but I think in places the math gets a little thick. I have a degree in math and I find myself returning to the math overview section more often than I'd like to admit. If you're not familiar with discrete math and combinatorics then this book probably isn't for you. If you enjoy that stuff, then this will be a piece of cake. If you're looking to build your crypto book library up I'd highly recommend this book before you get some of the more hard-core books. Something else I feel is lacking is cryptanalysis on ciphers. They discuss attacks on various protocols and hashes but actual attacks on ciphers are glossed over. As a companion to Cryptography: Theory and Practice, which covers cryptanalysis in more detail, it is understandable to leave that material out of this book but I think they could discuss it a little more than they do without going into specifics. The no-nonsense style can be a little dry at times, there aren't a lot of jokes or anecdotes to lighten things up in this book. What's Good? Cipher isn't spelled with a 'y' anywhere in this book. It's not filled with a lot of opinion or rumor. It doesn't hardly bring up ITAR, key escrow, or the NSA's mystical superpowers. This book is about cryptographic techniques and a listing of patents is about as political or opinionated as it gets. It is kind of like a textbook without the problems at the end of each chapter. It is written in an outline format with subitems of "Definition", "Fact", "Notes", "Example", and "Algorithm." Each subitem is followed by a few short but concise paragraphs of explanation. Plenty of charts and figures fill the pages and everything is explained well. While it lacks source code, there is certainly enough information for you to implement any of the ciphers, hashes, or protocols covered. It even includes some test vectors for a lot of the algorithms. So What's In It For Me? If you want to learn about cryptography, not the politics but the actual technology, then this is a great book to get before you get over your head. It's very readable and while the math can be a little heavy in places it is accessible and useful. It gives you a good flavor of how more advanced papers and books on the subject are and it avoids the nonacademic discussions surrounding cryptography. To pick this book up, head over to Amazon and help Slashdot out. Table of Contents 1. Overview of Cryptography 1. Introduction 2. Information Security and Cryptography 3. Background on Functions 4. Basic Terminology and Concepts 5. Symmetric-key Encryption 6. Digital Signatures 7. Authentication and Identification 8. Public-key Cryptography 9. Hash Functions 10. Protocols and mechanisms 11. Key establishment, management, and certification 12. Pseudorandom numbers and sequences 13. Classes of attacks and security models 14. Notes and further references 2. Mathematical Background 1. Probability theory 2. Information theory 3. Complexity theory 4. Number theory 5. Abstract algebra 6. Finite fields 7. Notes and further references 3. Number-Theoretic Reference Problems 1. Introduction and overview 2. The integer factorization problem 3. The RSA problem 4. The quadratic residuosity problem 5. Computing Square roots in Zn 6. The Discrete logarithm problem 7. The Diffie-Hellman problem 8. Composite moduli 9. Computing individual bits 10. The subset sum problem 11. Factoring polynomials over finite fields 12. Notes and further references 4. Public-Key Parameters 1. Introduction 2. Probabilistic primality tests 3. (True)Primality tests 4. Prime number generation 5. Irreducible polynomials over Zp 6. Generators and elements of high order 7. Notes and further references 5. Pseudorandom Bits and Sequences 1. Introduction 2. Random bit generation 3. Pseudorandom bit generation 4. Statistical tests 5. Cryptographically secure pseudorandom bit generation 6. Notes and further references 6. Stream Ciphers 1. Introduction 2. Feedback shift registers 3. Stream ciphers based on LFSRs 4. Other stream ciphers 5. Notes and further references 7. Block Ciphers 1. Introduction 2. Background and general concepts 3. Classical ciphers and historical development 4. DES 5. FEAL 6. IDEA 7. SAFER, RC5, and other block ciphers 8. Notes and further references 8. Public-Key Encryption 1. Introduction 2. RSA public-key encryption 3. Rabin public-key encryption 4. ElGamal public-key encryption 5. McElliece public-key encryption 6. Knapsack public-key encryption 7. Probabilistic public-key encryption 8. Notes and further references 9. Hash Functions and Data Integrity 1. Introduction 2. Classification and framework 3. Basic constructions and general results 4. Unkeyed hash functions (MDCs) 5. Keyed hash functions (MACs) 6. Data integrity and message authentication 7. Advanced attacks on hash functions 8. Notes and further references 10. Identification and Entity Authentication 1. Introduction 2. Passwords (weak authentication) 3. Challenge-response identification (strong authentication) 4. Customized zero-knowledge identification protocols 5. Attacks on identification protocols 6. Notes and further references 11. Digital Signatures 1. Introduction 2. A framework for digital signature mechanisms 3. RSA and related signature schemes 4. Fiat-Shamir signature schemes 5. The DSA and related signature schemes 6. One-time digital signatures 7. Other signatures schemes 8. Signatures with additional functionality 9. Notes and further references 12. Key Establishment Protocols 1. Introduction 2. Classification and framework 3. Key transport based on symmetric encryption 4. Key agreement based on symmetric techniques 5. Key transport based on public-key encryption 6. Key agreement based on asymmetric techniques 7. Secret Sharing 8. Conference Keying 9. Analysis of key establishment protocols 10. Notes and further references 13. Key Management Techniques 1. Introduction 2. Background and basic concepts 3. Techniques for distributing confidential keys 4. Techniques for distributing public keys 5. Techniques for controlling key usage 6. Key management involving multiple domains 7. Key life cycle issues 8. Advanced trusted third party services 9. Notes and further references 14. Efficient Implementation 1. Introduction 2. Multiple-precision integer arithmetic 3. Multiple-precision modular arithmetic 4. Greatest common divisor algorithms 5. Chinese remainder theorem for integers 6. Exponentiation 7. Exponent recoding 8. Notes and further references 15. Patents and Standards 1. Introduction 2. Patents on cryptographic techniques 3. Cryptographic standards 4. Notes and further references 16. Appendix A: Bibligraphy of Papers from Selected Cryptographic Forums 1. Asiacrypt/Auscrypt Proceedings 2. Crypto Proceedings 3. Eurocrypt Proceedings 4. Fast Software Encryption Proceedings 5. Journal of Cryptology papers < The demise of Crack.com | Reply | Flattened | 50 Gb drives from Seagate > Related Links Slashdot Cryptography: Theory and Practice book Amazon Ian S. Nelson's NSA More on Encryption Also by Hemos [INLINE] Amazon Info The books here are brought to us in Partnership with Amazon.com. If you follow the links around here, and eventually buy a book, we get a percentage of the cost! Want books about any of these things? Perl, Linux, Unix, Gardening, CGI, Java? Still not finding what you're looking for? Visit Amazon.com from this link, and we still get some credit. Or you could even Search Amazon using this convenient form: ____________________ ______ [INLINE] The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. Slashdot is not responsible for what they say. < Down One | This Page's Threshold: 0 | Up One > (Warning:this stuff is extremely beta right now) Amazon.com confuses "Applied Cryptography" with "H by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 04, @09:09AM For those of you who order the Handbook of Applied Cryptography, don't be suprised if amazon sends you Bruce Schneiers "Applied Cryptography" instead.....its happened to me and another person I know.. [ Reply to this ] politics / history is relevant (Score:1) by harshaw on Wednesday November 04, @10:00AM (User Info) On of the great things about Schneier's Applied Cryptography was how he intertwined the mathematics with the political ramifications of the particular crypto algorithm. I think the study of Crypto needs to be tightly coupled with an understanding of the societal / political issues around it. For instance, you can't simply implement 128 bit RC5 in your product and ship it of to Iraq without having RSA (for patent violations) and the NSA (for the obvious reasons) come down on your head. IMO, Crypto is a VERY tough subject and requires an intense amount of study to understand the math. If the text you are studying is dry and lacking wit or humor, it makes the job even harder :( [ Reply to this ] * politics / history is relevant by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 04, @11:57AM Loved it! I laughed! I cried! (Score:1) by bobse on Wednesday November 04, @11:14AM (User Info) What I liked was the way that each algorithm was reviewed in a very consistent manner. Most algorithms were described not just with words and mathematics (which is good), but also with pseudocode (which is great if you are actually trying to implement this stuff). The consistent, itemized format also allows you to compare the strengths/weaknesses of different algorithms yourself, instead of relying on someone else to do it for you. Very cool. 9.5/10 [ Reply to this ] Price Check (Score:1) by Ralph Bearpark on Wednesday November 04, @12:15PM (User Info) As an onging service to /. readers ... Amazon = $84.95 BarnesAndNoble = $109.50 (HAHAHAHA!) Shopping books = $71.96 Spree books = $67.99 (Is it my imagination, or is /. reviewing increasingly expensive, non-Amazon-discounted books? Surely not. :-)) Regards, Ralph. [ Reply to this ] * Price Check by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 04, @01:12PM The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. Slashdot is not responsible for what they say. < Down One | This Page's Threshold: 0 | Up One > (Warning:this stuff is extremely beta right now) ____________________ ______ All newspaper editorial writers ever do is come down from the hills after the battle is over and shoot the wounded. All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest &copy 1998 Rob Malda. [ home | awards | supporters | rob's homepage | contribute story | older articles | advertising | past polls | about | faq | BSI ]

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MS "halloween" doc, vs. linux
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

some people objected to my last post ranting about MS tactics relative to the browser market. there has been a remarkable development that shows how MS deliberately attempts to "sabotage" markets through FUD etc.... an internal policy memo that discusses their tactics leaked to the public.. good article on Slate about how MS is attempting to sabotage the growth of new free linux software through a systematic strategy of "decommoditizing" or "embrace and extend" where some people call this "copy and corrupt": http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/ if MS's strategies in the world were as simple as "make good products so people will buy them", who could complain? but they constantly see software development as trench warfare and a bloody, no-hold-barred melee. I'm positive they will be chastised after this antitrust trial finishes.. we'll see..

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No Subject
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

To: efc-talk(a)efc.ca From: David Jones <djones(a)efc.ca> Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 11:21:57 -0500 (EST) Seems a bit strange that just when the private sector is recognizing that smart cards are not yet ready for prime time, the Ontario government is gearing up to launch a "universal smart card" for the delivery of government services. But don't worry, the government smart card will be better than Mondex ... it will have biometric identification. ;-) Ontario considering smart cards http://www.efc.ca/pages/media/national-post.30oct98.html Mondex pulls plug on Guelph pilot project http://www.efc.ca/pages/media/globe.01nov98.html Old-fashioned cash outsmarts smart card http://www.efc.ca/pages/media/national-post.01nov98a.html

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DigiCash Inc. to File Reorganization, Seeks Partners to Drive eCash Forward
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Reply-To: <sjl(a)sjl.net> From: "Scott Loftesness" <sjl(a)sjl.net> To: <dbs(a)philodox.com> Subject: DigiCash Inc. to File Reorganization, Seeks Partners to Drive eCash Forward Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 12:32:56 -0800 Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-Msmail-Priority: Normal Importance: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: <dbs(a)philodox.com> Precedence: Bulk List-Subscribe: <mailto:requests@philodox.com?subject=subscribe%20dbs> X-Web-Archive: http://www.philodox.com/dbs-archive/ FYI... DigiCash Inc. to File Reorganization, Seeks Partners to Drive eCash Forward PALO ALTO, CALIF.--November 4, 1998 DigiCash Inc. has announced that it is entering into a Chapter 11 reorganization to allow it to pursue strategic alternatives for its electronic cash ("eCash" ) products and the associated intellectual assets pioneered by DigiCash. According to Scott Loftesness, interim CEO of DigiCash, "The company is exploring a range of potential alternatives including working with major strategic players to finance the market development of eCash or the sale and/or licensing of the Company's intellectual property portfolio." Loftesness added, "eCash, as it has been developed by DigiCash, is an important and inevitable payment solution in the world of global electronic commerce." The DigiCash payment solution is currently in use by leading banks in Europe and Australia. These banks have deployed the DigiCash eCash solution and continue to add to their respective consumer and merchant eCash acceptance networks. DigiCash's eCash payment solution offers a secure, low cost and private payment option to consumers for payments of any amount. The intellectual property owned by DigiCash consists of a series of patents, protocols, and software systems that were specifically designed to be privacy protecting for consumers and which also enable other applications like online electronic voting. The ability to pay privately, without revealing personal information, and avoiding the capture of personal transaction information for marketing or other subsequent uses is a growing concern among consumers globally. Contact: Scott Loftesness: (650) 798-8183 or via email: sjl(a)sjl.net --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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