February 2005 - cypherpunks-legacy

Ink helps drive democracy in Asia
by R.A. Hettinga 19 Feb '05

19 Feb '05

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/technology/4276125.stm> The BBC Saturday, 19 February, 2005, 08:34 GMT Ink helps drive democracy in Asia By Dr David Mikosz In Kyrgyzstan The Kyrgyz Republic, a small, mountainous state of the former Soviet republic, is using invisible ink and ultraviolet readers in the country's elections as part of a drive to prevent multiple voting. This new technology is causing both worries and guarded optimism among different sectors of the population. In an effort to live up to its reputation in the 1990s as "an island of democracy", the Kyrgyz President, Askar Akaev, pushed through the law requiring the use of ink during the upcoming Parliamentary and Presidential elections. The US government agreed to fund all expenses associated with this decision. "The use of ink and readers by itself is not a panacea for election ills" The Kyrgyz Republic is seen by many experts as backsliding from the high point it reached in the mid-1990s with a hastily pushed through referendum in 2003, reducing the legislative branch to one chamber with 75 deputies. The use of ink is only one part of a general effort to show commitment towards more open elections - the German Embassy, the Soros Foundation and the Kyrgyz government have all contributed to purchase transparent ballot boxes. Not complicated The actual technology behind the ink is not that complicated. The ink is sprayed on a person's left thumb. It dries and is not visible under normal light. However, the presence of ultraviolet light (of the kind used to verify money) causes the ink to glow with a neon yellow light. At the entrance to each polling station, one election official will scan voter's fingers with UV lamp before allowing them to enter, and every voter will have his/her left thumb sprayed with ink before receiving the ballot. If the ink shows under the UV light the voter will not be allowed to enter the polling station. Likewise, any voter who refuses to be inked will not receive the ballot. These elections are assuming even greater significance because of two large factors - the upcoming parliamentary elections are a prelude to a potentially regime changing presidential election in the Autumn as well as the echo of recent elections in other former Soviet Republics, notably Ukraine and Georgia. The use of ink has been controversial - especially among groups perceived to be pro-government. Common metaphor Widely circulated articles compared the use of ink to the rural practice of marking sheep - a still common metaphor in this primarily agricultural society. The author of one such article began a petition drive against the use of the ink. The greatest part of the opposition to ink has often been sheer ignorance. Local newspapers have carried stories that the ink is harmful, radioactive or even that the ultraviolet readers may cause health problems. Others, such as the aggressively middle of the road, Coalition of Non-governmental Organizations, have lauded the move as an important step forward. This type of ink has been used in many elections in the world, in countries as varied as Serbia, South Africa, Indonesia and Turkey. The other common type of ink in elections is indelible visible ink - but as the elections in Afghanistan showed, improper use of this type of ink can cause additional problems. The use of "invisible" ink is not without its own problems. In most elections, numerous rumors have spread about it. Clear step In Serbia, for example, both Christian and Islamic leaders assured their populations that its use was not contrary to religion. Other rumours are associated with how to remove the ink - various soft drinks, solvents and cleaning products are put forward. However, in reality, the ink is very effective at getting under the cuticle of the thumb and difficult to wash off. The ink stays on the finger for at least 72 hours and for up to a week. The use of ink and readers by itself is not a panacea for election ills. The passage of the inking law is, nevertheless, a clear step forward towards free and fair elections." The country's widely watched parliamentary elections are scheduled for 27 February. David Mikosz works for the IFES, an international, non-profit organisation that supports the building of democratic societies. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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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SHA-1 broken?
by James Brim 18 Feb '05

18 Feb '05

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/02/sha1_broken.html damn chinese.

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Re: Cryptographers to Hollywood: prepare to fail on DRM
by Mike Godwin 18 Feb '05

18 Feb '05

Thanks to Robert Hettinga for the link -- I got a blog entry out of it! (You can read it at <http://www.godwinslaw.org/weblog/archive/2005/02/18/beating-the-drum-on-bui…>.) --Mike -- ----- The Godwin's Law Blog can be found at http://www.godwinslaw.org . ----- Mike Godwin can be reached by phone at 202-518-0020 x 101. The new edition of his book, CYBER RIGHTS, can be ordered at http://www.panix.com/~mnemonic . ----- --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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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Re: Cryptographers to Hollywood: prepare to fail on DRM
by Mike Godwin 18 Feb '05

18 Feb '05

Thanks to Robert Hettinga for the link -- I got a blog entry out of it! (You can read it at <http://www.godwinslaw.org/weblog/archive/2005/02/18/beating-the-drum-on-bui…>.) --Mike -- ----- The Godwin's Law Blog can be found at http://www.godwinslaw.org . ----- Mike Godwin can be reached by phone at 202-518-0020 x 101. The new edition of his book, CYBER RIGHTS, can be ordered at http://www.panix.com/~mnemonic . ----- --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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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Re: Cryptographers to Hollywood: prepare to fail on DRM
by R.A. Hettinga 18 Feb '05

18 Feb '05

--- begin forwarded text

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Theory of Secure Computation - Joe Killian, NEC Labs
by sunder 18 Feb '05

18 Feb '05

http://www.uwtv.org/programs/displayevent.asp?rid=2233 A bit sparse on details, but a good overview of all sorts of secure protocols. Our friends Alice and Bob are of course present in various orgies of secure protocols. :)

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[osint] Switzerland Repatriates $458m to Nigeria
by R.A. Hettinga 18 Feb '05

18 Feb '05

--- begin forwarded text To: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft(a)community-research.com> Thread-Index: AcUVCpcZCIoZtD6dRp62Gatn1nTR2g== From: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft(a)community-research.com> Mailing-List: list osint(a)yahoogroups.com; contact osint-owner(a)yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list osint(a)yahoogroups.com Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 11:06:28 -0500 Subject: [osint] Switzerland Repatriates $458m to Nigeria Reply-To: osint(a)yahoogroups.com http://allafrica.com/stories/200502170075.html Switzerland Repatriates $458m to Nigeria This <http://allafrica.com/publishers.html?passed_name=This%20Day&passed_location =Lagos> Day (Lagos) February 17, 2005 Posted to the web February 17, 2005 Kunle Aderinokun Abuja FG to start drawing funds in March The Federal Government yesterday announced that the Swiss government has approved the repatriation of $458 million, being bulk of the $505 million of public fund stashed away in various private bank accounts in that country by the late General Sani Abacha and his family. Making this disclosure yesterday in Abuja at the instance of Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Pierre Helg, Finance Ministe Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the fund will be transferred into the International Bank for Settlement (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, and that Nigeria will be able to withdraw the money by the end of March this year. Okonjo-Iweala, who said the Swiss authorities did not attach any condition for the repatriation of the siphoned monies, said the release was sequel to the judgment of the Swiss Federal Court, which ruled that the "Swiss authorities may return assets of obviously criminal origin to Nigeria even without a court decision in the country concerned." The finance minister said President Olusegun Obasanjo since assumption of office had vigorously and relentlessly pursued return of the funds with the help of the National Security Adviser and herself. Noting that with this development, Switzerland has earned a positive status as the first country to return funds illegally placed by the Abacha family, Okonjo-Iweala said "the Federal Government is indeed grateful to the government of Switzerland for the principled and focused manner in which it has pursued this just cause." "We hope that the Swiss example at both the political and judicial level will show the way for other countries where our national resources have been illegally transferred. Switzerland's policy on this issue is a clear sign that crime does not pay. Nigeria is ready to work with other governments to achieved the repatriation of other funds which were siphoned out of the country illegally," she added. She recalled that Obasanjo had on behalf of the administration made a commitment to the Swiss government that the Abacha loots will be used for developmental projects in health and education as well as for infrastructure (roads, electricity and water supply) for the benefit of Nigerians. "This", she pointed out, "is of course, very much in keeping with the priorities of the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), the nation's blue-print for reducing poverty, creating wealth and generating employment." She stated that after receiving the assurances of the Swiss authorities that the funds will be released , the federal government had "decided to factor most of the Abacha funds into the 2004 budget so that the urgent challenges of providing infrastructure and social services to our people would not be delayed. This is to ensure that our programmes which are on-going are adequately funded." According to her, the Federal Government had distributed the recovered $505 million looted funds in the 2004 budget as: rural electrification, $170million (N21.70billion); priority economic roads, $140 million (N18.60billion); primary health care vaccination programme, $80 million (N10.83 billion); support to secondary and basic education, $60 million (N7.74 billion); and portable water and rural irrigation, $50 million (N6.20 billion). In his remarks, the Swiss ambassador to Nigeria, Helg said "Switzerland possesses an efficient set of legal instruments to defend itself against the inflow of illegal assets, and to recognize, block and return them to their rightful owners." He noted that "the recent decision of the Federal Supreme Court will strengthen the deterrent effect of Switzer-land's legal mechanism against potential future inflows of illegal capital." He added that "the decision strengthens the Swiss position regarding the restitution of funds of politically exposed persons, which is: Switzerland has no interest in accepting illegal funds. It's financial center does not provide for a safe haven for illegal money, which should primarily be used for the benefit of the people of the country in question. The point must again be made that Swiss banking secrecy is not an obstacle to the investigation of criminal acts and to the international efforts to combat crime." He said Switzerland has received assurances from Obasanjo and Okonjo-Iweala that the returned funds will be channeled to the areas of health (fighting HIV/AIDS), education and infrastructure in the 2004/2005 fiscal period. "The funds will be used within the framework of the Nigeria national strategy to implement the United Nations Millennium Goals. The Nigerian government has given assurances of transparency in the use of the funds and is in agreement to the full inspection of the relevant accounts. Switzerland has an interest in preventing the funds from being recycled for criminal purposes. "For this reasons, it has agreed with Nigeria to place control on projects financed by the Abacha's assets. These controls are expected to be carried out by the World Bank. The exact modalities are in the process of being established. Nigeria has given its consent to allowing civil society to play an appropriate role in this monitoring project," he said. The Abacha family had relentlessly waged legal battles to stop the release of the funds. But the Swiss Federal Court last week, ruled in favour of the repatriation of the monies back to Nigeria. The Swiss authorities have investigated bank accounts linked to the Abacha family for over three years since the Nigerian government accused the late leader of looting up to $3 billion from state coffers during his rule from 1993 until his death in June 1998. Last month, one of the Abacha sons, Abba, was arrested in Neuss, Germany when he attempted to close an account. He was accused of money laundering, fraud and breach of trust, and Swiss authorities sought his extradition from Germany to assist them in the course of their investigations. Nine Swiss banks were reportedly investigated during the period. The first restitution of $200 million from the Abacha funds in Switzwerland was in 2003. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-osint(a)yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor bisoldi(a)intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint(a)yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: osint-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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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Cryptographers to Hollywood: prepare to fail on DRM
by R.A. Hettinga 18 Feb '05

18 Feb '05

<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/17/drm_security_shortcomings/print.html> The Register Biting the hand that feeds IT Cryptographers to Hollywood: prepare to fail on DRM By John Leyden (john.leyden at theregister.co.uk) Published Thursday 17th February 2005 19:37 GMT RSA 2005 Movie industry representatives at RSA 2005 in San Francisco today called on the IT industry for help in thwarting illegal file sharing before the problem threatened its revenues. But they were told that they must recognise the limitations of digital rights management in their fight against digital piracy. Speaking on the RSA conference panel Hollywood's Last Chance - Getting it Right on Digital Piracy, Carter Laren, security architect at Cryptographic Research, noted that cryptography is "good at some problems, such as transmitting data so it can't be eavesdropped or even authentication, but it can't solve the content protection problem. If people have legitimate access to content, then you can't stop them misusing it. "Anyone designing content protection should design for failure and if it fails update it," he added. John Worrall, marketing VP at RSA Security, agreed that content protection systems should be easy to upgrade. The entertainment industry must also learn from its previous mistakes in pushing the weak CSS copy-protection system for DVDs. "If content providers open up standards to good cryptographic review they will get a better system," he said, to applause from the RSA 2005 audience. The entertainment industry also needs to be responsive to changing market conditions and consumer preferences, according to Worrall: "Don't lock down a set of content rules that look draconian five years from now. Be flexible enough to incorporate change in rules. If rules are too restrictive people will go to other channels, including pirated material." Andy Sentos, president of engineering and technology at Fox Entertainment Group, argued that device manufacturers need to recognise the requirements of the movie industry in the design of their products. "There's a value in both content and functionality but there has to be a balance," he said. . Related stories SuprNova.org ends, not with a bang but a whimper (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/19/suprnova_stops_torrents/) The BitTorrent P2P file-sharing system (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/18/bittorrent_measurements_analysis/) MPAA closes Loki (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/10/loki_down_mpaa/) Stealing movies: Why the MPAA can afford to relax (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/09/movie_file_sharing/) Norway throws in the towel in DVD Jon case (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/01/05/norway_throws_in_the_towel/) -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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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Spam gets vocal with VoIP
by R.A. Hettinga 18 Feb '05

18 Feb '05

<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/17/spam_gets_vocal_with_voip/print.html> The Register Biting the hand that feeds IT Spam gets vocal with VoIP By John Leyden (john.leyden at theregister.co.uk) Published Thursday 17th February 2005 08:47 GMT RSA 2005 We're all learning to live with spam but an even more annoying nuisance lies just around the corner. Spit (Spam over internet telephony) is set to become the next pervasive medium for scammers, penis pill purveyors and the rest. Internet telephony means cheaper phone calls, a great prospect for consumers and businesses alike. It also means that advertising messages can be sent out for next to nothing. And history shows that spammers will take advantage of any broadcast medium available to them, according to Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer at Counterpane Internet Security. Spit has the potential to fill people's voicemail in-boxes with junk, he says. "Once you get to the point where you have 10 unsolicited commercial voicemail messages every time you log on people will stop using it or at least only accept calls from people on their white list." Schneier thinks it will be difficult to weed out Spit messages, but some security vendors are considering defence mechanisms. According to David Thomason, director of security engineering at network security firm Sourcefire, Spit messages would likely have a pattern. Junk calls matching that pattern could be blocked in much the same way malign data traffic can be discarded providing filtering technologies were deployed on the network Spit messages are sent from, he said. . Related stories Users choke on mobile spam (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/10/mobile_spam/) Trojan infects PCs to generate SMS spam (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/09/sms_spam_trojan/) Phone spam misery looms Stateside (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/06/junk_fax_sms_ok/) Pssst, wanna spam mobile phones? (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/12/sms_spamvertisment/) Telecom Italia slammed for spam hypocrisy (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/02/text_spam_tim/) UK premium rate phone complaints rocket (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/01/icstis_annual_report/) -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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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Intel fortifies mobile transactions
by R.A. Hettinga 18 Feb '05

18 Feb '05

<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/17/wireless_trusted_platform/print.html> The Register Biting the hand that feeds IT The Register ; Mobile ; Mobile Apps ; Intel fortifies mobile transactions By Jan Libbenga (libbenga at yahoo.com) Published Thursday 17th February 2005 12:47 GMT 3GSM Intel has joined Orange and Visa International to better protect premium digital content and transactions on mobile handsets. The company will use a combination of hardware and software to provide more more security for consumers to pay for online music or video, the company announced this week at 3GSM in Cannes. The new Intel Wireless Trusted Platform (http://www.intel.com/design/pca/applicationsprocessors/whitepapers/30086801…) is comparable with solutions Intel has developed for desktop PCs. Connected to the motherboard or the inner circuitry is a Trusted Platform Module, which contains a unique digital signature of the platform's software configuration. When booted, the digital signature is recalculated and compared to previous signatures. If the signature can't be validated, devices are notified of a change in the reported platform's state. It will not only protect users against viruses and software corruption, but also secures content delivery and downloads. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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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