March 2006 - cypherpunks-legacy

Notification: Loww ratess
by Luther Cohen 30 Mar '06

30 Mar '06

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Ratess will skyrocket soon
by Gina Thomas 30 Mar '06

30 Mar '06

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/. [Unmanned Aerial Drones Coming Soon Above U.S.]
by Eugen Leitl 30 Mar '06

30 Mar '06

Link: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/30/0113220 Posted by: samzenpus, on 2006-03-30 02:15:00 [1]cnet-declan writes "Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been flying over Iraq and Afghanistan, but now the Bush administration wants to use them for [2]domestic surveillance. A top Homeland Security official told Congress today, according to this CNET News.com article, that: "We need additional technology to supplement manned aircraft surveillance and current ground assets to ensure more effective monitoring of United States territory." One county in North Carolina is already using UAVs to [3]monitor public gatherings. But what happens when lots of relatively dumb drones have to share airspace with aircraft carrying passengers? A pilot's association is [4]worried." References 1. http://www.news.com/ 2. http://news.com.com/Drone+aircraft+may+prowl+U.S.+skies/2100-11746_3-6055658. html 3. http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2006/060215uav.html 4. http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2006/060109uav.html ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type application/pgp-signature which had a name of signature.asc]

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how to get johnny to encrypt (his hard drive)
by coderman 30 Mar '06

30 Mar '06

thoughts on making this simpler? 0. insert new second disk of equal or greater size 1. boot from trusted cd/dvd ISO image 2. insert USB memory stick (or two if you want a backup) 3. enter new password / passphrase (see good password howto) 4. agree/confirm to copy over empty / target disk 5. wait as new disk is encrypted via loop-aes, keys are stored on password protected USB image, all existing OS data* on source disk is copied to encrypted volume on new disk. 6. reboot into new encrypted volume and copy back over original source hard disk with loop-aes and store keys for this disk on USB image. 7. Johnny gets a data backup with his privacy. * ubuntu, knoppix, slackware, linspire and centos supported. a windoze or other partition (vfat, ntfs, etc) can be copied and mounted under a new installation of the previously mentioned linux OS'es on the new encrypted disk. (if one of these linux flavors is not already installed)

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Re-finance before rates skyrocket
by Carolina Delacruz 29 Mar '06

29 Mar '06

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[Clips] Your secrets are safe with quasar encryption
by R. A. Hettinga 29 Mar '06

29 Mar '06

--- begin forwarded text Delivered-To: clips(a)philodox.com Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 17:19:01 -0500 To: Philodox Clips List <clips(a)philodox.com> From: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah(a)shipwright.com> Subject: [Clips] Your secrets are safe with quasar encryption Reply-To: rah(a)philodox.com Sender: clips-bounces(a)philodox.com <http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8913&print=true> - Breaking News | Print | New Scientist Your secrets are safe with quasar encryption * 16:00 29 March 2006 * NewScientist.com news service * Will Knight Intergalactic radio signals from quasars could emerge as an exotic but effective new tool for securing terrestrial communications against eavesdropping. Japanese scientists have come up with a method for encrypting messages using the distant astronomical objects, which emit radio waves and are thought to be powered by black holes. Ken Umeno and colleagues at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology in Tokyo propose using the powerful radio signals emitted by quasars to lock and unlock digital communications in a secure fashion. The researchers believe quasars could make an ideal cryptographic tool because the strength and frequency of the radio pulses they emit is impossible to predict. "Quasar-based cryptography is based on a physical fact that such a space signal is random and has a very broad frequency spectrum," Umeno told New Scientist. One-time pad Randomness provides a simple means of high-security information encryption, providing two communicating parties have access to the same source of random information. For example, a randomly generated "one-time pad" shared by two parties can be used to encrypt and decrypt a message by simply transposing each individual bit of a message for bits on the pad. Genuine randomness is hard to generate artificially and the "pseudo-randomness" which most computers use is unsuitable for use in cryptography as patterns will be revealed over time. In addition, it is also tricky for two parties to share a source of randomness securely. Umeno and his colleagues suggest using an agreed quasar radio signal to add randomness to a stream cipher - a method of encrypting information at high speed. Each communicating party would only need to know which quasar to monitor and when to start in order to encrypt and decrypt a message. Without knowing the target quasar and time an eavesdropper should be unable to decrypt the message. Internet link Umeno believes astronomical cryptography could appeal to anyone who requires high-security communications. He adds that the method does not require a large radio antenna or that the communicating parties be located in the same hemisphere, as radio signals can be broadcast over the internet at high speed. "Concerning potential users, I suggest international financial institutions, governments and embassies," Umeno says. The researchers used quasar signals collected by Very Long Baseline Interferometry antenna at the institute to encrypt messages and have filed two patents covering quasar-based cryptography: one for locking and unlocking messages and another for generating digital signatures that can be used to match messages or files to a person. Related Articles * Photon detector is precursor to broadband in space * http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8877 * 21 March 2006 * Busted! A crisis in cryptography * http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18825301.600 * 17 December 2005 * Let chaos keep your secrets safe * http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18825262.000 * 19 November 2005 Weblinks * National Institute of Information and Communications Technology * http://www.nict.go.jp/ * Quasar Encryption patent * http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2… * Quasar Authentication patent * http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2… -- ----------------- 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' _______________________________________________ Clips mailing list Clips(a)philodox.com http://www.philodox.com/mailman/listinfo/clips --- 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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[Clips] Who's Spying Now? (was Re: OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today - March 29, 2006)
by R. A. Hettinga 29 Mar '06

29 Mar '06

--- begin forwarded text Delivered-To: clips(a)philodox.com Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 16:22:37 -0500 To: "Philodox Clips List" <clips(a)philodox.com> From: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah(a)shipwright.com> Subject: [Clips] Who's Spying Now? (was Re: OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today - March 29, 2006) Reply-To: rah(a)philodox.com Sender: clips-bounces(a)philodox.com At 3:56 PM -0500 3/29/06, OpinionJournal wrote: >Who's Spying Now? http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/28/D8GKO3I85.html > >Congressional Democrats' domestic spying program suffered a setback in >court yesterday, the Associated Press reports from Washington: > >*** QUOTE *** > >A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Rep. Jim McDermott violated >federal law by turning over an illegally taped telephone call to reporters >nearly a decade ago. > >In a 2-1 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia >upheld a lower court ruling that McDermott violated the rights of House >Majority Leader John Boehner, who was heard on the 1996 call involving >former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. . . . > >McDermott, D-Wash., leaked to The New York Times and other news >organizations a tape of a 1996 cell phone call The call included >discussion by Gingrich, R-Ga., and other House GOP leaders about a House >ethics committee investigation of Gingrich. Boehner, R-Ohio, was a >Gingrich lieutenant at the time and is now House majority leader. > >A lawyer for McDermott had argued that his actions were allowed under the >First Amendment, and said a ruling against him would have "a huge chilling >effect" on reporters and newsmakers alike. > >*** END QUOTE *** > >Meanwhile, the Washington Times >http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060329-120346-1901r.htm reports that >the president's terrorist surveillance program got support from some >experts in the field: > >*** QUOTE *** > >A panel of former Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judges yesterday >told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that President Bush did not >act illegally when he created by executive order a wiretapping program >conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA). > >The five judges testifying before the committee said they could not speak >specifically to the NSA listening program without being briefed on it, but >that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act does not override the >president's constitutional authority to spy on suspected international >agents under executive order. > >"If a court refuses a FISA application and there is not sufficient time >for the president to go to the court of review, the president can under >executive order act unilaterally, which he is doing now," said Judge Allan >Kornblum, magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern >District of Florida and an author of the 1978 FISA Act. "I think that the >president would be remiss exercising his constitutional authority by >giving all of that power over to a statute." > >*** END QUOTE *** > >The Times, of course, has been crusading against the program. But in a >December 2000 editorial >http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/07/opinion/07THU2.html?ex=1143781200&en=e9d8… >it argued that because McDermott himself did not make the recording of the >GOP phone conversation, he should be off the hook: > >*** QUOTE *** > >[Boehner's] suit seeks damages from Mr. McDermott for his disclosure of a >tape he received from a Florida couple in which former House Speaker Newt >Gingrich was heard discussing his ethics case. The Times published >transcripts of those conversations. > >The correct way to combat illegal interception of private conversation is >to prosecute the people who actually do it, and to hasten the development >of technology to make interceptions more difficult. It is not to trample >on the rights of the press and ordinary citizens to disclose the content >of information they received legally. The Supreme Court needs to affirm >that. > >*** END QUOTE *** > >It would seem the Times is more troubled by the U.S. government spying on >foreign enemies than by Democrats spying on their domestic opponents. -- ----------------- 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' _______________________________________________ Clips mailing list Clips(a)philodox.com http://www.philodox.com/mailman/listinfo/clips --- 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: This thing is awesome!
by Dana Griggs 29 Mar '06

29 Mar '06

technology. It may be informal in that it employs creative vanished, he is often referred to in legends in terms of an outstanding physical Other virtual reality enthusiasts are preaching that virtual THE OAKS presented a complaint to Jupiter, saying, We bear for

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[edrigram@edri.org: EDRI-gram newsletter - Number 4.6, 29 March 2006]
by Eugen Leitl 29 Mar '06

29 Mar '06

----- Forwarded message from EDRI-gram newsletter <edrigram(a)edri.org> -----

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scientia est potentia
by Eugen Leitl 29 Mar '06

29 Mar '06

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/002275.html Mini-Sensors for "Military Omniscience" Spotting insurgents, sorting out friend from foe b it's beyond tough in todaybs guerilla war zones. So tough, that no single monitor can be counted on to handle the job. The Pentagon's answer: build a set of palm-sized, networked sensors that can be scattered around, and work together to b detect, classify, localize, and track dismounted combatants under foliage and in urban environments.b Itbs part of a larger Defense Department effort to establish b military omniscienceb and b ubiquitous monitoring.b The military has been working on gadgets for a while, now, that can be left behind in a bad neighborhood or a jihadist training site, and monitor the situation. These Camouflaged Long Endurance Nano-Sensors (CLENS) would be an order of magnitude smaller than previous surveillance gear of its type -- just 60 milimeters long, and 150 grams. Darpa, the Pentagon's far-out research arm, also wants the monitors to take up a 10,000th of the power of previous sensors. That would give the CLENS enough juice to keep watch over an area for up to 180 days. The way they'd keep watch would be different, too. Not as a individual sensors, but as a network of monitors, communicating with ultra wideband radios. The same frequencies could be used as a kind of radar, to track objects and people within the sensor net. "The best way to learn about an adversary b what hebs done, what hebs doing, and what hebs likely to do - is through continual observation using as many observation mechanisms as possible. We call this persistent surveillance," Dr. Ted Bially, head of Darpa's Information Exploitation Office, told a conference last year. "Webve learned that occasional or periodic snapshots donbt tell us enough of what we need to know. In order to really understand whatbs going on we have to observe our adversaries and their environment 24 hours a day, seven days a week, week-in and week-out." According to its recently-released budget, Darpa hopes to hand over its new, minature, persistent sensors to Special Operations Command by the end of fiscal year 2007. UPDATE 8:50 AM: Speaking of military omniscience, Darpa's "Combat Zones That See" effort, meant to network together an entire city's worth of surveillance cameras, gets $5 million in next year's budget. -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type application/pgp-signature which had a name of signature.asc]

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