July 2018 - cypherpunks-legacy

[tor-talk] massive automated bridge requests: why?
by Roger Dingledine 06 Jul '18

06 Jul '18

Hi folks, Over the past few months the number of bridge users has spiked, most prominently in Italy, but also plenty in Spain, Brazil, Israel, and others. https://metrics.torproject.org/users.html#bridge-users https://metrics.torproject.org/users.html?graph=bridge-users&start=2011-06-… https://metrics.torproject.org/users.html?graph=bridge-users&start=2011-06-… https://metrics.torproject.org/users.html?graph=bridge-users&start=2011-06-… https://metrics.torproject.org/users.html?graph=bridge-users&start=2011-06-… I believe it started out with a Tor bundle that somebody made that had three bridges pre-configured -- we found a torrc file along with an unofficial Windows Tor bundle. At the beginning, those few bridges had tens of thousands of users each, and that was it. Since then, we've seen an enormous spike in automated connections to https://bridges.torproject.org/ -- more than a million requests an hour. Now just about every bridge that's given out via the https pool (as opposed to the gmail pool or the reserve pool) is seeing many many thousands of users from Italy and these other countries. It seems clear that somebody's unofficial Tor bundle automatically grabs some bridges for its users, and that this somebody didn't understand the notion of being polite to a remote service -- I think each user is hitting the bridges page roughly every 30 seconds. We've taken steps to defend the bridgedb service from this overload. And I can imagine further steps, like finally rolling out a captcha on that page, to block people from using it like a remote API (which I always thought was kind of a neat option). Or heck, just moving to a different URL and abandoning that one. But the question first is: what's going on? Can those of you near or in these countries please ask around and try to get some answers? I don't think it's a censoring adversary trying to collect the list of bridges. For one, it's way overkill; for another, why use the bridges afterwards? I don't think it's malware or some automated botnet that happens to use bridges -- if it were, we should be seeing spikes in well-connected countries like Japan. --Roger _______________________________________________ tor-talk mailing list tor-talk(a)lists.torproject.org https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-talk ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE

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maybe digital signatures won't be the next big thing after all
by Jane Winn 06 Jul '18

06 Jul '18

Bob: May I impose on you a second time and ask you to post this to your list of DBS people? I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to make much progress on the encyclopedia article because, among other things, I had to finish this paper first. I hope to reply shortly to the many colleagues of yours who were kind enough to send suggestions for innovative electronic payments I should cover in that piece. I've written an article arguing that digital signature may not be the next big thing after all, the popular wisdom on this point notwithstanding. If I have my facts wrong, or my descriptions of the technology wrong, I'd be grateful to have this pointed out to me before this appears in print. I've posted a draft at: http://www.smu.edu/~jwinn/shocking-truth.htm If any of your colleagues have any comments, I'd be grateful for the feedback. regards, jkw ******************************** Jane Kaufman Winn Professor Southern Methodist University School of Law Dallas TX 75275-0116 www.smu.edu/~jwinn www.virtual-langdell.com ******************************** --- 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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Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State
by EEkid＠aol.com 06 Jul '18

06 Jul '18

Schools Click the link at the bottom of the page to see a copy of the questionnaire. Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State Schools Children in Washington State are being given 'Patriotism tests' which are completely unrelated to their studies. The paper gauges whether or not the student shows fealty to the power of the state and whether the student believes in the right to overthrow a corrupt government. A reader from Washington State writes us to highlight a questionnaire paper handed out to her daughter and the rest of her 10th grade class. The reader comments, "We live in Washington state. My daughter is in 10th grade and found this to be interesting. She has a GPA of 3.75 and uses her brain. This was given in her English class, and has nothing to do with the materials they were studying. We thought you might be able to use this. They are grooming our kids. Keep up the great work. Christine." The paper is shown below. Click for an enlargement. Considering the fact that this paper is a complete one off in that it is not part of any standard curriculum, we must question the motivations behind it. Is the paper a means of gauging the level of obedience to the state amongst American teenagers? We have covered several examples before where the government identifies a target group in society and canvasses their views on the nature of power and when that power goes too far. For example, in the 90's, American marines and national guard were occasionally asked if they would be willing to fire on American citizens in a time of crisis. We are by no means against patriotism when it means love of country. Unfortunately however, the new brand of so-called patriotism translates as worship of government, and that definition is something that the founding fathers never intended. This may be an isolated case but if we receive anything similar then watch this space for any updates. http://prisonplanet.com/articles/december2005/301205patriotismtests.htm ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as eugen(a)leitl.org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ ----- 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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[IP] Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State
by David Farber 06 Jul '18

06 Jul '18

Schools X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.746.2) Reply-To: dave(a)farber.net Begin forwarded message:

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[liberationtech] Finnish police stepping up internet monitoring after Norway attacks
by Cyrus Farivar 06 Jul '18

06 Jul '18

Dear colleagues, This was on Finnish TV last night: "Police stepping up internet monitoring after Norway attacks" http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/07/police_stepping_up_internet_monitori… And that got me wondering. Has anyone seen any examples of other countries (especially in Europe) talking about or actually doing this in the wake of the Oslo attack? Trying to see if there's a story here. Best, -C -- Cyrus Farivar "suh-ROOS FAR-ih-var" Freelance technology journalist and radio producer Author, "The Internet of Elsewhere" http://www.internetofelsewhere.com DE: +49 163 763 3108 (m) US: +1 510 394 5485 (m) Twitter/Skype: cfarivar "Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the Internet." http://cyrusfarivar.com cfarivar(a)cfarivar.org _______________________________________________ liberationtech mailing list liberationtech(a)lists.stanford.edu Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you click above) next to "would you like to receive list mail batched in a daily digest?" You will need the user name and password you receive from the list moderator in monthly reminders. Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list moderator. Please don't forget to follow us on http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE

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maybe digital signatures won't be the next big thing after all
by Jane Winn 06 Jul '18

06 Jul '18

Bob: May I impose on you a second time and ask you to post this to your list of DBS people? I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to make much progress on the encyclopedia article because, among other things, I had to finish this paper first. I hope to reply shortly to the many colleagues of yours who were kind enough to send suggestions for innovative electronic payments I should cover in that piece. I've written an article arguing that digital signature may not be the next big thing after all, the popular wisdom on this point notwithstanding. If I have my facts wrong, or my descriptions of the technology wrong, I'd be grateful to have this pointed out to me before this appears in print. I've posted a draft at: http://www.smu.edu/~jwinn/shocking-truth.htm If any of your colleagues have any comments, I'd be grateful for the feedback. regards, jkw ******************************** Jane Kaufman Winn Professor Southern Methodist University School of Law Dallas TX 75275-0116 www.smu.edu/~jwinn www.virtual-langdell.com ******************************** --- 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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Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State
by EEkid＠aol.com 06 Jul '18

06 Jul '18

Schools Click the link at the bottom of the page to see a copy of the questionnaire. Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State Schools Children in Washington State are being given 'Patriotism tests' which are completely unrelated to their studies. The paper gauges whether or not the student shows fealty to the power of the state and whether the student believes in the right to overthrow a corrupt government. A reader from Washington State writes us to highlight a questionnaire paper handed out to her daughter and the rest of her 10th grade class. The reader comments, "We live in Washington state. My daughter is in 10th grade and found this to be interesting. She has a GPA of 3.75 and uses her brain. This was given in her English class, and has nothing to do with the materials they were studying. We thought you might be able to use this. They are grooming our kids. Keep up the great work. Christine." The paper is shown below. Click for an enlargement. Considering the fact that this paper is a complete one off in that it is not part of any standard curriculum, we must question the motivations behind it. Is the paper a means of gauging the level of obedience to the state amongst American teenagers? We have covered several examples before where the government identifies a target group in society and canvasses their views on the nature of power and when that power goes too far. For example, in the 90's, American marines and national guard were occasionally asked if they would be willing to fire on American citizens in a time of crisis. We are by no means against patriotism when it means love of country. Unfortunately however, the new brand of so-called patriotism translates as worship of government, and that definition is something that the founding fathers never intended. This may be an isolated case but if we receive anything similar then watch this space for any updates. http://prisonplanet.com/articles/december2005/301205patriotismtests.htm ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as eugen(a)leitl.org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ ----- 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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[IP] Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State
by David Farber 06 Jul '18

06 Jul '18

Schools X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.746.2) Reply-To: dave(a)farber.net Begin forwarded message:

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[liberationtech] Finnish police stepping up internet monitoring after Norway attacks
by Cyrus Farivar 06 Jul '18

06 Jul '18

Dear colleagues, This was on Finnish TV last night: "Police stepping up internet monitoring after Norway attacks" http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/07/police_stepping_up_internet_monitori… And that got me wondering. Has anyone seen any examples of other countries (especially in Europe) talking about or actually doing this in the wake of the Oslo attack? Trying to see if there's a story here. Best, -C -- Cyrus Farivar "suh-ROOS FAR-ih-var" Freelance technology journalist and radio producer Author, "The Internet of Elsewhere" http://www.internetofelsewhere.com DE: +49 163 763 3108 (m) US: +1 510 394 5485 (m) Twitter/Skype: cfarivar "Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the Internet." http://cyrusfarivar.com cfarivar(a)cfarivar.org _______________________________________________ liberationtech mailing list liberationtech(a)lists.stanford.edu Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you click above) next to "would you like to receive list mail batched in a daily digest?" You will need the user name and password you receive from the list moderator in monthly reminders. Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list moderator. Please don't forget to follow us on http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE

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Re: [liberationtech] Fwd: [Crypto Stick News] Vulnerabilities of Self-Encrypted SSDs
by Andreas Bader 06 Jul '18

06 Jul '18

On 01/14/2013 06:23 PM, Andri Rebentisch wrote: > fyi, Andri > > -------- Original-Nachricht -------- > Betreff: [Crypto Stick News] Vulnerabilities of Self-Encrypted SSDs > Datum: Mon, 14 Jan 2013 17:14:51 +0100 > Von: news(a)crypto-stick.com > Antwort an: webmaster(a)crypto-stick.com, news(a)crypto-stick.com > An: news(a)crypto-stick.com > > > > Researchers found vulnerabilities of self-encrypted SSDs. From the abstract: > "Self-encrypting drives (SEDs), such as Intel's SSD 320 and 520 series, are > widely believed to be a fast and secure alternative to software-based > solutions like TrueCrypt and BitLocker. [...] In this sense, hardware-based > full disk encryption (FDE) is as insecure as software-based FDE. We also show > that (2) there exists a new class of attacks that is specific to > hardware-based FDE [Full Disk Encryption]. Roughly speaking, the idea of > these attacks is to move an SED from one machine to another without cutting > power, i.e., by replugging the data cable only. [...] Some machines are > arguably more vulnerable when using SEDs." Watch the videos... [1] > > This article: http://www.crypto-stick.com/node/74 > > [1] https://www1.cs.fau.de/sed > > > -- > Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password at: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech > > Here is a german speech from the 29C3 in Hamburg, Germany, where the problems of SEDs are also mentioned: Unsecure SEDs Youtube <http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IzE2SKVP-MQ#%21> -- Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password at: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE

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