- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

Online/offline transactions
by nelson＠crynwr.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Don't worry about online vs offline transactions. The credit card companies are moving toward all online transactions. A company down in NJ called RAM Mobile Data is helping them on this. They have base stations in 90% of urban business areas. The radios are fairly cheap (even though they need an appropriate thing to plug them into) and the per-transaction charges are about a dime. So I would say that the important problem to solve is "how do we make accounts anonymous?" rather than "how do we avoid double-spending?" -russ <nelson(a)crynwr.com> ftp.msen.com:pub/vendor/crynwr/crynwr.wav Crynwr Software | Crynwr Software sells packet driver support | ask4 PGP key 11 Grant St. | +1 315 268 1925 (9201 FAX) | Quakers do it in the light Potsdam, NY 13676 | LPF member - ask me about the harm software patents do.

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List Maintenance
by hugh＠ecotone.toad.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Today the disk that the cypherpunks list lives on filled up, and then someone try to join the list and the list got zeroed again. I am currently installing a new version of MajorDomo and making changes to prevent this happening (at least we caught it in the act this time). The list will likely be up and down a little bit for the next few hours or day (hey, I have to sleep sometime! :r) but should be fully stable again by Tuesday in any case. This time I do plan to install a recent backup of the list. If you have any questions please email mail, this list it's self does not need any more crud on it. ||ugh Daniel Sometimes Postmaster hugh(a)toad.com

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Re: CERT warning about majordomo
by gtoal＠an-teallach.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Regarding the list going down again: I was just informed that CERT has issued a warning about a security hole in majordomo. Anyone have any info on this? Yes. The list owner will if he's on the majordomo list. He's presumably upgraded his copy of majordomo about a week ago. If he hasn't, he should. G PS Was a 22 line message for 3 lines of content really necessary?

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My 1984 t-shirt arrived
by jim＠acm.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Looks great: "1984 [eye] we're behind schedule... NSA" on the front and the Cyber Rights Now fist on the back. Thanks, John -- it's worth the wait. Jim Gillogly Mersday, 23 Forelithe S.R. 1994, 16:13

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Messages in Time
by kentborg＠world.std.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

It just occured to me. Duh! Squeemish and ossifrage were effectively messages in time. Sure, the NSA probably got the message sooner than the rest of us, and the amount of time for the message to be received was grossly mispredicted, but a whole bunch of us saw that original Scientific American article and years later saw the contents. Given our familiarity with the whole event I think it is pretty clear how impractical this technique is for info time traveling. -kb -- Kent Borg +1 (617) 776-6899 kentborg(a)world.std.com kentborg(a)aol.com Proud to claim 28:15 hours of TV viewing so far in 1994!

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How irritating are anon encrypted pgp messages
by dfloyd＠runner.utsa.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- This is something I have been wondering about for a while: How rude is it for people to post (or mail to a mailing list) anon messages encrypted with someone's PGP key? It makes it easy for the receiver to obtain it, but how irritating is it to people? -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 iQCVAgUBLfx6cXDkimqwdwa5AQE5PgQAr7vFwaMiKhAcdUqQW1B85W+nehSYUp47 iyL1cREjD2yypC9XnAkzucCAAie9so1fY74KQwQhWS99h9oMn/QWEUT50OBhVX8+ Mt98Tpr2/9pf2ovlvmqTtkyEC7DY38tsBmbYcRvwyZ1/6Dlvs4gJtmwtwwhW3UDj +pQFp+GSv+4= =jGCF -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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DNA
by Mats Bergstrom 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Databases of fingerprints and retina-images might still have a future for specialized applications but DNA-typing (why not on a simple blood sample at birth) combined with a fixed social security number valid for life will probably become a widely used method for governments to control the identity of their serfs. Even without legislation stating compulsory testing of all citizens there are great possibilities with this method. Serologic tests for various reasons (i.e. HIV, rubella in pregnancy etc) are routinely performed on a majority of the population in developed countries. These samples are usually frozen and saved for decades (for the purpose of comparison if the individual should fall ill; and for research if something might get interesting) at most laboratries. DNA- analysis efter thawing is no big deal with modern techniques. So if one is planning to commit hideous crimes in the future, or if one has other reasons to maintain DNA privacy, one should demand that blood samples taken from oneself are destroyed after testing (alternatively take the tests under a pseudonym). Unfortunately there is no known method of encrypting one's DNA code in situ but hopefully they will safely (in escrow?) encrypt it in the databanks. For most purposes a cheapish imprint (sort of a hash function) of an individual's DNA code will suffice, i.e. for secure identification. Longer strains of code will give additional information on the person's genetic dispositions of course (until now only for physical diseases and risk factors but coding relating to schizophrenia and psychopathy are expected Real Soon - the science of molecular biology is in an exponential phase). For such an extended analysis it is, at least for some more years, not enough with a frozen blood sample for serologic testing or a blood/semen-stain from the clothes of a victim but culturable cell-lines are necessary. These observations were provoked by the following forwarded letter: //mb Date: Thu, 09 Jun 94 05:06:29 MST From: mednews (HICNet Medical News) To: hicnews Subject: Course: DNA Databanks and Repositories Message-ID: <iHJNNc7w165w(a)stat.com> DNA DATABANKS & REPOSITORIES will be presented 4-5 November 1994 at the Sheraton Inn Midway, St Paul Minnesota, USA. SPONSORS: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and the American Registry of Pathology. GENERAL INFORMATION: AFIP Education Dept. (INT), 14th & Alaska Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20306-6000 USA; (301)427-5231; FAX (301)427-5001; or INTERNET: LOWTHER(a)email.afip.osd.mil CONTENT: DNA typing of biologic tissues and fluids has revolutionized criminalistics. This technology is so powerful that over one half of all states have legislatively mandated the creation of DNA databanks and repositories for law enforcement purposes with other states considerating the same. The passage of the federal DNA Identification Act will bolster the growth of these databanks. DNA repositories also have been established for military remains identification, for scientific human geneic diversity studies, and for numerous public health reasons. This is the third national conference devoted strictly to the establishment of DNA databanks and repositories. This conference is designed to be a practical discussion on the creation and the set-up of DNA databanks/repositories, focusing on forensic identification. It is intended for DNA repository directors, policy makers, and administrators considerating establishment of a DNA collections program, and other interested persons. Lectures will be presented on current state sex offender databanks, the FBI's National DNA Index, the DNA Identification Act, practical aspects of databank setup and administration, and the associated legal and ethical issues. Convictions based on the Minnesota State DNA Database will be featured and a tour of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's facility will be conducted. (English) COURSE DIRECTOR: Victor W. Weedn, LTC, MC, USC TUITION: $220.

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Cantwell Bill
by perry＠imsi.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

For those who haven't been paying attention, the Cantwell Bill could die in the intelligence committee. Please pay attention to Stanton McCandlish's alert from EFF and act on it TODAY. Call up those congressmen! When I called, most of them indicated they hadn't heard from people. Make the phone ring off the hook with concern that this measure pass! As always... Be polite when speaking to congressional staff. Realize that they don't know anything about what you are talking about and are just going to record names, addresses, and "supports HR XXXX" when you call. Be clear and fairly quick and always be nice to them. Perry

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Re: Anon posts (was irritating posts...)
by analyst＠Onramp.NET 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Why not just use alt.test (with appropriate IGNORE subject line), alt.binaries.pictures.erotica with your data steagonograpically hidden in a JPEG or any other agreed upon group. Many anon posts would be quite irritating, esp. on a high volume list such as this one. -- Benjamin McLemore analyst(a)onramp.net

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Telco snooping ... (fwd) "every time you fire up a modem" ??
by Stanton McCandlish 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

[Sounds like a load to me, but what the heck might as well pass it on, just in case. :] Forwarded message: From: c.zeps(a)genie.geis.com Date: Sun, 12 Jun 94 11:34:00 UTC Subject: Telco snooping ... [...] >From : ROGER CRAVENS Number : 296 of 296 To : ALL Date : 06/06/94 18:46 Subject : Big Brother Still Listeni Reference : NONE Read : [N/A] Private : NO Conf : 048 - GN - RadioTalk ********************************************************************* ======================================================================== As someone involved in the telephone industry on the level of security and data integrity... I would like to inform everyone that uses modems and/or are bbs operators of some information. The first thing that everyone that uses a modem should know is that every time you fire up your modem your activating monitoring equipment somewhere in the U.S. I have worked for several large telephone networks that routinely monitor and reroute modem and fax transmissions through devices that allow them to view what is being transmitted and even decodes encrypted data and fax packets used by major corporations and governmental agencies. This is allowed under the heading of "Maintenance Monitoring" and may be continued for up to 6 months without the need of any legal paperwork being generated. Under an obscure pre-WWII ruling by the agency that is now the FCC... "No information may be encoded or transmitted over PUBLIC or PRIVATE forms of telephony or radio with the exception of those agencies involved in the National Security" a further designation goes on to say "with the exception of the MORSE system of 'transmittal', any communication that is not interpretable by the human ear is forbidden and unlawful." The information gathered goes to 3 seperate database facilities...1 is codenamed Diana and is located in Brussels, the 2nd is named Fredrick and is located somewhere in Malaysia, the 3rd is named Elizabeth and is located in Boulder, Colorado. The information stored in these systems is accessable by the US Government, Interpol, Scotland Yard and various other such agencies. Your credit rating is also affected by your modem usage... if you ever get a copy of your credit history and find a listing that has HN06443 <--= this is a negative risk rating. or a code 87AT4 <---= an even more negative risk rating.... these will usually have no description on them... and if you inquire about them they will tell you that it just comes from the system that way. I am currently working for another major carrier as a consultant and have been able to watch these systems operate...at one unnamed long distance carrier here in Columbus Ohio in their NCC, Network Control Center, you can see several rows of computer terminals which have approximately 30 to 40 separate windows in each... these windows have data transmissions that are being monitored... banks of 9 track tapes are going constantly to record everything. Everyone should realize that even if a sysop posts a disclaimer at the beginning of his bbs about no access to governmental agencies or law enforcement...that it isn't worth the time it takes to type it in... looking forward to hearing reactions to this. --- * SLMR 2.0 * * My Castle BBS 614-236-4015 10pm to 10am M-F 6pm-6pm S-S -- Stanton McCandlish * mech(a)eff.org * Electronic Frontier Found. OnlineActivist F O R M O R E I N F O, E - M A I L T O: I N F O @ E F F . O R G O P E N P L A T F O R M O N L I N E R I G H T S V I R T U A L C U L T U R E C R Y P T O

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