- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

Reducing the Flames, Attacks, and Nit-Pickings
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 2:18 AM 10/22/95, Todd Glassey wrote: >As an aside - What blows my mind is the number of cycles people spend >bitching and moaning about Java itself rather than working to create a >better solution. The recent flames and attacks are pretty typical of mailing lists, especially mailing lists having 1200 highly-opinionated subscribers (gulp!). Not that I like the flames, but they're not the problem I want to really talk about. A trend that bothers me--and others too, from comments here--is the intense "feeding frenzy" that is going on with each and every new product, from Netscape, to Microsoft Network, to Java, to Digicash. Don't get me wrong--finding flaws is a useful thing to do. But this list is becoming _consumed_ by the _process_ of attacking products. Worse, many of the attacks are by innuendo, by rumors and speculations about what features a product has. My comments will likely vanish without a trace, but I urge folks to hold back a bit on jumping in with attacks and reports of problems. Be sure something is _really_ a flaw before sounding the alarms. --Tim May Views here are not the views of my Internet Service Provider or Government. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

1 0

BlackNet in "Hardware"
by Jim Gillogly 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I just bought "Hardware" (Delacorte Press, 1995) by Linda Barnes, one of my favorite mystery authors, and experienced a startled frisson when I saw that at least a couple of subscribers had their work immortalized: Tim's "Invitation to BlackNet" is the opening quote, and the date given is for L.'s widespread Usenet spam of Feb '94. No book report here, but it was as gripping as the rest of her efforts. It's "about" people rather than computer hackery, but the computery bits were done quite well. Does an Amiga 2000 <really> have PC and Mac compatibility options? I don't know, and it doesn't matter anyway. Jim Gillogly 1 Blotmath S.R. 1995, 16:48

1 0

Re: airport security
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 2:05 AM 10/22/95, Alan Horowitz wrote: >WHy should airplane crashes be more of a cause for disseminating the >Surveillance State than Greyhound Bus crashes? > >I'd be more sympathetic to arguments about an airline's right to write >it's contracts as it pleases. Though they are Common Carriers; they can't >just offer Contracts of Adhesion at will. No crypto relevance--my apologies. I am skeptical that the "all passengers must have picture IDs" has much to do with identifying corpses after crashes. The recent push is certainly associated with the various terrorist threats and incidents. The FAA can push for it, and the airlines have little to say about it. However, I read--probably in the WSJ--that the airlines see this as a chance to regain control of "ticket abuse." Corporations often have bought up discount tickets without knowing who willl be travelling and on what dates. This allows them to have a pool of tickets and saves them a bunch of money. Reports are that many people showed up at boarding gates with a different name than what the ticket said, and had to pay extra to get a current ticket (no advance purchase, of course). I'm not sure what the compelling lessons are, except that the "Identification Required State" is getting closer every day. --Tim May Views here are not the views of my Internet Service Provider or Government. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

3 3

Re: Reducing the Flames, Attacks, and Nit-Pickings
by carolann＠censored.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

It's good to see a real Californian fighting forest fires! Love Always, Carol Anne >My comments will likely vanish without a trace, but I urge folks to hold >back a bit on jumping in with attacks and reports of problems. Be sure >something is _really_ a flaw before sounding the alarms. >--Tim May >Views here are not the views of my Internet Service Provider or Government. >---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- >Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, >tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero >Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, >Higher Power: 2^756839 | black markets, collapse of governments. >"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway." -- Member Internet Society - Certified BETSI Programmer - Webmistress *********************************************************************** Carol Anne Braddock (cab8) carolann(a)censored.org 206.42.112.96 My Homepage The Cyberdoc *********************************************************************** ------------------ PGP.ZIP Part [017/713] ------------------- M8H,),S$8G>&.WP(8IRA`-M['+`Q%&_C"">5-F%LX@<_Q$;*P'',Q$Z/AA[8M MF=O0H+*%(-S%&>S%+FS&<LS%3(Q&#W1"<]2%`H^;,]^1C$'HBN8PX$4SYAU^ MPGD<Q0ZLA0D+,`MCT!LA**4M[-JPAK9F?40!AJ,CW"'%DR#:'9?Q)3[%<DQ` ------------------------------------------------------------- for next chunk to export --> http://dcs.ex.ac.uk/~aba/export/

1 0

Re: BlackNet in "Hardware"
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 4:50 PM 10/22/95, Jim Gillogly wrote: >I just bought "Hardware" (Delacorte Press, 1995) by Linda Barnes, one of >my favorite mystery authors, and experienced a startled frisson when I saw >that at least a couple of subscribers had their work immortalized: >Tim's "Invitation to BlackNet" is the opening quote, and the date given is >for L.'s widespread Usenet spam of Feb '94. Interesting. I'll pick up a copy today. >No book report here, but it was as gripping as the rest of her efforts. >It's "about" people rather than computer hackery, but the computery bits >were done quite well. Does an Amiga 2000 <really> have PC and Mac >compatibility options? I don't know, and it doesn't matter anyway. I recollect that the Amiga had some gizmo--I think it was called "MagicSack" or something like that--that let it run Macintosh programs, sort of. It never really caught on, at least as an alternative to real Macs. And I think something similar was available for DOS. This was all several years back, before the Amiga faded out. Amiga users and former Amiga users can probably tell us more. --Tim May Views here are not the views of my Internet Service Provider or Government. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

1 0

Re: BlackNet in "Hardware" (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> >No book report here, but it was as gripping as the rest of her efforts. > >It's "about" people rather than computer hackery, but the computery bits > >were done quite well. Does an Amiga 2000 <really> have PC and Mac > >compatibility options? I don't know, and it doesn't matter anyway. > > I recollect that the Amiga had some gizmo--I think it was called > "MagicSack" or something like that--that let it run Macintosh programs, > sort of. It never really caught on, at least as an alternative to real > Macs. And I think something similar was available for DOS. This was all > several years back, before the Amiga faded out. > > Amiga users and former Amiga users can probably tell us more. > The Amiga has both hardware and software emulation of both Dos and Mac. The hardware Mac emulator runs faster than an actual Mac. The software emulator runs ok, but is about 2-3 times slower than an equivalent Mac. The Amiga 2000, 3000, and 4000 have PC compliant slots that harbor a co-computer in the guise of a bridgeboard. The software emulators pretty much suck because they are slow. There are currently 6 Million Amiga users, hardly 'faded out. The Amiga did not fail because it lacked in either hardware or software. It failed because of market momentum and a lack of marketing savy at Commodore. Only somebody who has never used an Amiga for an extended time would ever make a comment implying they were inferior in any technical way. Their hardware architecture in still way ahead of both Windows and Mac as is their operating system. Just remember, nobody ever lost their job by buying IBM. Jim Choate CyberTects ravage(a)einstein.ssz.com

1 0

Re: NYT on Internet Flaws
by James A. Donald 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 10:46 AM 10/22/95 -0400, MDresser(a)aol.com wrote: > Generalizing about > reporters is about as intellectually valid as generalizing about hackers. On the contrary: Hackers are self selected, and so are very diverse. Reporters are selected from above by an incestuous elite who have their hands in each others pockets, and so are very homogenous. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd(a)echeque.com

1 0

hot news at DigiCash
by Bryce 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hot news at DigiCash. One, a real live bank is going to be issuing Ecash denominated in U.S. dollars. See "http://www.digicash.com/" and "http://www.marktwain.com/". Two, the one million trial cyberbucks have been issued and no more will be issued, although the First Digital Bank will continue to run the trial for now. In honor of the occasion I hereby offer E=100 US=$8.00 SELL-OFFER "Sun Oct 22 19:34:28 MDT 1995" 2 bryce(a)colorado.edu Pretty soon we'll be able to exchange First Digital Bank trial cyberbucks for Mark Twain Bank cyberbucks denominated in U.S. Dollars. I wonder if our trial cyberbucks will be considered collector's items? I know that I will always be proud of *mine*... Bryce signatures follow "To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield." <a href="http://ugrad-www.cs.colorado.edu/~wilcoxb/Niche.html"> bryce(a)colorado.edu </a> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Auto-signed under Unix with 'BAP' Easy-PGP v1.01 iQCVAwUBMIrzb/WZSllhfG25AQEGNAQApa3hQlc7jWZBIzsSUqh4o6LQfhoCPzaJ dEOHWDTS+1L8IyNo1PS3Z0hZNeDDiGda7PsilwLouH6M8kUtD7BFXyU/31QDZnXq oLdiq/OJ3A5U04ElEtRXRn7m0eQtoPv4V41UkR0GGkLx93DyGPC6ecXX4vE14oKq jLc4Dt296gc= =gnEm -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

1 0

Re: textbooks
by patrick＠Verity.COM 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Good suggestions all, but don't forget "Network Security Private Communication in a PUBLIC World" by Kaufman, Perlman and Speciner. This book covers a lot of great stuff. It doesn't use complicated math when not required, and explains the math very clearly when it's needed. It explains DES and IDEA well enough in plain language that you can understand how to implement them. While I love Bruce's book, it's much harder to understand than NSPC. I highly recommend this book to everyone. I don't think any crypto library would be complete without it. It's in contention for the official bible of crypto along with Bruce's book. Patrick > From: "Dana W. Albrecht" <dwa(a)corsair.com> > > I also suggest "A Course in Number Theory and Cryptography, 2nd Edition" > by Neal Koblitz, published by Springer Verlag. > > "Applied Cryptography" is certainly the book of choice, but Koblitz > is an excellent secondary reference for covering a lot of the relevant > mathematics in more depth. > > In my opinion, "Applied Cryptography" was written from the perspective > of computer science, "The Codebreakers" was written from the perspective > of history, and Koblitz's book was written from the perspective of > mathematics. > > They are all nicely complementary. > > Dana W. Albrecht > dwa(a)corsair.com > _______________________________________________________________________ / These opinions are mine, and not Verity's (except by coincidence;). \ | (\ | | Patrick J. Horgan Verity Inc. \\ Have | | patrick(a)verity.com 1550 Plymouth Street \\ _ Sword | | Phone : (415)960-7600 Mountain View \\/ Will | | FAX : (415)960-7750 California 94303 _/\\ Travel | \___________________________________________________________\)__________/

1 0

Microsoft "Encrypted" Documents Hack FYI
by llurch＠networking.stanford.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I would provide the hack itself, but I'm on a Mac that lacks a proper Base64 handler at the moment. For people who only know how to use Netscape, the URL is news:465l8h$6sa@oznet03.ozemail.com.au. -rich From: lyal collins <lyalc(a)ozemail.com.au> Newsgroups: alt.security,comp.os.ms-windows.apps.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc Subject: Re: More Microsoft Security Bugs Date: 19 Oct 1995 13:53:21 GMT Organization: not very, at the moment Lines: 366 Message-ID: <465l8h$6sa(a)oznet03.ozemail.com.au> References: <llurch-1510951157410001(a)tip-mp3-ncs-3.stanford.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: slsyd3p02.ozemail.com.au Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="-------------------------------297591414826100" X-Mailer: Mozilla 1.22 (Windows; I; 16bit) Further to word document password protection, the attached offer a simple way to recover text in such files with this "protection". The source is included - at least one shwareare developer has taken up on this technique and releases a VB based version. cheers, lyal -rich graves, llurch(a)networking.stanford.edu moderator of the win95netbugs list http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~llurch/win95netbugs/faq.html My old PGP key has been compromised. Please finger this account for the revocation certificate and my new key.

1 0