- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

RE: Traceable Infrastructure is as vulnerable as traceable messa ges.
by Trei, Peter 13 Aug '01

13 Aug '01

> jamesd@echeque.com[SMTP:jamesd@echeque.com] wrote: > > Microsoft, as a whole, is incompetent at security. All > supposedly secure software coming out of Microsoft varies from > poor to worthless. Does anyone doubt it? They take standard > well known methods and make well known bungles in applying it and > customizing it. > Microsoft's forte is making money. They do this by spending hugely on what people think they want (ease of use), and not wasting resources on things which do not impact market share. If MS ever decided that they were losing money due to poor security, they would get good at it, fast. How many fewer copies of WinXP will they sell due to Code Red I, II, and III? Not many. A few (a very few) sysadmins may decide to go with Apache instead of IIS. It's not like many home or corporate users are going to switch to Linux purely due to security issues. I hate to say this, but until software developers are held (at least at the corporate level) in some way liable for their failures, there will be little or no improvement in the situation. > We do not get to see much of the spook output. What we have seen > in recent years is not good. > I'm aware of exactly two datapoints - Skipjack (which wasn't good enough that anyone wanted to use it), and the recent 'dual counter mode' snafu. That's not enough to draw broad conclusions. > During world war II the government sucked up all the best people > from the open sector, and put them to work in the secret sector. > For example most of the words greatest scientists wound up hand > making nuclear weapons. However, one would expect, with the > passage of time, that people who work in secret would suffer from > Parkinson's law, and this appears to be happening. > [...] > Microsoft produces crap security because most of their customers > do not know any better. Therefore NSA will produce crap security > because their customers are forbidden to know any better. > MS makes crap because their customers buy it. If the customers (or their insurers) insisted on security, MS would do better. (BTW, MS's security rep is now so bad, that I know of security experts who would not work for them, due to the damage it would do to their reputations). I occasionally see the argument that NSA can't retain people due to the much higher salaries, etc, in the public sector. While I have no doubt that this is partially true, there are plenty of very good people who find that the non-tangible benefits - patriotism, a sense that one's work is important, that one is a trusted member of the inner circle and privy to secret knowledge - are more than enough to make up for a civil service paycheck. No one should discount these factors just because they don't move them themselves. > James A. Donald > Peter Trei

1 0

Wholesale Mortgage Rates Time:7:24:41 AM
by cypherpunks-unedited＠toad.com 13 Aug '01

13 Aug '01

U.S. HomeOwners ONLY Available to the public for the first time. Use the same technology that the pros use to find you the best loans, regardless of credit. This revolutionary technology finds you the best approvable loans at the lowest rate from hundreds of lenders. Written about in National Mortgage News, Mortgage Technology Magazine, Mortgage Originator Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times. FREE Service, takes 2 minutes. Experience it today at http://www.ratedoctor.com - All Credit Grades - Refinance Loans - 2nd Mortgages - Debt Consolidation Loans - Home Improvement Loans - Cash on Demand Loans - all at Wholesale Mortgage Rates FREE Service, takes 2 minutes. Experience it today at http://www.ratedoctor.com *********************************************************** Since you have received this message you have either responded to one of our offers in the past or your address has been registered with us. If you wish to be removed please reply to: mailto:rbaker@ahlcentral.com?subject=remove ************************************************************

1 0

1.000$00 em chamadas Novis
by info＠giganetstore.com 13 Aug '01

13 Aug '01

<http://www.giganetstore.com> <http://www.novis.pt/> Adira ao plano Voz Familiar da Novis, fale a 5$00 por minuto e ainda ganhe 1.000$00 em chamadas Ao aderir ao serviço Voz Familiar da Novis através da Giganetstore.com, para além das vantagens do serviço, usufrui ainda de uma oferta de 1.000$00 (IVA incluído) em chamadas Novis. Com o serviço Voz Familiar da Novis usufrui sempre das seguintes vantagens: Os melhores preços quando mais fala 5$00/minuto (IVA incluído) nas chamadas à noite e fins-de-semana para o mesmo indicativo, para além de 1 tarifário muito competitivo nas restantes chamadas. Paga apenas o que falar Não tem consumo mínimo obrigatório, assinatura mensal e nem tem que mudar o telefone. Com a Novis não paga os habituais 16$00+IVA no período inicial da chamada, especialmente penalizantes em chamadas de curta duração ou faxes. Total simplicidade Todas as suas chamadas serão automaticamente encaminhadas pela Novis Sem compromisso Pode realizar chamadas através de outros operadores da rede fixa, desde que marque o respectivo prefixo. <http://www.giganetstore.com/statics/budget/novis.asp> Para retirar o seu email desta mailing list deverá entrar no nosso site giganetstore.com <http://www.giganetstore.com/> , ir à edição do seu registo e retirar a opção de receber informação acerca das nossas promoções e novos serviços.

1 0

Requested Quick Cash Link91
by unknown＠example.com 13 Aug '01

13 Aug '01

Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by () on Monday, August 13, 2001 at 04:54:39 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- message: Up to $45,000 Monthly!! Every Single Month!! This is not MLM Sales Networking or Work! Visit http://www.geocities.com/quicklink11902 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 0

Felicidades! Reclame su crucero ya!
by Trend Marketing & Associates 13 Aug '01

13 Aug '01

¡Felicidades! Por ser usuario del internet usted ha sido seleccionado para recibir un boleto gratís para el siguiente paquete vacacional con crucero para disfrutar con su familia. Usted puede preparar las maletas y disfrutar de este programa vacacional exótico cuando desee. Todos los boletos tienen una vigencia de doce meses. DreamTime Tours International Travel Services tiene el orgullo de patrocinar este evento. Somos uno de los mayoristas de viajes más grandes de la Florida y el número uno del mercado hispano. Ubicado en Miami, Florida, DreamTime Tours International ha hecho viajar más de 50,000 familias en los ultimos 9 años en las vacaciones de sus sueños. Nuestra licencia estatal de la Florida es el ST-22168 y está respaldado 100% con una fianza que le garantiza sus vacaciones. Estamos haciendo esta oferta internacional solo al titular de este correo electrónico con el proposito de promover el turismo en la Florida. Esto no es una promoción para tiempo compartido, bienes raices ní "time share"sino una oferta legitima de vacaciones de uno de los mayores vendedores al por mayor de vacaciones de la Florida. Favor de imprimir este documento y tener listo el número de reservación que aparece abajo. Esta es una oferta limitada y los operadores están esperando su llamada. Número de Reservación 23142092 Sus vacaciones de ensueño incluyen: 3 días y 2 noches de alojamiento frente al mar en la fabulosa Fort Lauderdale, Florida patronicinado por la prestigiosa cadena de hoteles finos Ramada Plaza Resorts. Mientras está en Fort Lauderdale recibirá el programa VIP en el Sawgrass Mills Mall con descuentos de hasta $1,500 en mercancia, comidas y servicios. Diviértase a bordo de uno de nuestros lujosos cruceros durante 3 días y 2 noches a Nassau, Bahamas. Todas las comidas, las diversiones y su cabina a bordo del barco están incluidas. También hay discotecas, casino, shows al estilo de Las Vegas y toda clase de actividades. Desembarque en Nassau, Bahamas. Vaya de compras libre de impuestos, juegue al golf, practique deportes acuáticos o simplemente relájese en las playas de arena blanca. De regreso tendrá 4 días y 3 noches de alojamiento en el mágico Orlando, el hogar de Disney®, Epcot® y los estudios Universales® y MGM®. Tendrá un talonario de cupones con descuentos de más de $500 para comidas, entretenimientos y atracciones en el area de Orlando. Gratís el alquiler de un carro con kilometraje ilimitado durante su estadía en la Florida patrocinado por InterAmerican Rental Car o Thrifty Rental Car. Si desea usted puede utilizar su boleto gratis para otros destinos alternos que ofrecemos. ¡Llame ahora mismo para detalles! ¡BONO ADICIONAL! Por reservar hoy usted recibirá otros 3 días y 2 noches adicionales gratis en uno de nuestros exóticos destinos. ¡LLAME AHORA MISMO! ¡LLAMADA GRATIS DESDE PUERTO RICO! 1-800-559-3239 LOS DEMAS PAISES: 001-305-899-8889 (Desde Colombia 0091-305-899-8889) ¡Si está ocupado siga llamando! ¡Para asegurar que entre su llamada y que usted no pierda su boleto llame por un teléfono normal y no por medio del Internet! Debido a la gran demanda se acepta una sola llamada por e-mail. Somos miembros de la Cámara de Comercio, IATAN y CLIA Lunes a Viernes 8:00AM A 10:30PM Sabados 9:00AM A 5:00PM (Domingos cerrado) Dreamtime Tours está registrado en el estado de la Florida como mayorista de viajes. Registro número ST-22168. DreamTime Tours le garantiza sus reservas a través de nuestro departamento reservaciones. TERMINOS Y CONDICIONES DREAMTIME TOURS es una agencia autorizada de reservaciones en los E.E.U.U. de todas las demás empresas arriba mencionadas y lleva a cabo el cumplimiento de este promoción de vacaciones. Nuestro éxito se debe a que nuestros clientes vuelven a viajar con nosotros una y otra vez. Esta oferta no se le ofrece al público en general. Queda bajo las leyes y regulaciones federales, estatales y locales. Esta oferta no está relacionada con ninguna oferta de tiempo compartido o "time share" ni con ninguna oferta de bienes raíces. El cumplimiento de esta oferta está garantizada por el departamento de reservaciones de DREAMTIME TOURS que está registrada como agencia de viajes en la Florida con el registro ST-22168. Todos los paquetes vacacionales para esta promoción exclusiva son para un mínimo de dos personas. A cada persona notificada se le ha asignado números de control y reservación. Ciertas restricciones pueden aplicar. Esto no es ninguna lotería, concurso o sorteo. ¡Se acepta una so! la! llamada para inscribirse! No se aceptan llamdas de terceros ni se le pueden dar detalles. Un hotel puede ser sustituido por otro de la misma clase si no hubiese disponibilidad. La oferta del coche de alquiler no incluye seguros, impuestos ní opciones adicionales. DREAMTIME TOURS INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL SERVICES 12000 Biscayne Blvd. Suite 202 Miami, Florida 33181

1 0

Re: NSA's new mode of operation broken in less than 24 hours (fwd)
by Jim Choate 13 Aug '01

13 Aug '01

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 11 Aug 2001 00:43:19 GMT From: David Wagner <daw(a)mozart.cs.berkeley.edu> To: coderpunks(a)toad.com Newsgroups: isaac.lists.coderpunks Subject: Re: NSA's new mode of operation broken in less than 24 hours Since I saw some discussion of NSA's Dual Counter Mode here: The analysis Pompiliu Donescu, Virgil Gligor, and I did on their mode is now available online. See below for more information. Pompiliu Donescu, Virgil D. Gligor, and David Wagner, ``A Note on NSA's Dual Counter Mode of Encryption,'' preliminary version, August 5, 2001. http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~daw/papers/dcm-prelim.ps Abstract. We show that both variants of the Dual Counter Mode of encryption (DCM) submitted for consideration as an AES mode of operation to NIST by M. Boyle and C. Salter of the NSA are insecure with respect to both secrecy and integrity in the face of chosen-plaintext attacks. We argue that DCM cannot be easily changed to satisfy its stated performance goal and be secure. Hence repairing DCM does not appear worthwhile.

1 0

NSA withdraws proposed mode of operation (fwd)
by Jim Choate 13 Aug '01

13 Aug '01

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 01:35:39 -0300 From: "Paulo S. L. M. Barreto" <paulo.barreto(a)terra.com.br> To: coderpunks(a)toad.com Subject: NSA withdraws proposed mode of operation Many coderpunks probably already know the details; anyway, here's the story. Phillip Rogaway's description of the weaknesses found in NSA's Dual Counter Mode are at the bottom. Enjoy, Paulo. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2001 07:25:34 -0400 From: Robert Shea <rshea(a)radium.ncsc.mil> Subject: Dual Counter Mode (DCM) On behalf of Brian Snow, Technical Director, Information Assurance, NSA, the following message is forwarded to the AES Team at NIST: NSA believes that a license-free high-speed integrity-preserving mode of operation is needed for the Advanced Encryption Standard, and was pleased to submit the "Dual Counter Mode" (DCM) as a participant in the series of AES Modes Workshops sponsored by NIST. Recently Virgil Gligor and Pompiliu Donescu of the University of Maryland, Phillip Rogaway of the UC Davis and Chiang Mai University, David Wagner of Berkeley, and possibly others, have produced results concerning the secrecy and integrity claims made for DCM. We commend them for their work We withdraw the Dual Counter Mode for consideration as a mode of operation for AES at this time, while we consider the observations and their ramifications. We believe a license-free high-speed integrity-preserving mode of operation is still needed for AES, and will continue to work on this problem as well as encourage others to do so. Brian D. Snow Technical Director Information Assurance Directorate National Security Agency ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Topic: Comments on "Dual Counter Mode" (manuscript date: 4 July 2001) (a modes-of-operation proposal by Mike Boyle and Chris Salter) From: Phillip Rogaway UC Davis and Chiang Mai University Date: Aug 4, 2001 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. DEFINITION OF DCM The definition of DCM isn't real clear, but this is what I understand. Let P = P_1 P_2 ... P_j be the plaintext to encrypt, where one assumes each |P_i|=n and j>0. Let Key = (K, x_0) be the DCM key, where K keys an n-bit block cipher E (I refuse to use "W" for the block length!) and x_0 is a n-bit string. For concreteness, say n = 128. Let N be an n-bit nonce. (The authors specify N = SEQ | SPI | padding, but I shall ignore this, it being, to me, an inappropriate mixing of an application of a mode and the definition of that mode.) The authors map (N, x_0) into a sequence of offsets (they call them "fills") y_0 y_1 y_2 ... y_j y_{j+1} by y_0 = x_0 + N // addition mod 2^n, for example and, for i>0, y_i = multx(y_{i-1}), where, say, / (a << 1) if msb(a)=0 multx(a) = | \ (a << 1) xor 0^{120}10000111 if msb(a)=1 That is, y_i = (x_0 + N) * x^i, where the multiplication is in GF(2^n). Now define DCM_Key (N, P) as C = C_1 C_2 ... C_j C_{j+1} where C_i = E_K( P_i xor y_i) xor y_i for i in [1..j] checksum = P_1 xor ... xor P_j xor N C_{j+1} = E_K(checksum xor y_{j+1}) xor y_0 2. COMPARISON WITH IAPM DCM is identical to IAPM except (a) IAPM omits the nonce N from the checksum (why these authors include the nonce I do not know); and (b) IAPM suggested different (and smarter) ways to make the offsets. 3. THE CHANGES DON'T WORK The changes to IAPM break it; one can see rather easily that DCM does not achieve the usual definitions for privacy or authenticity. 3.1 NO SEMANTIC SECURITY (the customary privacy definition) For simplicity, assume lsb(x_0)=0. (This happens half the time so there is no problem making this assumption.) First observe that nonces with related values map to offsets with related values. In particular, nonces N and (N xor 1) (in a context like this "1" means 0^{n-1}1) map to offsets the first few of which are: N |--> y_0, y_1, y_2 N xor 1 |--> y_0 xor 1, y_1 xor 2, y_2 xor 4 Let the adversary ask a query DCM_Key(0, 0), obtaining a ciphertext that starts with first block C_1; now note that first block of DCM_Key(1, 2) will be C_1 xor 2. This violates privacy. (For example, you can easily tell apart the sequence of messages 0, 0 and 0, 2 when they are DCM-encrypted using nonces 0 and then 1.) [Reminder: my notation is ciphertext = DCM_Key(nonce, plaintext)] 3.2. NO AUTHENTICITY OF CIPHERTEXTS (the customary authenticity definition) For convenience of description, assume that the first two bits and the last two bits of x_0 are 00 (which happens 1/16 of the time, anyway). Let the adversary ask queries: DCM_Key(0, 0) --> getting C_1 C_2. DCM_Key(1, 0 2) --> getting C_1' C_2' C_3' Note: C_2 = E_K(x_0 << 2) xor x_0 and C_2' = E_K((x_0 + 1 << 2) xor 2) xor (x_0 + 1) << 2 = E_K(x_0 << 2) xor (x_0 << 2) xor 2 So C_2 xor x_0 = C_2' xor (x_0<<2) xor 2 and thus x_0 xor (x_0 <<2) = C_2 xor C_2' xor 2 Solve for x_0 (easy by our assumption that x_0 ends in 00). With x_0 now known, one can compute the y_0, y_1, y_2 values associated to any nonce. Forging a ciphertext becomes easy. 4. AND WHAT IF THE NONCE HAD BEEN SEQ | SPI | padding? I think it wouldn't have mattered. With a choice of N = N' | comp(N'), say, where N' is a 64-bit nonce, N' and (N' xor 1) would still map to y_1 and y_1 xor 2, respectively, so you could play the same sorts of games. 5. WHAT'S THE STORY HERE? The entire discussion of out-of-order-packets in the DCM note makes no real sense, as best as I can tell. The authors "solution" amounts to throwing in a nonce -- which is of course present in all of the authenticated-encryption proposals already. The introductory statements about the overhead of IAPM (and other proposals) seems to reflect a non-understanding of that mode. And then the mode itself, which was so easily attacked. All rather odd.

1 0

Cell Phone Gun
by John Young 13 Aug '01

13 Aug '01

Anonymous forwarded a video (with sound) of a cell phone gun, showing it being assembled and fired four times: http://cryptome.org/handy-gun.htm This device was described here some time ago, I believe, and while the forwarded post appeared to come from a USAF officer on Milnet, I wonder if the gun is authentic. Other stories on this? The AF officer warns that while the weapon has not yet appeared in the US, it is being found now and then in Europe, especially Germany. And US Customs is checking cellphones of arriving passengers, so do not hestitate to hand yours over if asked or you might get shot. With the millions of cellphones in Europe it is a wonder that a jumpy cop has not yet shot a kid for failing to give up an inseparable handy.

3 3

Register to win your Dream Vacation
by CATHY4323＠hotmail.com 13 Aug '01

13 Aug '01

You have been specially selected to qualify for the following: Premium Vacation Package and Pentium PC Giveaway To review the details of the please click on the link with the confirmation number below: http://vacation.1xin.net Confirmation Number#Lh340 Please confirm your entry within 24 hours of receipt of this confirmation. Wishing you a fun filled vacation! If you should have any additional questions or cann't connect to the site do not hesitate to contact me direct: mailto:vacation@btamail.net.cn?subject=Help!

1 0

celebritymailer
by celebritymailer＠list.emailbucks.com 13 Aug '01

13 Aug '01

Welcome! Your subscription request has been processed for the Celebritymail mailing list. You will soon begin receiving the finest Adult Entertainment the Web has to offer in the privacy of your email box. The first premium hardcore site we selected for you is TRUECELEBS. For new subscribers we have an exclusive offer. http://www.truecelebs.com/cgi-bin/click-tc.cgi?ebwelcome TRUECELEBS offers you: Britney Spears Exclusive! Revealing Super Star photos 45.000 explicit pics 76.000 movies http://www.truecelebs.com/cgi-bin/click-tc.cgi?ebwelcome --- Have you heard about FirstName Mail? You can get a FREE you(a)mikesmail.com address or pick from 500 other names for free. http://www.emailbucks.com/entry/entry.cgi?firstname

1 0