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Attention CipherSaber Users!!
by Arnold G. Reinhold 31 Jul '01

31 Jul '01

A draft paper by Scott Fluhrer, Itsik Mantin and Adi Shamir was released on July 25, 2001 and announces new attacks on the RC4 cipher that is the basis for CipherSaber-1. Some of these attacks specifically involve the use of an IV with a secret key, the very scheme used in CipherSaber. Prof. Shamir states in an e-mail accompanying the release: "Attached you will find a new paper which describes a truly practical direct attack on WEP's cryptography. It is an extremely powerful attack which can be applied even when WEP's RC4 stream cipher uses a 2048 bit secret key (its maximal size) and 128 bit IV modifiers (as proposed in WEP2). The attacker can be a completely passive eavesdropper (i.e., he does not have to inject packets, monitor responses, or use accomplices) and thus his existence is essentially undetectable. It is a pure known-ciphertext attack (i.e., the attacker need not know or choose their corresponding plaintexts). After scanning several hundred thousand packets, the attacker can completely recover the secret key and thus decrypt all the ciphertexts. The running time of the attack grows linearly instead of exponentially with the key size, and thus it is negligible even for 2048 bit keys." The paper itself, titled "Weaknesses in the Key Scheduling Algorithm of RC4," has been posted at http://www.eyetap.org/~rguerra/toronto2001/rc4_ksaproc.pdf (in PDF format) and at http://www.crypto.com/papers/others/rc4_ksaproc.ps (in Postscript). WEP is an encryption system used with 802.11 wireless Ethernet that employs RC4, but the attack affects CipherSaber as well. Note that "several hundred thousand" separate CipherSaber messages encrypted with the same key would have to be collected for this attack to succeed. None the less, from a cryptographic standpoint, this is too close for comfort. Accordingly I recommend that CipherSaber users switch to CipherSaber-2 with a parameter N=20 or larger. The RC4 state vector will thus be mixed 20 times instead of once. This large a value for N is probably overkill, but until there is time to fully digest the implications of this paper, it is better to err on the safe side. If this is impractical for any reason, I recommend changing keys on a regular basis to limit the amount of traffic encrypted with any one CipherSaber key (even though the IVs differ). If and when a consensus develops on the best way to fix RC4, I will announce a corresponding version of CipherSaber. Visit the CipherSaber page http://ciphersaber.gurus.com periodically for updated information. Arnold Reinhold

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Re: Forced disclosures, document seizures, Right and Wrong.
by Blanc 31 Jul '01

31 Jul '01

>From Black Unicorn: >To me the important distinction is to recognize what we want the ideal to be, >but avoid running afoul of the law in the process. --------------------------------------------- If one does recognize what the ideal is to be, and it happens to be contrary to existing law, how can running afoul of it be prevented? Are you speaking stealth, evasion, secrecy, etc., in the use of technological means, or in addition to them? .. Blanc

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DOJ press conf on DNA analysis
by Declan McCullagh 31 Jul '01

31 Jul '01

TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2001 (202) 514-2007 ATTORNEY GENERAL ASHCROFT TO HOLD NEWS CONFERENCE REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DNA ANALYSIS BACKLOG ELIMINATION ACT OF 2000 WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Attorney General John Ashcroft will hold a news conference regarding the implementation of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 TOMORROW, Wednesday, August 1st, at 12:15 p.m. in the Attorney General's conference room on the fifth floor at Main Justice. A background briefing conducted by Department staff will follow in the Public Affairs conference room on the first floor. TIME: 12:15 p.m., TOMORROW, August 1st EVENT: Attorney General News Conference PLACE: Main Justice 950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Attorney General's Conference Room Reporters interested in attending the press conference should enter the Department through the 950 entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets, NW, no earlier than 11:15 a.m. ###

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Book Review: The Trial of Henry Kissinger
by Nomen Nescio 31 Jul '01

31 Jul '01

"The Trial of Henry Kissinger" by Christopher Hitchens ISBN 1-85984-631-9 It is commonly stated on this list that the term "terrorism" is selectively used. The enemies of the United States Government are "terrorists" and its friends "freedom fighters." Nobody who reads this book can doubt this belief, except to observe that many (even most?) labelled "terrorist" are not terrorists at all. They are nothing more than dissidents. Hitchens persuasively argues that Henry Kissinger is documentably guilty of a variety of prosecutable crimes. Both war crimes and crimes which are fully covered by existing U.S. law are listed. The book has a fair amount of information about the Nixon and Ford administrations which will probably be new to most readers. Kissinger wielded more power than many may realize, as he chaired something called the "40 Committee" from 1969 to 1976. The "40 Committee", whose name has changed repeatedly over the years, oversaw all U.S. foreign, and possibly domestic, covert actions. Kissinger also benefitted from the mental instability of Richard Nixon. At least three times Kissinger and others ordered the Joint Chiefs of Staff to disregard Nixon's orders for varying periods of time as it was feared that Nixon might start a nuclear war. These were commendable acts, but illustrate how much influence Kissinger had - with great power comes great responsibility. The most horrific crime discussed is the secret (and illegal) bombings of Cambodia and Laos. While I had been familiar with this as a legal and Constitutional issue, I was unaware of the full extent of civilian casualties. The bombings were apparently motivated by information that North Vietnam was supplying southern rebels through Cambodia and Laos. The bombings were carried out by B-52s flying at high altitude, which meant they could drop a large quantity of explosive, but not with any accuracy. The loss of accuracy appeared not to matter, as there were no real targets identified. Perhaps one million (!!!) civilians died in these indiscriminate bombings. Many of the victims were small children who are said to be less resistent to the shockwave of high explosives. Less complicated, and likely most prosecutable, is Kissinger's instigation of the murder of Gen. Rene Schneider, Chief of the Chilean General Staff. In 1970, Salvador Allende was legally elected President of Chile with a minority of the popular vote. (Much as William Clinton was elected to the U.S. Presidency in 1992.) Chile was of limited importance, but Nixon had close ties to people who worked for corporations which feared theft of their assets. Nixon made Allende's removal a top priority. Chile was a democratic country with 150 years of elected government behind it. Gen. Schneider supported Constitutional government and was the main obstacle to a military coup. A few days before Allende took office, Schneider was murdered by anti-democratic military officers supported by the CIA and directed by Kissinger. Hitchens: "Here one must pause for a recapitulation. An unelected official in the United States is meeting with others, without the knowledge or authorization of Congress, to plan the kidnapping of a constitution-minded senior officer in a democratic country with which the United States is not at war, and with which it maintains cordial diplomatic relations. The minutes of the meetings may have an official look to them (though they were hidden from the light of day for long enough) but what we are reviewing is a 'hit' - a piece of state-supported terrorism." While it is hardly defensible to murder any political dissident, what is especially disturbing about the Schneider case is that he was nominally on the same team as Kissinger and his cronies and does not appear to have been a dissident in any way other than his respect for the rule of law. The case of Elias P. Demetracopoulos further illustrates Kissinger's fundamentally criminal nature. Mr. Demetracopoulos is a Greek journalist who was opposed to the military regime which controlled his country from 1967 to 1974. During this time he lived in the United States and lobbied Congress to support democracy in Greece. After the Greek dictatorship fell, documents became available which showed there had been repeated extensive plans, in collusion with the USG, to kidnap the journalist from the United States and return him to Greece. There is reason to believe that their plan was to torture and then kill him. It is also known that an index of various NSC documents refers to a document from 1970 with keywords "RE MR DEMETRACOPOULOS DEATH IN ATHENS PRISON". (The document itself remains unavailable.) Not only was this kidnapping to occur inside the United States, indeed probably in Washington, D.C., but Demetracopoulos was very well connected in the Republican and Democratic parties. For example, one of his close friends introduced Nixon and Agnew. He is personally known to Kissinger. Other chapters, well worth reading, cover criminal activities with respect to East Timor, Bangladesh, and Cyprus. At the end of the book Hutchins evaluates the prospects for a trial and suggests that Kissinger may be facing a variety of indictments in several countries. Even in the event that he is not tried in the United States, this would at least have the effect of limiting his travel and tarnish his "elder statesman" image. Hitchens argues that the U.S. might as well prosecute now so as not to be shamed in the eyes of the world. Indeed, every day this criminal is allowed to walk free is an indictment of the ability - and willingness - of the U.S. legal system to exercise justice. And, any time anybody wants to know why strong crypto is a good idea for a free society the answer is simple: It makes it harder for murderers like Henry Kissinger and his friends to eliminate their political opponents.

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Save 50% on Ink Jet Cartridges
by 2for1 InkJet 31 Jul '01

31 Jul '01

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RE: NRA Prints HALF Of The Story (Barniskis)?
by Jonathan Wienke 31 Jul '01

31 Jul '01

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 The American Rifleman article with the complete text of the John Ashcroft letter re the second amendment is in the August 2001 issue on pages 62 and 63, not the July issue. My apologies for the mix-up. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGPfreeware 6.5.8 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com> iQA/AwUBO2cgtRj6oMyeDxZoEQLiTwCeNiFXMzVKO5N9h9eZwwk+UEivIRwAoP7g AM5g1whjNGCmXdwpVe5iMGK8 =H+CZ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Mr. Wienke, help me out on this; General Ashcroft m ake his move
by air.man＠att.net 31 Jul '01

31 Jul '01

How long do you think NRA management's "Winning" Team could continue suckering gun rights supporters into sending them $200 MILLION a year if they came out and frontally assaulted the right to keep and bear arms, rather than gradually undermining it while appearing to fight the good fight? I wish you were right. I wish it was just incompetence. Russ Howard www.keepandbeararms.com/howard > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > I don't have the magazine in front of me, but if you'd like, I could > scan the page and send you a JPEG or something like that of it. I > don't think the NRA is as good a defender of the Second Amendment as > it could be, and ditto with John Ashcroft, but at least they aren't > trying to totally nuke our freedoms like Clinton, Janet Reno & > Handgun Control Incorporated. > > Jonathan Wienke > > - -----Original Message----- > From: Richard Stevens [mailto:dial911book@yahoo.com] > Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 7:51 AM > To: Jonathan Wienke; freematt(a)coil.com > Cc: George(a)Orwellian.Org; cypherpunks(a)cyberpass.net; > Director(a)KeepAndBearArms.com; air.man(a)att.net; > brian(a)citizensofamerica.org > Subject: Mr. Wienke, help me out on this -- Re: FW: General Ashcroft > make his move > > > - --- Jonathan Wienke <JonathanW(a)gbgcorp.com> wrote: > > > > I get the NRA's American Rifleman magazine. The July > > issue also has > > an article about Ashcroft's letter, which does not > > quote the rather > > lengthy footnote. However, it does contain a legible > > image of BOTH > > pages of the letter, including the ENTIRE text of > > the footnote. This > > is hardly the action of an organization bent on > > distorting Ashcroft's > > view on the Second Amendment. Stupid editing on the > > part of the > > America's First Freedom team, perhaps, but not an > > organization-wide > > conspiracy. > > > > Jonathan Wienke > > > > Mr. Wienke, > > I paged through the entire July 2001 issue of American > Rifleman, and maybe I'm just blind as the proverbial > bat, but I don't see the article to which you refer > that quotes the entire Ashcroft letter. On what page > is it? > > The July 2001 issue of First Freedom is the one > featuring the Ashcroft letter -- that I have received > thus far. > > On the point you raise: maybe it was merely a bad > editorial decision for the one magazine. Fine, and we > can forgive that. But, ask this question: in what > kind of workplace environment could this kind of > editing decision be made? > > Remember that more than one editor had to approve the > final copy. This is not just a typo. More than one > person had to consciously decide to omit relevant > material without telling the reader. > > I have to wonder if other sorts of "editing decisions" > that massage the facts and distort the truth are being > made ... and we readers don't know it. > > Maybe it was entirely innocent. Then NRA should > promptly apologize, correct it and publish the full > text in the following issue. Let's see if they do. > > - --Richard Stevens > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! > Messenger > http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: PGPfreeware 6.5.8 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com> > > iQA/AwUBO2YCRxj6oMyeDxZoEQIcBgCfd2QPu23wfwj56en49EF9Aoou6OsAoJdJ > PLKWKsFtG76jnEqK2G6sGBZA > =xyd4 > -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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RE: NRA Prints HALF Of The Story (Barniskis)?
by Neal Lang 31 Jul '01

31 Jul '01

Hi, Angel, If I get real ambitious and write the definitive expose' on why "Project Exile" is the best thing for the "right to keep and bear arms" since the discovery of smokeless powder, would you have the "good sense" publish same on your site? Keep the Faith, Neal -----Original Message----- From: Angel Shamaya [SMTP:Director@KeepAndBearArms.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 3:19 AM To: movwater(a)bellsouth.net; David and Maureen Codrea Cc: Director(a)KeepAndBearArms.com; air.man(a)att.net; brian(a)citizensofamerica.org; cypherpunks(a)cyberpass.net; George(a)Orwellian.Org; freematt(a)coil.com; dial911book(a)yahoo.com; lrrankin(a)silcom.com; Peter Mancus EE-mail" Subject: Re: NRA Prints HALF Of The Story (Barniskis)? From: "David and Maureen Codrea" <codrea4(a)home.com <mailto:codrea4@home.com> > Date sent: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 23:35:55 -0700 > And I totally reject your assertion that "my" fight (where the heck > did you get THAT impression?) against Project Exile is either hopeless > or useless, especially judging from the gun rights leaders who have > signed the denouncement statement on keepandbeararms.com. > https://www.keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=720 <https://www.keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=720> > They represent some of the finest intellects and activists in the rkba > community, and you cannot ignore them or their concerns if you hope to > be either effective and innovative. Why on earth would you want to? David, use this link when sharing the Project Exile Condemnation Coalition's statement: http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/exile2 <http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/exile2> ...so it doesn't wrap to a second line. I am intrigued by the fact that NRA's Board of Coalition Builders has yet to respond to that statement; considering how many longtime dedicated leaders and proven patriots have signed it, one would think they'd have at least said "something." I guess the fact that gun rights groups whose memberships collectively represent a large segment of their own membership aren't important. Kinda reminds me of those who say we're wrong but have never taken direct exerpts and challenged them in a ready-for-publication article so they can be converted by KABAnators in private emails and then come back to us with gratitude for being patient with them while they were busy being right. By the way, Lao Tzu said, "Brevity is the root of all grace." Shamaya Longwind

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by Lisa Thornton 31 Jul '01

31 Jul '01

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RE: NRA Prints HALF Of The Story (Barniskis)?
by Neal Lang 31 Jul '01

31 Jul '01

["Ah! But that is exactly why you are so loveable, IMMHO, David."] As I understand "Beloved" is the Hebrew translation of the name "David", it seems we are both in agreement on the one essential point by which all others pale: I am loveable. Peace. But Naturally! Keep the Faith, Neal (a.k.a. Cornelius - Latin for "the Horn" - Hmmm! - However I am neither "snotty" nor "affectation" enough to insist on being so called. Actually I might refuse answer to such if you did.)

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