- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

Apparently one can spell "Snake Oil" in Capital Letters, too (Re: CRYPTO-GRAM, August 15, 2004)
by R. A. Hettinga 15 Aug '04

15 Aug '04

At 11:26 PM -0500 8/14/04, Bruce Schneier wrote: >From: "Ken Lavender" <ICS_Atlanta(a)Charter.Net> >Subject: ICS Atlanta > >I am APPAULED at your "comments" that you had made on your website: > > <http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0407.html#9> > >You have statements are nothing but slander & defamation. They shall >be dealt with accordingly. > >Lie #1: "How do they demonstrate Tree's security? 'Over 100 >professionals in mathematics & in computer science at Massachusetts >Institute of Technology & at Georgia Tech, had sample encoded messages >submitted to them. Not a single person could break this code!'" That >is not the ONLY way we prove it. We have examples & offer to allow >people to submit their OWN messages to have encoded to SEE how good the >code is. So there are THREE methods, NOT just ONE as you IMPLY. > >Lie #2: "These guys sent unsolicited e-mails..." HOW do you KNOW that >this was the case? Have any PROOF of such? NO! > >Lie #3: "And if all that isn't enough to make you run screaming from >these guys, their website proudly proclaims: 'Tree Encoded Files Can Be >"Zipped."'" Because they can be "zipped" does NOT mean that it is "bad >encoding." The "code talkers" of ww2 used LANGUAGE to "code" the >messages, and THOSE COULD BE "ZIPPED"!!! And that code was NEVER BROKEN!!! > >Lie #4: "That's right; their encryption is so lousy that the >ciphertext doesn't even look random." AGAIN, HOW would you >KNOW??? Did you break it? NO! And what is "random"??? > > random : without definite aim, direction, rule, or method > >"So lousy"? HOW WOULD YOU KNOW??? You would have to KNOW how we >encode BEFORE you can make such a statement, & YOU DO NOT KNOW >HOW!!! If it is SO LOUSY, how come NOBODY HAS BROKEN IT YET??? And we >have people ALL THE TIME trying to, with ZERO SUCCESS. > >I do not like you slandering something that you do not >understand. ATALL!!! > >The ONLY question you asked was "how long is the key" AND THAT WAS >IT! HOW long was the key that the 'code talkers' used? ZERO!!! JUST AS >OUR IS. The encoding routine was created, tested, & verified on PAPER >& PENCIL WITHOUT COMPUTERS! A child could encode data using our >routine. The computer is merely used to "speed-up" the process, NOT TO >CREATE IT. Our routine is based on LANGUAGE, NOT MATH. So all of you >"comments" are just false, misleading & just plain ole lies! SHOW & >PROVE that it is NOT random. What is the PATTERN THEN??? > >I am DEMANDING A FULL RETRACTION OF YOUR COMMENTS & A FULL, COMPLETE >APOLOGY TO THESE AND ALL STATEMENTS. > >I am a person who tries to work with people as a man w/o having to >"drag" others into the mess. Others? THE COURTS. You have violated >Calf law by your statements. > >[Text of California Civil Code Section 46 deleted.] > >Your LIES have damaged my respect in my job & has damaged any sales of >this routine. You have ZERO proof of your "comments," ANY OF >THEM!!! I beseech of you, do the RIGHT THING and comply. I DO NOT >wish to escalate this matter any higher. And remember this, Tree is >based on LANGUAGE, NOT MATH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! > >[Phone number deleted out of mercy.] -- ----------------- 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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[osint] FBI Warns Storage Unit Operators
by R. A. Hettinga 14 Aug '04

14 Aug '04

--- begin forwarded text To: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft(a)community-research.com> Thread-Index: AcSAr6Y/Mj9PmYHqQZO/G2/Eo29FYgAgaLTg From: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft(a)community-research.com> Mailing-List: list osint(a)yahoogroups.com; contact osint-owner(a)yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list osint(a)yahoogroups.com Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 08:30:35 -0400 Subject: [osint] FBI Warns Storage Unit Operators Reply-To: osint(a)yahoogroups.com FBI Warns Storage Unit Operators Terrorist alert is extended to self-storage units Joyce Lavoy is a manager for South Toledo Self Storage. Lavoy says she was stunned when an FBI agent walked into her office and told her to be on the lookout for possible terrorist activity. Local FBI agents are visiting about 350 storage places in 19 northwest Ohio communities, including Toledo, Lucas County, and Sandusky. They're handing out alerts to owners and employees on potential terrorist activity in storage facilities. Federal sources tell 13 Action News in the past, terror suspects have been known to use storage units to devise their plans. Everytime Joyce Lavoy unlocks an empty storage unit and lifts the door, she's looking for the warning signs of possible terrorist activity. Lavoy has worked in the storage business for five years. She says she's never had an FBI agent walk into her office. "I thought there was someone renting a storage unit he was looking for." That wasn't the case. Lavoy says FBI agents wanted to put managers on alert that terrorists have been known to store and mix deadly chemicals in storage units. The FBI alert cautions storage owners and employees to be on the lookout for: suspicious people who visit the storage facility late at night or at unusual times. unusual fumes, liquids, residues or odors emanating from their storage unit. explosives, blasting caps, fuses, weapons, and ammunition. flight manuals or other similar materials. Lavoy says security cameras are in place and she's taking extra trips around the building with her employees looking for anything suspicious. Source: _http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/news/811_storageunits.html_ (http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/news/811_storageunits.html) This information is provided by PURE PURSUIT as a service to members of the Military and Air Defense Community with the purpose of offering relevant and timely information on defense, aviation, emergency, law enforcement and terrorism issues. Posts may be forwarded to other individuals, organizations and lists for non-commercial purposes. For new subscriptions please send an e-mail with "Pure Pursuit" in the subject line to Nena Wiley at : coyotearz(a)aol.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-osint(a)yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor bisoldi(a)intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint(a)yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: osint-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ --- 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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Re: yes, they look for stego, as a "Hacker Tool"
by Major Variola (ret) 14 Aug '04

14 Aug '04

At 05:30 AM 8/14/04 +0200, Thomas Shaddack wrote: >On Fri, 13 Aug 2004, Major Variola (ret) wrote: > >> Even if you map a particular hash into one of a million known-benign >> values, which takes work, there are multiple orthagonal hash algorithms >> included on the NIST CD. (Eg good luck finding values that collide in >> MD5 & SHA-1 & SHA-256 simultaneously!) > >Argh. You misunderstood me. I don't want to find hash collisions, to >create a false known hash - that is just too difficult. I want to make >every file in the machine recognized as "unidentifiable". No, I understood this. In a later post it was brought up that this is essentially watermarking your content with a unique ID, which can be bad for P2P tracing purposes. So I was suggesting that by using a finite set of 'watermarks' one could avoid essentially embedding a unique label to one's copy of some content, at some cost in Cycles. >The signature busting of MP3s has a disadvantage, though: makes their >sharing back to the P2P pool more difficult, and a lot of programs relying >on their hash (emule, Kazaa(?),...) instead of their file name will >consider them a different file, which causes problems with multisource >download (though the problem won't be on your side). True. But I've found some manual intervention to be required anyway, sometimes you find a few copies of the same content stored as independent files due to slight differences in naming or truncation. >> Sorta like the National Forests... resource of many uses... may as well >> include a mixmaster payload in that worm :-) which also provides some >> other overt free benefit like antivirus or anti-helmetic or defrag or >> game or bayesian spamfilter or chat or screensaver or anon remailing >> client or free ringtone :-) > >Free ringtones. Good attractant these days. I tend to forget about them as >I tend to shun fancy tones - telephones should have a distinctive ring but >"distinctive" does not have to mean "orchestral". But apparently there are >large sets of people who like it. Weird... It was disturbing that, as the bottom fell out of telecom, and handsets became commoditized, faceplates and ringtones were highly profitable. Faceplates are at least made of atoms. There are several lessons there, from economic to sociobiological (if there's a difference), none of which are terribly pleasing in my aesthetic. Fortunately the whole PDA vs. cell vs. camera vs GPS vs. smartcard vs MP3 player vs. email-pager etc bat-belt [1] frenzy will resolve in a few years, and perhaps some of the Linux based solutions will not be involuntary citizen-tracking devices and will support privacy of data stored, and in transit, including voice data. And free ring tones :-) All that's needed is one of the hardware-selling companies to start the process, making money off the atoms, and possibly Sharp's Zaurus (?) already has? Perhaps there's a biz model in buying a 3-D color prototyping machine for $40K and setting up a custom faceplate biz for the integrated gizmo of the near future. Hmm, with freedom-enabling software being distributed on the side, it sounds like a Heinlein novel... [1] Batman (tm) wore a belt with too many gizmos. Some widget-fetishist friends/early adopters are similarly afflicted.

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Re: yes, they look for stego, as a "Hacker Tool"
by Tyler Durden 14 Aug '04

14 Aug '04

>Sorta like the National Forests... resource of many uses... may as well >include a mixmaster payload in that worm :-) which also provides some >other >overt free benefit like antivirus or anti-helmetic or defrag or game or >bayesian spamfilter >or chat or screensaver or anon remailing client or free ringtone :-)" Well, shit there's an idea. Particularly if the virus is benign enough not to get noticed too often. A mini-mixmaster is a particularly wonderful idea, if you could get it to work....in fact, imagine a mixmaster network where each node only exists for a short amount of time. Your P2P ID messages for the mixmaster network should be invisible to users of the ostensible services of course. -TD >From: "Major Variola (ret)" <mv(a)cdc.gov> >To: "cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net" <cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net> >Subject: Re: yes, they look for stego, as a "Hacker Tool" >Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 20:14:19 -0700 > >At 01:48 AM 8/14/04 +0200, Thomas Shaddack wrote: > >Then you have > >the forest where every tree is marked and the leprechaun is laughing. > >Love that story. But the self-watermarking you later mention is a >problem. >Even if you map a particular hash into one of a million known-benign >values, which takes work, there are multiple orthagonal hash algorithms >included on the NIST CD. (Eg good luck finding values that collide in >MD5 & SHA-1 & SHA-256 simultaneously!) > > > >> These hash-CDROMs are also useful for finding unlicensed software and > > >> music.... > > > >Another reason for making your data unique. > >In that case, yes, although ultimately the RIAA could hire offshore >Indians to listen >to your stego'd/uniquified Madonna song and identify it. (Of course, >they don't >know if you own the vinyl for it... and software can be sold by the >original purchaser, too, right?) > > >> And keep your tools encrypted, or on memory sticks you can flush or > >> snap with your fingers. > > > >Beware of destruction of memory sticks > >Yes something like a Tomlinson (_Big Breach_) sleight of hand with a >Psion >card is a good idea, as is the microwave oven trash can next to your >machine :-) > > >A neat trick to lower the suspicion-factor for stego in JPEG or video > >could be releasing a closed-source program for Windows as either >freeware > >... and there still is a segment of consumers who think that > >when it is free, it's worthless) > >And a larger segment which will stick any CD they get in the mail into >their >bootable drive.. LOL > > >The sheeple don't have to be only a threat. They can be useful, if >their > >gullibility is properly exploited. > >Sorta like the National Forests... resource of many uses... may as well >include a mixmaster payload in that worm :-) which also provides some >other >overt free benefit like antivirus or anti-helmetic or defrag or game or >bayesian spamfilter >or chat or screensaver or anon remailing client or free ringtone :-) > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ Dont just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/

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Re: yes, they look for stego, as a "Hacker Tool"
by Major Variola (ret) 13 Aug '04

13 Aug '04

At 01:48 AM 8/14/04 +0200, Thomas Shaddack wrote: >Then you have >the forest where every tree is marked and the leprechaun is laughing. Love that story. But the self-watermarking you later mention is a problem. Even if you map a particular hash into one of a million known-benign values, which takes work, there are multiple orthagonal hash algorithms included on the NIST CD. (Eg good luck finding values that collide in MD5 & SHA-1 & SHA-256 simultaneously!) >> These hash-CDROMs are also useful for finding unlicensed software and >> music.... > >Another reason for making your data unique. In that case, yes, although ultimately the RIAA could hire offshore Indians to listen to your stego'd/uniquified Madonna song and identify it. (Of course, they don't know if you own the vinyl for it... and software can be sold by the original purchaser, too, right?) >> And keep your tools encrypted, or on memory sticks you can flush or >> snap with your fingers. > >Beware of destruction of memory sticks Yes something like a Tomlinson (_Big Breach_) sleight of hand with a Psion card is a good idea, as is the microwave oven trash can next to your machine :-) >A neat trick to lower the suspicion-factor for stego in JPEG or video >could be releasing a closed-source program for Windows as either freeware >... and there still is a segment of consumers who think that >when it is free, it's worthless) And a larger segment which will stick any CD they get in the mail into their bootable drive.. LOL >The sheeple don't have to be only a threat. They can be useful, if their >gullibility is properly exploited. Sorta like the National Forests... resource of many uses... may as well include a mixmaster payload in that worm :-) which also provides some other overt free benefit like antivirus or anti-helmetic or defrag or game or bayesian spamfilter or chat or screensaver or anon remailing client or free ringtone :-)

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Bush backs banks' appeal of Calif's financial privacy law
by R. A. Hettinga 13 Aug '04

13 Aug '04

<http://www.kesq.com/global/story.asp?s=2163114&ClientType=Printable> KESQ NewsChannel 3 Palm Springs, CA: Bush backs banks' appeal of Calif's financial privacy law SACRAMENTO The Bush administration stepped into a lawsuit challenging California's landmark financial privacy law today. The administration is urging a federal judge to side with banks that want to overturn restrictions on how they can share customer information. The new state law requires banks to get permission from customers before giving nonaffiliated companies customers' financial information like their bank balance or spending habits. Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. All content ) Copyright 2002 - 2004 WorldNow and KESQ. All Rights Reserved. For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. -- ----------------- 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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yes, they look for stego, as a "Hacker Tool"
by Major Variola (ret) 13 Aug '04

13 Aug '04

>> A cool thing for this purpose could be a patch for gcc to produce unique >> code every time, perhaps using some of the polymorphic methods used by >> viruses. > >The purpose would be that they do not figure out that you are using some >security program, so they don't suspect that noise in the file or look for >stego, right? Yes, they do. Check the link. The CDROM of file hashes contains a category "Hacker Tools" that includes the Stego tools they could download from the 'net. Any jpg which looks like noise will be of interest. And any stego program will make them look at your images (etc) more closely :-) Most of the programs they've hashed is so the forensic pigs can discount them. But they would find known-stego tools very interesting. And they would find them, even if renamed, from their sigs; but not if polymorphic or encrypted, but then they would be in the "unknown" category, along with user-created files. And programs :-) To be manually inspected by a forensic dude. These hash-CDROMs are also useful for finding unlicensed software and music.... ---- Osama sez: Always use original images and sounds as stego carriers. And keep your tools encrypted, or on memory sticks you can flush or snap with your fingers.

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Re: Forensics on PDAs, notes from the field (your teenage son's homemade porn)
by Major Variola (ret) 13 Aug '04

13 Aug '04

At 10:07 PM 8/13/04 +0200, Thomas Shaddack wrote: >On Fri, 13 Aug 2004, Tyler Durden wrote: > >> And it seems to me to be a difficult task getting ahold of enough photos >> that would be believably worth encrypting. > >Homemade porn? Your 16 year old son's homemade porn. [google on Heidl & rape; a deputy sheriff's teen son makes a porn movie with a passed out teen and gets busted]

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Re: Forensics on PDAs, notes from the field
by Major Variola (ret) 13 Aug '04

13 Aug '04

>On Fri, 13 Aug 2004, Thomas Shaddack wrote: >> In the world of industrial espionage and divorce lawyers, the FedZ aren't >> the only threat model. At 03:06 PM 8/13/04 -0400, Sunder wrote: >Right, in which case GPG (or any other decent crypto system) is just fine, >or you wouldn't be looking for stego'ing it inside of binaries in the >first place. I don't think Sunder grasps how much fun divorce lawyers can be. So, Mr. Smith, what *do* you hide with your crypto tools? And why won't you let the court examine the plaintext in camera, if your content is so benign? (Or are your ex-wife's accusations true?) Also, public schools prohibit the use of encryption. No kidding. And finding a crypto tool on a .mil slave's personal machine may be indicting evidence, given their lack of civilian legal processes, when accused by their own. Since mere possession of lockpick tools is criminal, do you really think you can possess crypto tools freely?

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Re: Forensics on PDAs, notes from the field
by Major Variola (ret) 13 Aug '04

13 Aug '04

At 02:11 PM 8/13/04 -0400, Sunder wrote: >If you're suspected of something really big, or you're middle eastern, >then you need to worry about PDA forensics. Otherwise, you're just >another geek with a case of megalomania thinking you're important enough >for the FedZ to give a shit about you. Perhaps you're a geek working for people who think they're important enough? In any case, its not just the FedZ, the locals send the tricky shit to the FedZ if they don't have the LabZ. Same as with arson, poisonings, etc. So we all fall under the same logic-analyzer-panopticon.

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