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NSA deal re-energizes Certicom
by R. A. Hettinga 19 Feb '04

19 Feb '04

<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPPrint/LAC/20040219/CER…> The Globe and Mail NSA deal re-energizes Certicom Morale at the high-tech security firm has improved as it finally reaches profitability By KEITH DAMSELL TECHNOLOGY REPORTER UPDATED AT 11:34 PM EST Thursday, Feb. 19, 2004 MISSISSAUGA -- For the first time in a long time, there's some optimism in the halls of Certicom Corp. Staff at the high-tech security company recently received their first raise in three years. In December, the annual Christmas party was reinstated. The Mississauga firm turned a profit last quarter, the first time it has made money in its 19-year history. Over the past four months, shares have almost tripled in value. "Morale around here is the best it's been in a long, long time," one information technology employee said. The source of optimism is a $25-million (U.S.) contract with the U.S. government, the biggest deal ever for Certicom. Management considers the agreement a watershed moment that proves the tech survivor is, at long last, living up to its potential. "This is a landmark deal," said Ian McKinnon, the company's president and chief executive officer, of the 10-year agreement with the National Security Agency, the largest and most secretive of U.S. spy bureaus. "There is no greater endorsement one can get in the industry than the NSA . . . this has really created another market for us," Mr. McKinnon said. Certicom was founded in 1985 by Scott Vanstone, a math and computer science professor with a knack for cryptography, the science of secret codes. He spent the next 10 years pioneering the development of "elliptic curve" encryption, a technology that can tamper-proof everything from charge cards and car keys to smart phones and data networks. The first efforts to commercialize the company's so-called ECC technology in the late nineties were greeted with a roar of approval from the investment community. Licensing deals with blue-chip techs including Motorola Inc. and Palm Inc. helped drive shares to a record $240.95 (Canadian) each in March, 2000. At its peak, Certicom had a staggering stock market value of $2.7-billion on annual sales of less than $40-million. "The stock went really, really high . . . everybody had options and there was a lot of overspending," one former employee said. Employees were dressed in Certicom sportswear and enjoyed round-the-clock in-office meals on the company tab. In one instance, 80 Canadian employees were flown to the San Francisco operations and took in an Oakland Raiders football game and a Napa Valley wine tour. But substantial orders for Certicom's technology failed to materialize and the firm repeatedly missed sales and profit targets. The Internet bubble burst and shares plunged to a record low of 65 cents in 2002. That year Mr. McKinnon, a well-regarded executive with a history of turning around troubled tech firms, was brought in to restructure operations. The employee headcount was slashed to 105, down from a peak of 450. Costs and expenses were cut to $13.6-million (U.S.) in fiscal 2003, down from $100-million in 2002. The October deal with the NSA is a shift in Certicom's revenue model. Going forward, there will be less priority on wireless and consumer product licensing deals and greater emphasis on exploiting the company's patents, especially with security-conscious government and military agencies. Under the terms of the NSA deal, contractors will incorporate Certicom's 26 patents into communications devices manufactured for use by the U.S. government. Positive buzz from the NSA contract helped the company conclude a $15-million (Canadian) stock offering in November. The big problem is no one knows how rapidly Certicom's market will grow. Security is a rising corporate priority and ECC is widely considered the technology to beat. But predicting Certicom's future sales stream and when demand may unseat security market leader RSA Security Inc. of Bedford, Mass., is very difficult, analysts agree. "The technology is great, but the real question is what do you need it for?" one analyst said. "Do you know anybody doing bank transfers with a BlackBerry? It may happen one day, but it's not going to be tomorrow." For Certicom, a firm that's weathered the sector's lavish highs and tumultuous lows, there's only upside. "We believe ECC is moving in to a very high growth phase of its evolution," Mr. McKinnon said. "We know it is going to happen, it's a question of how quickly, how rapidly . . . it's hard to know when people will make that shift, but it will occur." -- ----------------- 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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VeriSign To Add Brick to Great Firewall?
by R. A. Hettinga 19 Feb '04

19 Feb '04

<http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,BT_CO_20040219_000372,00.html> The Wall Street Journal February 19, 2004 1:42 a.m. EST VeriSign To Set Up Internet Traffic Hub In China DOW JONES NEWSWIRES BEIJING -- U.S.-based VeriSign Inc. (VRSN), which provides Internet infrastructure services, Thursday said it has signed a deal which is expected to boost the efficiency of the Internet in China. Under a memorandum of understanding signed with China's Ministry of Information Industry, VeriSign, which provides the .net and .com infrastructure, will create a Domain Name Service Internet constellation site in Beijing. The site will directly route online traffic through China rather than an external location, a company executive told Dow Jones Newswires. The Beijing location will join California, Washington, London, Stockholm, Singapore and Tokyo, among others, as VeriSign's 14th such site worldwide. Internet traffic in Asia is currently typically handled through California, Tokyo or Singapore, Neil Edwards, vice president of VeriSign's Naming and Directory Services division, said. "China will now be one of the hubs in Asia. It'll be one of the prominent points for receiving Internet traffic, so that's significant," Edwards said. The Beijing site will contain a master list of .com and .net domain names originating from China. It will quicken response time for Chinese Internet users and boost online security and reliability, Edwards said, since a copy of the traffic will be available locally rather than through foreign connections. "The other benefit is that other Asian countries will depend on China's infrastructure, which makes China more prominent in terms of its network exchanges," Edwards said. The move is also expected to also help Asia as a whole, with the added bandwidth reducing the load placed on other hubs since Internet traffic is routed "based on the path of least resistance." VeriSign expects to complete and begin operating the site by year-end. "We hope very quickly to deliver the site, hopefully earlier rather than later, but we can't commit to the exact date yet," Edwards said. The executive said the company won't publicly disclose financial terms of the deal, but that it was "very significant." -- ----------------- 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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GPS allowed
by Major Variola (ret.) 18 Feb '04

18 Feb '04

Feb 18, 8:16 AM (ET) By KIM CURTIS (AP) Sharon Rocha, mother of murder victim Laci Peterson, enters the San Mateo Superior Courthouse after... Full Image REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) - A judge ruled that evidence police gathered using electronic devices to track Scott Peterson after his pregnant wife disappeared can be used in his murder trial, despite defense objections that the technology is unreliable. Because global positioning system technology has yet to be tested in state criminal court, prosecutors had to establish its reliability and demonstrate the technology was used correctly. Judge Alfred A. Delucchi decided Tuesday they had met those legal tests. Peterson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, tried to convince the judge that temporary glitches rendered unreliable the devices that Modesto police secretly attached to vehicles Peterson drove before his April 2003 arrest. Hugh Roddis, president of the company that sold Modesto police the three devices, said that covertly placed global positioning devices are a "good investigative tool." The satellite-based radio navigation system can pinpoint locations within feet and is in common use, including in commercial aircraft. Geragos seized on tracking errors in several of the devices Modesto police used, including one that he said didn't work for nearly three weeks. Roddis blamed the errors on inaccurate maps, a faulty wireless antenna and a bad microprocessor connection. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040218/D80PMBH01.html

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Re: 5 million on terrorism list
by Tyler Durden 17 Feb '04

17 Feb '04

Sarath wrote... >is it true or just another make up so as to make its >citizens feel justified when they go invade another >nation.How much effort does it take to get credible >information of 5 million people oveseas? Overseas? I would have thought most of them would be in the US! (Probably 4 million are democrats.) -TD _________________________________________________________________ Watch high-quality video with fast playback at MSN Video. Free! http://click.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200365ave/direct/01/

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5 million on terrorism list
by R. A. Hettinga 16 Feb '04

16 Feb '04

<http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2004/01/20/pf-318488.html> Tue, January 20, 2004 Toronto Sun: 5 million on terrorism list Canuck: U.S. on the lookout for 'potential problem' By TOM GODFREY, TORONTO SUN U.S. security agents have a master list of five million people worldwide thought to be potential terrorists or criminals, officials say. "The U.S. lookout index contains some five million names of known terrorists and other persons representing a potential problem," Brian Davis, a senior Canadian immigration official in Paris, said in a confidential document obtained by the Sun. Names on the list are compared against those applying for visas or on flights travelling to the U.S. Anyone whose name is on the list is questioned or banned from entering the U.S. -- as passengers were on two British Airways flights to Los Angeles two weeks ago. The master list was revealed by U.S. embassy officials to a Canadian standing immigration committee in April 2002. Its existence was revealed in Davis' document, obtained by Montreal lawyer Richard Kurland through an Access to Information request. Davis said Canadian visa officers abroad do not keep an extensive list like the U.S. because terrorists can use bogus documents and change their identities. "We examine each application according to profiles," he said. "(We) apply experience and knowledge gained from a variety of sources. Canada's approach to identifying persons who may pose a danger was as sound as possible." CSIS agents in Paris send a "brief" to Ottawa for cases that require more in-depth investigation. -- ----------------- 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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A message to Vipul Ved Prakash
by Mark Saarelainen 16 Feb '04

16 Feb '04

Already in 1997 some person : Vipul Ved Prakash | - Electronic Sec" "urity & Crypto vipul(a)best.com | - Web Objects 91 11 2233328 | - PERL Development 198 Madhuban IP Extension " "| - Linux & Open Systems Delhi, INDIA 110 092 emailed me the following messages. I do not know where Vipul Ved Prakash is today. Actually, my little program works very well. ------ "61 73 239 75 53 86 191 200 243 177 159 132 167 52 69 12 247 51 37 75 20 246 175 56 19 57 61 92 247 36 111 156 23 43 29 241 52 22 159 195 136 210 206 29 95 92 13 44 103 25 36 49 12 38 15 160 75 145 159 84 135 204 111 84 199 131 29 75 172 174 215 128 211 33 181 52 141 244 45 148 71 51 191 57 20 62 181 128 171 161 13 220 15 244 37 124 31 25 181 57 28 132 47 128 195 17 13 92 47 156 6 87 239 139 197 105 148 158 23 48 9 187 188 61 22 245 21 124 15 131 191 249 182 244 29 202 217 168 253 108 55 100 37 156 47 186 197 49 92 30 181 24 81 203 55 22 135 36 77 6 " "246 90 180 232 68 254 215 48 217 9 23 102 13 38 111 13 15 123 214 26 156 198 39 128 243 187 29 28 151 12 101 60 71 131 191 65 172 174 181 49 250 224 167 140 141 22 245 124 95 187 5 65 172 174 181 136 243 9 181 116 247 212 69 148 247 25 229 1 156 30 253 170 123 177 13 44 167 244 37 116 87 25 4 1 76 166 207 16 67 210 206 52 167 228 69 100 23 155 149 217 164 132 15 232 163 187 237 60 167 116 111 164 23 25 181 105 28 132 159 216 195 41 85 148 47 28 21 116 109 19 205 105 62 30 159 176 115 41 213 180 71 86 93 44 103 187 21 217 20 30 181 8 163 187 61 84 167 63 62 12 " "239 155 221 1 36 142 23 224 163 201 5 22 47 20 69 204 109 163 45 1 156 174 197 170 250 144 4 181 247 44 13 156 109 19 205 105 62 151 215 208 99 137 213 140 207 245 21 124 15 131 191 201 172 254 7 224 251 145 246 71 167 36 117 148 167 155 29 1 68 246 181 160 171 153 159 52 167 76 253 204 239 187 245 49 76 132 167 160 67 145 189 22 247 36 111 164 47 51 191 104 21 31 181 234 250 177 61 28 141 125 29 28 255 211 61 233 116 254 199 170 66 25 149 100 175 92 253 36 37 112 238 65 76 166 181 185 187 193 37 36 199 204 45 6 103 123 133 49 172 206 23 232 179 33 159 132 167 204 237 44 " "119 187 245 249 20 230 127 218 217 152 180 141 141 212 253 124 223 83 157 97 164 132 29 26 177 169 213 180 141 12 69 204 247 25 181 57 28 132 255 48 176 234 53 140 167 116 111 44 175 187 149 57 164 206 7 128 187 113 159 92 255 86 125 12 31 67 245 57 4 132 191 216 251 187 173 92 255 92 29 28 71 105 191 11 189 23 181 217 243 1 5 172 199 196 69 78 109 42 197 217 62 38 247 128 217 137 53 116 239 63 62 164 71 219 29 75 164 38 207 56 19 219 246 71 207 244 205 132 189 97 199 241 132 62 197 224 171 137 229 4 167 92 205 118 119 99 213 51 164 38 207 56 147 145 5 110 151 108 37 126 " "247 187 197 217 244 244 175 144 147 67 213 52 101 254 247 142 197 217 31 211 86 158 45 34 176 234 246 71 229 62 111 111 60 154 197 241 20 230 215 170 187 241 237 44 167 196 69 36 29 25 175 8 68 62 141 48 217 144 149 132 47 20 151 22 109 112 238 156 132 15 160 67 187 149 22 151 44 29 180 71 107 29 1 68 246 191 200 217 145 237 108 39 108 45 6 231 179 149 209 156 206 207 216 217 177 237 52 141 61 197 100 15 51 45 75 4 142 7 128 217 25 221 60 141 63 62 28 23 107 13 97 76 38 255 208 171 177 253 22 135 36 245 188 71 139 223 75 46 31 23 224 187 217 159 140 15 28 29 116 " "39 107 133 59 46 237 228 227 144 242 214 22 141 86 111 6 109 113 215 75 46 23 159 160 67 193 237 6 237 86 100 156 39 115 197 249 78 132 220 251 49 83 119 254 101 190 135 238 133 241 87 163 214 108 93 66 49 83 119 254 101 190 135 238 133 241 87 163 214 108 93 66 49 83 119 254 101 190 135 238 133 241 87 163 214 108 93 66 49 83 119 254 101 190 135 238 133 241 87 163 214 108 93 66 49 83 246 71 62 28 237 172 15 25 12 97 28 132 54 56 211 225 149 140 207 86 111 6 109 25 191 75 62 132 181 170 217 187 159 22 141 86 141 6 5 25 148 41 20 158 23 56 163 201 213 12 141 205 69 28 " "199 139 245 233 244 132 133 170 194 41 85 148 47 44 111 111 60 171 245 201 148 230 182 184 243 33 61 102 151 44 5 6 36 25 191 75 62 132 181 170 217 187 159 22 141 86 111 6 109 25 191 169 62 236 181 17 243 169 159 109 159 4 69 28 207 131 191 34 111 76 61 170 81 51 159 134 29 206 247 158 253 217 191 75 62 132 181 170 217 187 159 22 141 86 111 6 109 25 191 75 62 132 181 72 217 211 159 149 166 197 12 6 78 51 13 97 92 254 55 192 243 201 61 22 228 7 231 206 173 25 212 65 28 198 31 184 211 201 159 93 14 86 68 196 207 51 205 209 116 254 199 170 217 187 159 22 141 86 111 6 " "143 25 215 75 93 206 199 27 187 175 22 246 212 69 116 109 130 117 209 156 174 223 48 217 210 206 53 167 52 45 76 13 25 244 56 29 207 190 170 81 51 31 22 13 158 255 6 109 25 191 75 62 132 181 170 217 187 159 22 141 180 111 110 109 106 149 233 132 254 39 240 243 153 159 165 199 196 205 172 103 123 191 208 188 142 175 128 67 120 92 213 78 149 172 197 174 218 124 136 253 71 118 105 26 120 92 213 78 149 172 197 174 218 124 136 253 71 118 105 26 120 92 213 78 149 172 197 174 218 124 136 253 71 118 105 26 120 92 213 78 149 172 197 174 218 124 136 253 71 118 105 26 120 92 213 78 149 172 197 " Need a new email address that people can remember Check out the new EudoraMail at http://www.eudoramail.com

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Humorous Airport DoS (from cryptogram)
by Major Variola (ret) 15 Feb '04

15 Feb '04

For example, airports have dogs and devices for detecting the chemical emissions from explosives. If I took a small perfume sprayer and filled it with nitrobenzene (used in firearm bore cleaning solvents) and sprayed people's luggage with it as they awaited security screening, the airport would soon be shut down due to the threat perceived by security. Or if I sprayed the seats in the airports lounge or restaurant, the bomb-sniffing dogs would become butt-sniffing dogs, to the major embarrassment of security. This last, while humorous, would go a long way toward discrediting the security force.

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The Politicization of Security (Re: CRYPTO-GRAM, February 15, 2004)
by R. A. Hettinga 15 Feb '04

15 Feb '04

At 4:32 AM -0600 2/15/04, Bruce Schneier wrote: > The Politicization of Security > > > >Since 9/11, security has become an important political issue. The Bush >administration has seized on terrorism as a means to justify its >policies. Bush is running for re-election on a "strong on security" >platform. The Democrats are attacking the administration's record on >security. Congress has voted on, and will continue to vote on, >security countermeasures. And the FBI and the Justice Department are >implementing others, even without Congressional approval. > >In the last issue of Crypto-Gram I published a couple of security >essays that had a political component. I was surprised by the number >of e-mails I received from people accusing me of bashing Bush (or >worse). American politics may be getting vitriolic, but I think it's >worth stepping back and looking at the political security landscape. > >I believe that the Bush administration is using the fear of terrorism >as a political tool. That being said, I'm not sure a Democrat would do >anything different in Bush's place. Fear is a powerful motivator, and >it takes strong ethics to resist the temptation to abuse it. I believe >the real problem with America's national security policy is that the >police are in charge; that's far more important than which party is in >office. > >Some of the Democratic presidential candidates for president have been >more rational about security, but none have discussed security in terms >of trade-offs. On the Republican side, I've read some criticisms of >Bush's heavy-handed security policies. Certainly the traditional >Republican ideals of personal liberty and less government intervention >are in line with smart security. And have the people who accuse me of >hating Republicans forgotten that the Clipper Chip initiative was >spearheaded by the Clinton administration? > >The Republicans don't have a monopoly on reducing civil liberties in >the United States. > >Rational security is not the sole purview of any political >party. Fighting stupid security does not have to be partisan. Bush's >White House has done more to damage American national security than >they have done to improve it. That's not an indictment of the entire >Republican party; it's a statement about the current President, his >Attorney General, and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland >Security. It's a statement about the current political climate, where >the police -- and I use this term to encompass the FBI, the Justice >Department, the military, and everyone else involved in enforcing order >-- and their interests are put ahead of the interests of the >people. My personal politics on non-security issues are not relevant. -- ----------------- 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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Call to the Usual Suspects
by Trei, Peter 14 Feb '04

14 Feb '04

I'll be in the SF/SJ area the week of the RSA conference. Anyone interested in getting together for dinner one night? We used to try to schedule a BA Cypherpunks Physical Meeting to match up with the event, but the PMs seem to have died out. Peter Trei

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Re: FCC vs decentralization
by Peter Gutmann 14 Feb '04

14 Feb '04

Eugen Leitl <eugen(a)leitl.org> writes: >On Fri, Feb 13, 2004 at 04:36:56PM +0100, Thomas Shaddack wrote: >> FCC recently mandated fees for Internet radio "broadcasters", based on the > >You're hailing from .cz, me from .de. Of what relevance is FCC to us? The RIAA/MPAA and US govt.are working on that. Stand by. Peter.

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