- cypherpunks-legacy - lists.cpunks.org

Re: Hack Lotus?
by daw＠quito.CS.Berkeley.EDU 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In article <9601200326.AA09366(a)toad.com>, Peter Trei <trei(a)process.com> wrote: > > > If they're nasty, they'll check on the receiving side as well, to > > > ensure that the LEAF and/or the espionage-enabling key have not been > > > patched in the sending 'International' version. > > > > Nearly impossible. Why? Because they can only include the public key, > > and not the private key, of the GAK authority in the code. You can > > encrypt the three bytes of key, but it is very hard for a receiver > > other than the govvies to read them. There is no shared secret > > information or private information available, ergo, they can't check > > their LEAF equivalent. > > Think it through. [suggesting that Alice encrypts 24 bits of key under NSA's public key, Bob repeats calculation and checks that the two LEAFS are the same] > Thus, you can prevent a non-complying copy of Lotus from talking to > a complying copy of Lotus, which is one of the goals of the GAKers. No, you're wrong, the process you've described does not work. Note that RSA normally is used as probabilistic encryption: encrypt the same plaintext twice, and you'll likely get two different ciphertexts. Thus, if RSA is used in the normal probabilistic way, the receiver can't tell whether the sender was compliant. Now you might suggest that the sender should not include probabilistic padding, and use RSA deterministically, so that (somehow) the receiver can check whether those 24 bits are correct. That again won't work, since a third-party eavesdropper will be able to do a 2^24 brute force calculation to recover those 24 bits. There are complicated ways to prevent a non-compliant copy of Lotus from inter-operating with a compliant copy (as others on cypherpunks have kindly pointed out), but they are complicated, and would require a re-design of Lotus Notes' encryption module. Since the export version is interoperable with the non-export version, this would seem to require too much foresight and work to be very likely. In any event, I've heard that the export version of Lotus Notes 4 always sends a LEAF, but the receiver never checks it. So I think a simple binary patch to change the NSA's public key should work. P.S. So does anyone know how large the NSA's public LEAF key is? - --- [This message has been signed by an auto-signing service. A valid signature means only that it has been received at the address corresponding to the signature and forwarded.] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Gratis auto-signing service iQBFAwUBMQKzSyoZzwIn1bdtAQF/zAGAxODShPqrBQLsWzRVAkW7+jbVJidQIF5q 1Jyisn2EedTQoBLHnZD7ojnmws807XZK =bRAO -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Wipe Swap File
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 20:27 1/21/96, jim bell wrote: >However, I _still_ want to see brainless operating systems like MSDOS >changed to erase (zero) allocated data buffers before and after use (and >especially before re-use!), so that parts of vital files don't accidentally >get written to the ends of other files. Not only DOS suffers from this problem. The MacOS does as well. All 'wipe unused space' utilities for the Mac fail on a typical hard drive to overwrite several hundred kB of data. Few people seem to care that the OS fills the unused parts of the last block of a file with whatever happens to be in the buffer. Not good. -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred.

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Microsoft to digitally certify other manufacturers' code?
by Rich Graves 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This is old news, but I don't remember it being brought up. This is interesting in light of recent discussions regarding the CryptoAPI, the uncertainty of Microsoft's support for Java (it won't be in Internet Explorer 3.0, but Visual Basic will), and Microsoft's Internet Developers' conference scheduled for mid-March. One of a set of press releases on http://www.microsoft.com/internet/ I thought I remembered seeing an announcement of Microsoft's plans to license Java there before, but it's not there. I know they've revised press releases without changing the date before (most notably the October 20th SMB security bug acknowledgement). > [Microsoft] > Microsoft Announces Internet Code Safety Initiative > Microsoft Previews Internet Digital Signature Initiative to 150 ISVs > > REDMOND, Wash. - Dec. 7, 1995 -At the Internet Control Developers' > Workshop on December 6, Microsoft Corporation proposed to the top > 150 software companies in the world, an Internet digital signature > initiative which provides a safer environment for executable code on > the Internet. To address concerns about potentially malicious code > or viruses, this technology will enable users to verify that a > program's integrity is free of third-party tampering. Browsers such > as Microsoft Internet Explorer will be equipped with the ability to > automatically download applications from a list of vendors approved > by the user. If the author is not on the user's pre-approved list, > the browser can display the signature of the executable code and > allow users to make an informed decision on whether to proceed with > the download. > > Microsoft plans to propose the Internet digital signature > specifications to the W3 Consortium (W3C) and the Internet > Engineering Task Force (IETF) as an open Internet standard. The > technology will be an open, proposed specification available to the > entire Internet community. In addition, as part of the Open Process > Design Review, Microsoft will host a digital signature design > preview in January to solicit feedback from the Internet community. > > Ken Wasch, president of the Software Publishers' Association (SPA) > said "The Software Publisher's Association applauds this important > initiative. Independent software publishers large and small will > have greater business opportunities publishing powerful software > with this mechanism. Users will buy more signed software over the > Internet because it will be more powerful and users will have > confidence in the accountability of its creator." > > "Digital signatures allow people to interact over the Internet with > the same confidence that they interact with each other in everyday > life," said Bob Atkinson, digital signature architect. "A reliable > accountability mechanism like this allows users to avoid walking > around in a virtual suit of armor, giving users the flexibility to > download and run the most powerful and interesting programs without > undo fear of anonymous computer vandalism." > > Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader > in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range > of products and services for business and personal use, each > designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for > people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing > every day. > > Microsoft is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft > Corporation in the United States and/ or other countries.

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Censorship
by James A. Donald 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Censorship: In the past, whenever a new medium came into play, the new medium was subjected to extraordinarily restrictive censorship, while censorship was radically relaxed, or abandoned altogether, on the old media. Thus when the talkies came in, censorship on books was relaxed. When TV came in censorship on movies was relaxed. I conjecture that this represents the power of vested interests, and the relative weakness of new interests. Now if this pattern is going to be repeated, we would expect the FTC to attempt to utterly strangle the internet in a straightjacket, on behalf of the television interests that have largely captured the FTC. Note that current proposed legislation, legislation containing Exxon's severe censorship rules, gives the FTC ownership of the internet. They may claim to own it. Let us see them try. Censorship on television is now much tighter than it used to be: Expect a radical relaxation when internet use starts to cut into television time. Remember the original Star Treck: Every episode would have a fistfight, a gunfight, a space battle between starships with really cheap cheesy special effects, Captain Kirk would dip his wick (off screen) in a new exotic alien female, and he would defy orders, or Starfleet regulations, and most regularly and spectacularly, he would violate the prime directive. In most episodes a redcoat or two would be killed in a completely senseless and unnecessary manner, illustrating the cold indifference of the universe, or the casual evil of sentient beings. Whenever they introduced a new character with a red coat, you knew that violent death was on tonight's menu. Now consider the bland successor show "Star Treck the Next Generation": In a bow to political correctness they changed the words from "To boldly go where no man has gone before" to "To boldly go where no one has gone before". The "Next Generation" universe is socialist, and socialism is boring. Worse still, on "Next Generation" socialism actually works, and if there is anything even more boring that actual real life socialism, it is socialism that works because everyone cares about each other and they are all such very nice people. Well it came to pass that our TV executives woke up to the fact that there was something missing from the boring "Next Generation" universe, so they shift their plots to less perfect places. In an upcoming science fiction series "Osiris" the story universe has social collapse and reversion to barbarism, the exact opposite of the sickeningly perfect "Next Generation" universe. A logical continuation of the gimmick they pulled in "Deep Space Nine" in order to get the story out from the deadly grip of socialism. So far so good. But guess what? Nobody in the "Osiris" story suffers violent death, and the bad guys reproduce asexually. Asexually!! What would Captain Kirk do? Probably sodomy. And now let us consider the cartoons. Remember Yosemite Sam with his fiery temper and his two six guns? Pow! Blam! Well guess what? In today's cartoons, Yosemite Sam has no guns! Poor Captain Kirk. Poor Yosemite Sam. Under these circumstances we should expect a certain amount of friction around such newsgroups as alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.children, alt.conspiracy, alt.sex.bestiality.barney, alt.nationalism.white, and so forth. You will notice that political censorship goes hand in hand with censorship of sex and violence: Not only does Captain Whazisname of the "Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine" refrain from spreading his semen indiscriminately across the galaxy and refrain from beating people up man on man, he also obeys orders and regulations and never says anything that would be controversial in his universe or ours. They had to make Captain Whazisname of "Deep Space Nine" black instead of the white Captain Whazisname in "Next Generation" and young instead of old, because otherwise nobody would have noticed that he was supposed to be different person, played by a different actor. Typical politically correct diversity: Different colors, but only one voice. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | 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

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Re: Cypherpunk Enquirer
by Tim Cook 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> THE CYPHERPUNK ENQUIRER > > "Encyphering minds want to know." > <snip...great stuff deleted> ROTFLM?O..... We NEED stuff like this in these stressful times. <G>. Another "Logical Conclusion" by: Tim Cook <twcook(a)cts.com> Support THE US Constitution... Vote Alexander in '96 and '00!

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Re: Cyber 'Nannys"
by Information Security 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com > Subject: Re: Cyber 'Nannys" > From: dlv(a)bwalk.dm.com (Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM) > Message-Id: <qsoPke10w165w(a)bwalk.dm.com> > > The mentally retarded pedophile Guy Polis tried to mailbomb me from his ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ > former eviljay(a)bway.net account, and bway.net pulled his plug in minute. Fire One. ---guy

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Re: TEMPEST open-source definition version 0.1alpha
by Brian B. Riley 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- On 2/10/98 8:19 PM, Ryan Lackey (rdl(a)mit.edu) passed this wisdom: >So, if we're going to try to protect computers from TEMPEST >threats, and wedon't have access to the multiple government >classified standards, we should come up with the Cypherpunks >TEMPEST standard. > >A theoretical definition of what we want to do (strong) is that we >should beable to put the equipment in a virtual box, have an empty >virtual box, and then nothing anything which is not in the TCB can >do can distinguish one box from the other. Perhaps the "empty" box >should also contain simulators for the ethernet, visible light >output, and straight power draw (harmonics are still to be >avoided), or in some other definitional way they should be >accounted for. This prevents non-TCB programs from utilizing the EM >spectrum as a covert channel. [big snip] Some of this reminds me of when I worked at Raytheon, I did some coding for this genius at magnetic fields we had. This was the time of the MX missile and the 'racetrack' concept, mobile launchers that moved all the time. The idea was that a significiant percentage of the mobile launch cannisters were empty and what the scientist I worked with had to do was design a set of coils for the dummy cannister that would make it have the same magnetic signature as a real cannister loaded with a real missile ... "sort of a global thermonuclear shell game" if you will ... -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP for Personal Privacy 5.0 Charset: noconv iQEVAwUBNOEM0D7r4fUXwraZAQG+hQf/U/2Irt9FlQQWxc1nJQ1wlFUEtMf5fAxB 5JUXDwGy7+rAVojReAj9gV9SeXZA+h25WJMIbzngibSOYfieiE0iXPNbgNVsDLm/ /giLgqW/AfBUm+EjQMP5glav4xQxGDTKdBBGSqujyzkn5jaDlBVff5mfw5oUeN1c Vz4dIOzl8n6ivdc2PRbFh+he1X55+y3wLAqYc60VMmhlWPTTHx4PoJRw6hl5lX9c dfxTIo5B1Gw1I7pP0REFTodW+HXASqoXAG/1Xo3J5rn+yup0IQblz9Pg8IBAW22j kuFECDHuo9daXp7QH0nZX1/2hRw/cZUf8AtGMhDq3zNWH21E2pHsQA== =+Gr+ -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Brian B. Riley --> http://members.macconnect.com/~brianbr For PGP Keys <mailto:brianbr@together.net?subject=Get%20PGP%20Key> -- give us the rights Abraham Lincoln cherished lovingly: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."

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Anti-Asian E-Mail Was Hate Crime, Jury Finds
by David Honig 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/ORANGE/OCNEWS/t000013848.html Wednesday, February 11, 1998 Anti-Asian E-Mail Was Hate Crime, Jury Finds Internet: Ex-UCI student Richard Machado is found to have violated civil rights with threatening messages. By DAVAN MAHARAJ, Times Staff Writer SANTA ANA--In the nation's first successful prosecution of a hate crime on the Internet, an expelled university student was found guilty Tuesday of violating the civil rights of Asian students at UC Irvine by sending e-mail threats to kill them if they didn't leave the school. Prosecutors hailed the verdict in the retrial of 20-year-old Richard J. Machado as a victory for federal authorities seeking to police the Internet to deter hatemongers and racist groups. "This verdict shows that high-tech hate is not going to be tolerated," said Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael J. Gennaco, who prosecuted the case. "A line does have to be drawn in the world of cyberspace. If you cross that line and threaten people, you are going to be subject to criminal penalties." The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for less than a day before finding Machado guilty of interfering with students' rights to attend a public university. Jurors deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of conviction on a second, identical count. Machado displayed no emotion when the verdict was read Tuesday afternoon. His first trial ended in a mistrial in November with jurors deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of acquittal. Because his conviction carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and he has already served more time than that in custody, Machado could be set free as early as Friday, when he appears for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler. Gennaco, who heads the civil rights division of the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, downplayed Machado's sentence. "What we've taken from this case is a deterrent value that people can't get on the Internet and send threats to folks," Gennaco said. Gennaco hinted that prosecutors would now be more likely to step in and prosecute computer users who stalk or threaten others in cyberspace. "We have a number of ongoing investigations regarding allegations of threats on the Internet," Gennaco said. "Now we have some guidance from 12 people that the government can step in and enforce laws on the Internet." Machado's trial--and retrial--had been seen as a test case. To prosecute Machado, prosecutors turned to civil rights laws enacted in the 1960s that were designed to prevent Southerners from standing in the way of school desegregation. Machado violated students' civil rights, prosecutors contended, when he hunched over a computer in UCI's engineering building on Sept. 20, 1996, and sent an anonymous e-mail message to about 60 mainly Asian students. The message, signed "Asian Hater," warned that all Asians should leave UC Irvine or the sender would "hunt all of you down and kill your stupid asses." "I personally will make it my [life's work] to find and kill every one of you personally. OK? That's how determined I am. Do you hear me?" Apparently thinking the first one didn't get transmitted, Machado sent the same message twice, and school officials quickly traced the messages to him after they received complaints. The e-mail incensed and upset some students, especially those of Asian descent, who constitute nearly half of UC Irvine's 17,000 students, the highest percentage of any UC school. Several students testified that they were petrified by the e-mail. They armed themselves with pepper spray, refused to go out alone at night and became suspicious of strangers. The defense called other students who testified that they became angry over the message but later shrugged it off as a bad joke. During the trial, defense lawyers depicted Machado as a disturbed teenager who became distraught and flunked out of UCI after his eldest brother was murdered in Los Angeles. When he sent the threatening e-mail, Machado was no longer a UCI student, but he was too ashamed to tell his immigrant parents, according to Deputy Federal Public Defender Sylvia Torres-Guillen. Machado testified at both trials that one of his brothers would drive him to UCI each day even after he had been expelled. There, he passed his days in the computer laboratory, sending and receiving e-mail and surfing the Internet until it was time to go home. On the day he sent the e-mail, Machado testified, he was bored and wanted to start a "dialogue" with people who were signed on to the school's computer network. Some attorneys, including Machado's defense team, questioned whether charges should have been filed against the former student. Torres-Guillen even called an expert witness in Internet etiquette, who described Machado's e-mail as "a classic flame"--online lingo for an angry message that, while annoying, is not meant to be harmful. But Gennaco contended that Machado hated Asians because they got better grades than he did. In his rebuttal case, the prosecutor called a University of South Carolina freshman and another computer user in Denver who testified that Machado referred to Asians as "chinks" when he chatted with them in cyberspace. The witnesses contradicted Machado's testimony that he never used derogatory terms for Asians. Gennaco said prosecutors may suggest that Machado attend a racial awareness program as part of his sentence. Search the archives of the Los Angeles Times for similar stories. You will not be charged to look for stories, only to retrieve one. Copyright Los Angeles Times PREV STORY NEXT STORY ------------------------------------------------------------ David Honig Orbit Technology honig(a)otc.net Intaanetto Jigyoubu Lewinsky for President '2012

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Re: How to profit from writing open source (was: free software)
by David Miller 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

A while back there was a thread on different models of how to profit from free software. I have a few additions that I don't think were mentioned, albeit late. Ok. Way late. The Data Fellows model - supply (ssh) Unix source code free, but charge for Windows (clients) after a 30-day trial period. Yes. The Joel McNamara model - give the (Private Idaho) software away and go fight forest fires and have your children profit from a better world. --David Miller middle rival devil rim lad

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Re: Drivers licenses (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 21:27:57 -0500 > From: David Miller <dm0(a)avana.net> > Subject: Re: Drivers licenses > > > It's a signal that is mixed and laid down by the machine. It covers the > > entire track. The cassette head only has two or four head depending on if > > it has auto-revers and moves the head. > > So you are saying that the is a continuous track of varying amplitiude > that > defines the audio signal? And that your bias is a part of this? Actualy a standard cassette tape has 4 tracks grouped in pairs. Each pair is given one of the channel. The audio that comes in is mixed with a bias signal (using a summing amp) and then laid down on the tape. > >From what I know, the bias is a parameter to the recording process and > not > the recording as it can be recovered from the magnets. It is something > intended to forward-correct error, which is not intended to be > interpreted > in the future. Huh? I have been involved in audio recording for over 20 years, acted as rodies for a host of bands (some of which actualy made records - but alas no money) and I must admit that the above sentences don't make any sense to me at all. Can you possible reword them? What magnets? 'paramter of the recording process'? 'forward-correct error'? 'interpreted in the future'? If your heads are magnetised you really should de-gauss them. They'll erase your tapes eventualy... > Looking for satellites? No, to do that I use a C-band hooked to a alt-az mount and a digital modem. I'll probably just make a normal Newtonian and hood a CCD camera to it and feed my Video Toaster to digitize and enhance the images. I am particular inchanged by the Moon. I can look at it for extended periods. I was enchanted by it when Men stepped onto it for the first time. I very much hope that we (as a race) go back to stay... > Did you snag a job? I had a headhunter call tonight. It's been a year > or > so since they've bothered me. I talked to BMC Software today. Looks like I'll probably go to work for them supporting their suite of database products. I should know tomorrow if they want to do the final interview which means I'll go to work for them on Monday. > > | The obvious is sometimes false; | > > | The unexpected sometimes true. | > > You've gotta get this Pringles thing in order. Faith breaks the back of > these > types of philosophies. If you give in to faith, you should normally > incorporate > it. That doesn't mean that you have to explain it through the > philosophy, but > if that faith is the only thing that you know is indespensable, you need > to > reconsider how indespensable a philosophy that does not make room for it > is. Uh, ok. Ta ta. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The obvious is sometimes false; | | The unexpected sometimes true. | | | | Anonymous | | | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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