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The risks of information warfare
by Clay Olbon II 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I would like to put forth the assertion that "society", of late, has become exceptionally poor at judging relative risk. I think this is due in large part to the sensationalism of the media (although this is not an entirely new phenomena - "remember the Maine"). I will cite a few examples: 1. Radon causes 25% of all lung cancer. Of course every study but one shows no link between radon and lung cancer. Still, Americans spend billions testing and reducing the "threat". 2. Second hand smoke kills. Probably, but the only statistical link was found by picking and choosing which studies to use. And the freedoms of millions of Americans are dramatically restricted based on this premise. 3. Terrorism is a big threat to the "national security". Of course more people are killed in the bathtub than by terrorists, but that is beside the point. My reason for bringing these up is that I think much of the "information warfare" 5th horseman is overblown hype - in the same category as 1-3 above. Of course, many security professionals will disagree, because it is in their best interests to do so - their level of funding depends on it. Sure, there have been break-ins and some loss of $$ (of course that is what insurance companies are for). I have seen nothing, to date, that would justify massive increases in government power over the private sector; this of course, has never stopped them before. The desire to "do something" appears to infect every politician, fortunately our system has checks and balances to limit the ability for them to "do something" - because more often than not it is the wrong "something"! Unfortunately, these checks and balances have been seriously eroded over the past 60 or so years. It is now much more necessary to actively oppose such idiocy as the FDA regulating tobacco or the govt imposing "policy" over the entire information infrastructure. It is hard to "buck the tide", but those of us who are skeptical of government "solutions" to "problems" that may or may not exist must actively oppose them. Clay *************************************************************************** Clay Olbon II * Clay.Olbon(a)dynetics.com Systems Engineer * PGP262 public key on web page Dynetics, Inc. * http://www.msen.com/~olbon/olbon.html ***************************************************************** TANSTAAFL

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Re: US versions of Netscape now available
by Alex de Joode 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

In article <199607190709.IAA00119(a)server.test.net> you wrote: : Jeff Weinstein <jsw(a)netscape.com> writes: : > Adam Back wrote: : > > Presumably as this latest netscape beta is freely distributable, once : > > it's out it will be on ftp.unimi.dsi.it, ftp.ox.ac.uk, etc, etc. : > : > Just a minor nit. No netscape software is freely distributable. : > The license agreement does not allow people who download it : > to redistribute it. : Oh dear! So I am incorrect... but wait, what about people like : sunsite northern europe (Imperial College London: ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk) : who already have a license to be a Netscape mirror site. Would this : license allow them to distribute this latest 128 bit netscape beta : (were it to leak)? I would like to know what Netscape's position on the above mentioned scenario is .. (Uploading "possibly" received 128 bit binaries to official netscape mirrors outside the US, that is) (guess why ...) bEST Regards, -- -AJ-

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Re: Responding to Pre-daw
by Ernest Hua 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> > If you want to own guns then you should accept the fact that you risk > > having your head blown off in the middle of the night by a SWAT team. > > Just as the car has introduced the risk of being killed in a trafic > > accident the gun has introduced new risks. If society dosen't like the > > risks then it can opt to ban the technology. > > Except that getting killed in a traffic accident IS an accident (mostly :) > while having black clad Fed's storming into your house was _consciously_ > decided by them, because THEY have a problem with YOUR guns (?!)... I think the original point was that they MIGHT storm into your house by mistake (say, because they incorrectly accepted a informant's story). Therefore, it is truly a mistake. That said, it is still not justifiable for a SWAT team to FORCE a situation where they may necessarily be in physical danger, and therefore, are forced to respond with overwhelming force when the target may reasonably be innocent. Worse yet, the bureaucrats, whose asses are on the line when a tragic mistake occurs, will rarely, if ever, admit to any wrongdoing. They may be forced out, at worse; there may be a symbolic verbal lynching in front of the Congress, but that would be about it. If such a tragedy were to occur to me, and I were to survive, I would want the responsible PERSONS fully acknowledge their mistakes (and be properly punished). It is a travesty of justice to blame a no-name, faceless "system" as was done in the well-known recent cases (whether or not the target was ultimately found guilty of any misdeeds). Ern

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Bare fibers
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 05:32 PM 7/18/96 -0700, Cerridwyn Llewyellyn wrote: > >>a (hidden) drive to your computer using a reasonably surreptious link that >>is difficult to trace. Say, an IR optical link, a single bare (unjacketed) >>optical fiber, a LAN with hidden nodes, or a similar system. Maybe an > >I find the idea of the optical fiber very interesting. Is there such >a beast currently available? I really don't know anything about fiber, >and therefore it would be very difficult for me to construct such a >system myself... Unjacketed fiber exists, but since its primary use is to build up jacketed fibers and fiber bundles, it is rarely seen in industry outside of the companies which normally use it. But it is available. The fiber is usually coated with a very thin layer of clear plastic to protect against moisture and abrasion, and the diameter is around 0.5 to 1.0 millimeters in diameter. Terminating fiber is specialized; it is cleaved using diamond tools, and is usually polished after mounting in a holder. These days, transmitters and receivers are easily available. For a relatively short run, plastic fibers would probably be the best bet. Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Re: Opiated file systems
by Deranged Mutant 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On 18 Jul 96 at 11:01, Adam Back wrote: > For plausibility it would probably be best if very few people used the > duress key feature. And how can you guarantee that? Also: an attacker doesn't care about what percentage of (other) users use duress feature of not. His concern is whether you use it. Note that you'd have to be careful of what you say and do over email in the clear (or encrypted to someone cooperating with an attacker): if you post an excerpt of source code or maybe somehting like Edupage, or if you save mail, there might be reason enough for the attacker to expect to see some of that on your encrypted fs after he's rubber-hosed your key from you. If he doesn't, and he knows you have a possibility of using the duress-key feature... Oh yeah. Psychology is a good way of determining the likelihood of using a duress system. With the extra work and overhead of a duress system, you're better off using stego on some gifs or graphics files. Rob --- No-frills sig. Befriend my mail filter by sending a message with the subject "send help" Key-ID: 5D3F2E99 1996/04/22 wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com (root@magneto) AB1F4831 1993/05/10 Deranged Mutant <wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com> Send a message with the subject "send pgp-key" for a copy of my key.

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Re: Gorelick testifies before Senate, unveils new executive order
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 3:04 7/18/96, David Sternlight wrote: >Serious studies have shown that the kinds of protections to make the >systems we depend on robust against determined and malicious attackers (say >a terrorist government, or one bent on doing a lot of damage in retaliation >for one of our policies they don't like), have costs beyond the capability >of individual private sector actors. Your friendly neighborhood ISP, for >instance, probably can't affort the iron belt and steel suspenders needed >to make his system and its connectivity sabotage-proof, and so on. Even >cheap but clever solutions involving encryption in such systems require >standards and common practices across many institutions. However, the neighorhood IPS doesn't need the kind of defenses required for the powergrid and other crucial systems. The systems that do require such heightend security are typically run by parties that can afford such security. If they choose not to implement them, then it stands to reason that their threat evaluation does not deem it necessary. Let market forces govern, lest we spend money on countermeasures for inflated threats. -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred. Defeat the Demopublican Unity Party. Vote no on Clinton/Dole in November. Vote Harry Browne for President.

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Ignorance is Strength, Escrow is Security
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 9:01 PM 7/19/96, Steve Reid wrote: >I'm sure the evil Iraqi terrorists (and other horsemen) are snooping the >line, using their newly purchased PCs and FPGAs to crack the 40-bit crypto >so that they can gain the wonderful advantages of 128-bit SSL, which will >of course prevent wiretaps from working, thus aiding them in their >terrorist attacks and bringing about the end of the world as we know it. The Iraqi People's Benovolent Security Protection Brigade (IPBSPB) has no need to snoop the lines, at least for my communications, as I am voluntarily escrowing my communications keys as well as my storage key with the IPBSPB. To the United States government requesting a global key escrow regimen, be careful what you ask for, as you may get it. (Question: I know that the Iraqi IPBSPB has close relations with the French SDECE, so does this mean I can just escrow my keys with the Iraqis and assume they have let the boys at SDECE get copies?) "America will be stronger when 137 nations of the world and their notoriously corrupt security services have access to all communications of Americans." Ignorance is Strength, Escrow is Security, Arbeit Macht Frei. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: ABC News on internet telephony
by Deranged Mutant 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

ISPs have functioned better using flat monthly rates, and the biggies are like AT&T are going in the same direction for internet access. I don't see this as being 'counter-intuitive' at all. The costs to the ISPs and telcos aren't really based on where you call or how long you are on anymore. Big questions are how the main hubs for the internet are maintained (esp. when some of the big telcos maintain them... a conflict of interest, perhaps). Will fees become too much that smaller ISPs are put out of business, or that we'll start seeing ISPs merge? (Remember when there were mainly local cable companies?) On 18 Jul 96 at 11:03, David Sternlight wrote: [..] > This is the rankest speculation on my part, but could some of the bigger, > smarter phone company cum internet providers have done some serious > analysis and concluded that we're moving away from distance-based rates for > voice calls. Might they even have examined where we'll be in the next ten > years (with ADSL, etc.) and decided that the network technology and simple > market economics makes fixed charges per "line" more profitable to them > than metered usage? Maybe this is wishful thinking on my part, but some of > the bigger actors are starting to behave in a surprisingly > counter-intuitive (based on the way we stereotype them) fashion on this > topic. --- No-frills sig. Befriend my mail filter by sending a message with the subject "send help" Key-ID: 5D3F2E99 1996/04/22 wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com (root@magneto) AB1F4831 1993/05/10 Deranged Mutant <wlkngowl(a)unix.asb.com> Send a message with the subject "send pgp-key" for a copy of my key.

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Re: Responding to Pre-dawn Unannounced Ninja Raids
by Hallam-Baker 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Jonathon Blake wrote: > On Fri, 19 Jul 1996, Hallam-Baker wrote: > > > dangerous people arround besides the government and the government is the > The _only_ difference between a gang of thugs, and a government, > is that the latter admit to being thugs, whilst the former deny > that. They both operate on the same prinicple -- steal from > others, and kill those that oppose them. The people of the USA fortunately disagree. Its no coincidence that Limbaugh has been unable to continue his tv show after his coverage of the OKC bombing. It is not socialy acceptable to call for the murder of Police officers in most countries. By doing so you are discrediting yourself and those who support you. > > only agency that is going to protect society from them. If you don't like > > Governments are the agencies _most_ likely to abuse one's > freedom. << Take Northern Ireland, as an example of what > happens, when a government tries to pacify a region, by > prohibiting everything. >> Troops were sent into Northern Ireland originally to protect the Catholic minority from the protestants. The two communities have been murdering each other for centuries and there are bigots on both sides who think that the events of three hundred years ago "prove" that the other is evil incarnate. Do you support the "punishment beatings" performed by the IRA. So far this year they have committed grievous bodliy harm against 270 people. They have also murdered 4 people. There have been no deaths from police or army use of firearms in that period. Your assertion is therefore false. If you want to discuss the politics of Ireland you should at least visit the place. You will find remarkably less sympathy for your romantic visions of bloodshed amongst the people who have to live with the consequences. The British people have little sympathy for either side and would quite happily leave the two sides to slaughter each other if it wasnt for the fact that the majority of the population wish to remain British and have voted to remain so in regular referenda and national elections. Phill

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E-cash
by pluto＠well.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Salve, As another idea to prevent the netizen from being a sitting duck for the gov and the big mailorder companys: Get an account at MarkTwain! Do it now! Pluto ********************************************************************** P pluto(a)inx.de P Free information! # G-> pluto(a)well.com <-G Freedom through knowledge. # P www.well.com/user/pluto/ P Wisdom for all!! =:-) # ********************************************************************** +--HI, I'm a signature virus :-) Copy me into your sign to join in. ---+

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