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Cypherpunk Enquirer
by enquirer＠alpha.c2.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I finally lost the tail somewhere around the docks, and slowly worked my way into Chiba, watching my back all the way. I dumped the chip in the saddlebag of a bike messenger who almost ran me down in front of the Jarre, figured he'd get a good scare out of a midnight visit from the NSA goons who'd been using it to follow my tracks out of Tokyo. They weren't going to like the way I rearranged the facial features of their buddy who tried to waylay me outside of the pachinko parlor. One last glance behind me, and I ducked into the Chatsubo. She was waiting for me there, a vision of pure lust in a red mini-dress with cleavage all the way down to her waist and legs all the way down to the floor. I tried to stay casual as I sauntered over to the bar next to her. "Vodka martini. Shaken, not stirred," I said to Ratz, the regular bartender. Ratz slammed the drink down on the counter in front of me. "Shaken enough for you, Dick?" he said. "Dick. Nice name." She had a voice that sounded like wind blowing through pine trees on a hot summer night. Low. Breathy. Wet. "He's being an asshole. Dick's American slang for a PI. Mind if I join you?" "Suit yourself." I pulled up a stool, surreptitiously slipping her PGP signature into my PDA. It checked out. Good. Now if she just had the merchandise. I hadn't come 5,000 miles just to check out her pectoral development. I leaned over close, trying not to stare at that pair of 38Ds. "You got anything else you'd like to show me?" Her emerald green eyes bored into mine, and then slowly dropped down to the level of my zipper. She slowly slid the hem of her dress up her creamy thigh, just high enough so that I could see that she wasn't wearing any panties. And there it was. Tucked into the top of her silk stocking, just next to the black lace garter. "That floppy's got the source to Declan McCullagh and Ian Goldberg's crack of the Surfwatch database. Worth a small fortune to anyone with the cojones to spam a sample to K12." She licked her lips like she was getting ready to go down on a double dip of Cherry Garcia. "Would you like to come up to my room and take a closer look?" (OK, Nobody, knock it off. You got rid of Tim May three paragraphs ago. Let's get on with it, huh?) (Shit, boss, just trying to have a little fun ... ) THE CYPHERPUNK ENQUIRER "Encyphering minds want to know." Fresh on the heels of the Chicago Bull's triumph in the NBA finals, Michael Jordan has announced the release of his new signature Internet encryption product, Michael Jordan's Awfully Good Snake Oil. Based on a tried and tested but proprietary algorithm, AGSO is guaranteed to provide superior 40 bit encryption of all important Internet traffic. Michael himself personally guarantees that AGSO will integrate perfectly with the Eudora mailer, and used no 14 year old Nicaraguan programmers like that inferior Kathy Lee Gifford shit, and no feminine frou-frou like with Liz Taylor's Black Perl. Jim Bell was injured today when a mail exploder went off in his hands. Doctors at the Bethesda Naval Hospital reported that the mail exploder had been upgraded from critical to stable condition and was resting comfortably in a private room. After a visit from fellow patient Louis Freeh, the mail exploder commented, "It's surprising how well he's learned to talk through that proctoscope." Matt Blaze has finally come clean, and agreed to provide a partial transcript of the NSA's famous "If you knew what we know, you'd support key escrow" presentation, which according to Mr. Blaze starts out, "If you knew about the video tapes we have of you with that 16 year old blonde at the Motel Six ... " Due to continuing controversy over the Michael Jackson case, and bowing to extreme election year pressure from the religious right, President Clinton today announced a new policy to prevent child abuse in the music industry. The Rock Musicians Penis Escrow Bill would require all musicians selling more than 10,000 CDs to file photographs of their (presumably tumescent) genitals with the FBI so that they could be examined and identified in the event of accusations of lascivious behavior with minors. Leon Panetta was reportedly flying to Chicago for discussions with the presently retired Plaster Casters, hoping to garner their support for the bill, while the Wall Street Journal announced an investigation into rumors that Chelsea has a standing request with the FBI for multiple copies. The Libertarian Party immediately announced its whole-hearted support for the plan after Jim Ray snuck the plank into the party platform when no one was looking. Tim May's experimental plan to reduce the noise level on the Cypherpunk Mailing List was declared a resounding success after massive doses of Ritalin actually caused Perry Metzger to apologize for flaming a clueless AOLer. In related news, AwakenToMe has finally figured out protected mode, and has announced the first Pentium condom that actually fits over the cooling fan. Sameer Parkesh announced that c2.org is now hosting an "Unanimizer" web browser, which makes web servers think that the entire population of the WhoWhere search engine has just accessed their pages. Next in the Enquirer: Bob Dole on the dangers of the abacus virus.

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Cypherpunk Enquirer
by enquirer＠alpha.c2.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I finally lost the tail somewhere around the docks, and slowly worked my way into Chiba, watching my back all the way. I dumped the chip in the saddlebag of a bike messenger who almost ran me down in front of the Jarre, figured he'd get a good scare out of a midnight visit from the NSA goons who'd been using it to follow my tracks out of Tokyo. They weren't going to like the way I rearranged the facial features of their buddy who tried to waylay me outside of the pachinko parlor. One last glance behind me, and I ducked into the Chatsubo. She was waiting for me there, a vision of pure lust in a red mini-dress with cleavage all the way down to her waist and legs all the way down to the floor. I tried to stay casual as I sauntered over to the bar next to her. "Vodka martini. Shaken, not stirred," I said to Ratz, the regular bartender. Ratz slammed the drink down on the counter in front of me. "Shaken enough for you, Dick?" he said. "Dick. Nice name." She had a voice that sounded like wind blowing through pine trees on a hot summer night. Low. Breathy. Wet. "He's being an asshole. Dick's American slang for a PI. Mind if I join you?" "Suit yourself." I pulled up a stool, surreptitiously slipping her PGP signature into my PDA. It checked out. Good. Now if she just had the merchandise. I hadn't come 5,000 miles just to check out her pectoral development. I leaned over close, trying not to stare at that pair of 38Ds. "You got anything else you'd like to show me?" Her emerald green eyes bored into mine, and then slowly dropped down to the level of my zipper. She slowly slid the hem of her dress up her creamy thigh, just high enough so that I could see that she wasn't wearing any panties. And there it was. Tucked into the top of her silk stocking, just next to the black lace garter. "That floppy's got the source to Declan McCullagh and Ian Goldberg's crack of the Surfwatch database. Worth a small fortune to anyone with the cojones to spam a sample to K12." She licked her lips like she was getting ready to go down on a double dip of Cherry Garcia. "Would you like to come up to my room and take a closer look?" (OK, Nobody, knock it off. You got rid of Tim May three paragraphs ago. Let's get on with it, huh?) (Shit, boss, just trying to have a little fun ... ) THE CYPHERPUNK ENQUIRER "Encyphering minds want to know." Fresh on the heels of the Chicago Bull's triumph in the NBA finals, Michael Jordan has announced the release of his new signature Internet encryption product, Michael Jordan's Awfully Good Snake Oil. Based on a tried and tested but proprietary algorithm, AGSO is guaranteed to provide superior 40 bit encryption of all important Internet traffic. Michael himself personally guarantees that AGSO will integrate perfectly with the Eudora mailer, and used no 14 year old Nicaraguan programmers like that inferior Kathy Lee Gifford shit, and no feminine frou-frou like with Liz Taylor's Black Perl. Jim Bell was injured today when a mail exploder went off in his hands. Doctors at the Bethesda Naval Hospital reported that the mail exploder had been upgraded from critical to stable condition and was resting comfortably in a private room. After a visit from fellow patient Louis Freeh, the mail exploder commented, "It's surprising how well he's learned to talk through that proctoscope." Matt Blaze has finally come clean, and agreed to provide a partial transcript of the NSA's famous "If you knew what we know, you'd support key escrow" presentation, which according to Mr. Blaze starts out, "If you knew about the video tapes we have of you with that 16 year old blonde at the Motel Six ... " Due to continuing controversy over the Michael Jackson case, and bowing to extreme election year pressure from the religious right, President Clinton today announced a new policy to prevent child abuse in the music industry. The Rock Musicians Penis Escrow Bill would require all musicians selling more than 10,000 CDs to file photographs of their (presumably tumescent) genitals with the FBI so that they could be examined and identified in the event of accusations of lascivious behavior with minors. Leon Panetta was reportedly flying to Chicago for discussions with the presently retired Plaster Casters, hoping to garner their support for the bill, while the Wall Street Journal announced an investigation into rumors that Chelsea has a standing request with the FBI for multiple copies. The Libertarian Party immediately announced its whole-hearted support for the plan after Jim Ray snuck the plank into the party platform when no one was looking. Tim May's experimental plan to reduce the noise level on the Cypherpunk Mailing List was declared a resounding success after massive doses of Ritalin actually caused Perry Metzger to apologize for flaming a clueless AOLer. In related news, AwakenToMe has finally figured out protected mode, and has announced the first Pentium condom that actually fits over the cooling fan. Sameer Parkesh announced that c2.org is now hosting an "Unanimizer" web browser, which makes web servers think that the entire population of the WhoWhere search engine has just accessed their pages. Next in the Enquirer: Bob Dole on the dangers of the abacus virus.

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Re: The Net and Terrorism
by Arun Mehta 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 19:52 02/07/96 -0500, John Deters wrote: >Even so, there are a couple of problems with even attempting "to take away >the root causes", not the least of which is the Constitutionally protected >right to free speech. I am allowed to teach my kid to hate anyone for any >reason. I can blame this or that group for this set of troubles, and that >the best way to deal with this is not only to scare them away, but to kill >as many of them as possible. It may be morally repugnant, but it is >protected speech. I think we've all been exposed to awful teaching in some aspects of our upbringing, but experience taught us otherwise. I love the anarchist poster that says, "We are the people whom our parents used to warn us about." Just because you were taught hate, doesn't mean you won't outgrow it. My mother was active in the freedom struggle against the British, and told me enough horror stories that I grew up hating them. But once I met some perfectly decent specimens, it evaporated. If the hate persists, there is likely to be reinforcement in the form of injustices, further bad experiences, etc. India is a large, diverse country with lots of injustice, poverty and other problems. When we analyze what breeds terrorism, we find aspects such as: - Severe neglect by the government (i.e. problems keep getting worse): For instance, the north east (which is east of Bangladesh, and has a long history of militant opposition) had to agitate for a long time to even get a railway line to connect them to the rest of the country. - Meddling by politicians: in Punjab, there was a Sikh regional party that was quite strong. To erode its popular base, Indira Gandhi encouraged the fundamentalists on its right. Similarly, Rajiv Gandhi's government helped train the Tamil LTTE. Both paid for these blunders with their lives, at the hands of the very groups they had once tried to foster. - Disenfranchisement: In Kashmir, most elections were rigged, as the central government pretty much admits now. Interestingly, some of the leaders of the terrorists were polling agents at the time of the previous elections, and were quite disgusted at what they saw. >The countries that sponsor terrorists have not been noted for their >successful educational systems. And they certainly are not going to listen >to Western discussions on how best to solve their "problems". No, but give the people the conviction that they can get their problems redressed legally, that they can win political power peacefully, and basically not let problems fester for so long that all trust in government is lost, and people will be far less likely to take to arms. Phoolan Devi (seen "Bandit Queen"? Great movie) was a dacoit, supposedly responsible for serious massacres. She went to jail, now she is an elected member of the federal Parliament. That is a great message to send to the poor and deprived. The cynic in me sees this as a way of depriving the poor suffering masses of their leaders, by co-opting them into the ruling elite. But there is no shortage of followers eager and willing to take their place. >The U.S. has a level of tolerance for diversity that I >only recently came to >appreciate. We hosted a foreign exchange student from Scotland (hardly >culture shock to him), but he surprised me when he commented on how >surprised he was that different groups of people were mixed together I've had a similar experience. I was part of the Indian delegation to a couple of Amnesty International International Council meetings. In this organisation, multiracialism and multiculturalism are heavily promoted. But if you looked at delegations from Europe, even from countries with sizable racial minorities, they were typically all-white. The US delegation, on the other hand, had blacks, different kinds of Asians, Hispanics... and not by design -- the US section leadership is highly "mixed", so they did not have to think about multiracialism, it just happened. Of course, given the "melting pot" ethos in the US, this is hardly surprising. However, every society has its blind spots. Communism is a real US phobia. The way you treat puny Cuba I find truly amazing. Arun Mehta Phone +91-11-6841172, 6849103 amehta(a)cpsr.org http://mahavir.doe.ernet.in/~pinaward/arun.htm The protestors of Tiananmen Square will be back. Next time, the battle will be fought in cyberspace, where the students have the more powerful tanks...

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Re: [RANT] Giving Mind Control Drugs to Children
by Arun Mehta 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I sent Tim's original post to a psychiatrist friend, who responded: Ritalin is a lifesaver for a small % of children who suffer from a condition characterized by hyperactivity and poor attention span. These kids (usually boys) may be bright as hell but fail in school because they can't sit still or pay attention; they get made fun of, they behave badly, get depressed, it's a mess. Some of them (milder cases) respond to behavior modification therapies which involve training of the parents and teachers to have realistic expectation, recognize the specific difficulties the kids have, set them goals, reward them for achieving them, give them disincentives for misbehaving etc. Others really do need Ritalin. It's a relief not just for the parents and teachers but for the kids to be able to sit still and pay attention and learn and succeed and be liked etc. Most of them grow out of it by their mid-teens. However, there are many more kids on Ritalin than there need to be; some teachers pressure parents to get kids put on it... I know one very bright little girl who's bored out of her mind in school, the school refuses to move her up a grade or give her more challenging work to do, instead complain that she is not paying attention and suggested that she be put on Ritalin... mother was furious. Some of the kids who use foul language (a very small %) have Tourette's disease, and also need medicine (a different one)... by and large the politically correct thing is sometimes to label a kid as sick rather than bad or spoiled, this is probably why drugs are over-used. But we can't throw the baby out with the bathwater! By the way, some old people who are severely depressed after a stroke also do well with Ritalin and don't respond to any other antidepressants... Arun Mehta Phone +91-11-6841172, 6849103 amehta(a)cpsr.org http://mahavir.doe.ernet.in/~pinaward/arun.htm The protestors of Tiananmen Square will be back. Next time, the battle will be fought in cyberspace, where the students have the more powerful tanks...

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Re: The Net and Terrorism
by James A. Donald 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 01:16 PM 7/8/96 +0500, Arun Mehta wrote: >India is a large, diverse country with lots of injustice, poverty and other >problems. When we analyze what breeds terrorism, we find aspects such as: > >- Severe neglect by the government (i.e. problems keep getting worse): For >instance, the north east (which is east of Bangladesh, and has a long >history of militant opposition) had to agitate for a long time to even get a >railway line to connect them to the rest of the country. this is totally back to front. The primary cause of terrorism, and indeed the primary party guilty of terrorism in India *is* the government. For example the war upon the Sikhs started off with government sponsored terror against Sikh civilians, similar to Krystalnacht. We mostly see terrorism in countries with a large and intrusive government, not in countries like Hong Kong where there is massive government "neglect" >- Disenfranchisement: In Kashmir, most elections were rigged, as the central >government pretty much admits now. Oh wow: So the Muslims of Kashmir were more upset by rigged elections than by the murder of women and children. If that is true, why do we not see terror in Hong Kong (no elections until recently) and Singapore, (rigged elections) > The US delegation, on the > other hand, had blacks, different kinds of Asians, Hispanics... and not by > design -- the US section leadership is highly "mixed", so they did not have > to think about multiracialism, it just happened. Pull the other leg. They even have a black lesbian quota. US ambassadorships had gay quota even under Reagan, though not a black lesbian quota. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | 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: doubleclick monitoring web browsing habits
by dp＠tir.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

How do I get off the list.......

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Pseudo-DC-net Project
by janke＠unixg.ubc.ca 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I am working on a project to implement a variation of a DC-net to be run over the Internet. I am posting this summary to find out if it overlaps with projects others are working on; to see what members of the lists think of the general ideas for the network I have in mind; and to see if anyone is interested in helping me out. The variation of a DC-net I have in mind will vary in three important ways from a true DC-net: Difference (1) (Pseudo-random numbers) It will use pseudo-random numbers in place of true random numbers. Difference (2) (Star shaped network) The graph of the network will be star shaped instead of completely connected. Difference (3) (MACs) Messages broadcast on the pseudo-DC-net will have a MAC appended in a key shared by the channel participants. Difference (4) (Encryption) Messages sent to the channel will be encrypted in a key shared by the participants. Because of these difference from a true DC-net I will refer to the network I have in mind as a "pseudo-DC-net". Difference (1) is desirable since current techniques for generating true random numbers on PC's are slow, and distribution of the resulting true random numbers is enormously consumptive in terms of bandwidth. Difference (2) is made possible by the use of pseudo-random number generators, and is desirable since it reduces the total number of messages that need to transferred. Difference (3) is desirable to identify messages broadcast by unauthorized parties to the network, and, as a side benefit, to help clients filter out collisions--- when two parties try to broadcast at the same time. Difference (4) is desirable so that eavesdroppers cannot determine what messages are being broadcast to the network. Difference (1) implies a downgrading of the level of anonymity from unconditional to cryptographic, and difference (2) opens the possibility for protocol attacks. I would like to break this project up into three parts: a formal protocol specification, a client implementation or implementations, and a server implementation or implementations. I would like the formal protocol specification to be publicly available to allow anyone to write their own clients and servers, and to communicate their criticisms of the protocol. The protocol will not dictate what pseudo-random number generator is to be used, although there will be a note of a rule to ensure that pairs of users are using the same generator for the "coin flips" they share. Similarly, the protocol should be flexible enough to allow the use of any reasonable length MAC. A general outline of the protocols I have in mind are as follows: Protocol (1) (Channel registration protocol) Channels will be registered with the server. A channel will be specified by a time frame in which a pseudo-DC-net is to be run; the IP address and port to which clients are to connect to join the channel; the length of each message block to be transmitted to the channel; and a channel ID. Protocol (2) (Pseudo-DC-net real-time protocol) The protocol for running the channel will consist of a series of "rounds". Each round will consist of the following steps: Step (1) The transmission of a round synchronization number from the server to the clients, along with a string of bits specifying the set of users connected. Old clients should make sure that the synchronization number is consistent with the synchronization number of the previous round. Step (2) Receipt by the server from each client of a block of input for that round. (If the user does not wish to broadcast, this will be the XOR sum of the next blocks in the the pseudo-random number streams shared by the user with the other users (call this sum S). If the user wishes to broadcast, it will be the encryption of the following: the XOR of S with a message consisting of the concatenation of the channel id, round number, message length, message, message padding, and MAC of these five components.) Step (3) Transmission from the server to each client of the XOR sum of the blocks received. Protocol (3) (Optional Payment Protocol) I would like to add the option for the server to charge e-cash for the administration of the channel. I have also thought about an extension in which messages to the server would be signed so that the server could prevent an unauthorized user from hijacking a connection and disrupting a channel. If you would like to help me out with this project, if it overlaps with something you are already doing or have done, or you just think my ideas are no good (or good! :) ), please let me know. I am especially interested in attacks in which the server lies about the round number or set of connected users. If this project is works out well, I would like to later work on protocols for voting using a pseudo-DC-net. Leonard Janke (pgp key id 0xF4118611) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3ia Charset: noconv iQEVAwUBMeFVY0MBIFf0EYYRAQErKwf+OcQjqoODovlRJZtrXuqTGeiRHTobFDa+ DFWEmGl+yditRBt9nAlCgXGiRkCXhqroX30M+SEVw02trc1eBMCeJUSvxB9d0pN6 9x3vDN/XB4Kj6kAuAypulBCa0f74Uim4nJvZDw7boEW/hXY3Yuf7d3mgOsNY/LRT p62FL24wnz8aeBAVYnE6SJp59u9Yssrvb2lez1IuKIdN8Rqx590Fwn1VBZ2oqGk8 6UucJkvTht7XmKPuckND+Lhq7jv1vVZKZD3NRe4Uy21JstwKwwpuVXVX98YlNc+Y a15wW4WstZIzsKuPrYVsLsb+wXsETp1sgp5jDkKQABfit7XS8FVC9g== =KZsI -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: The Net and Terrorism
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Thanks for the fine comments (and the comments from your shrink-wrapped friend on Ritalin). A very few comments: At 8:16 AM 7/8/96, Arun Mehta wrote: >because you were taught hate, doesn't mean you won't outgrow it. My mother >was active in the freedom struggle against the British, and told me enough >horror stories that I grew up hating them. But once I met some perfectly >decent specimens, it evaporated. This is my experience, too, with using common sense in deciding which races, if any, to hate. >India is a large, diverse country with lots of injustice, poverty and other >problems. When we analyze what breeds terrorism, we find aspects such as: > >- Severe neglect by the government (i.e. problems keep getting worse): For >instance, the north east (which is east of Bangladesh, and has a long >history of militant opposition) had to agitate for a long time to even get a >railway line to connect them to the rest of the country. A case, of course, where the government set the policy on who to connect, based on votes and influence. In a market economy, regions get connected by rail when a market for goods to be shipped appears likely, when customers will pay for tickets, etc. (Until the last several decades, this is the way railroads and shipping in the U.S. expanded. J.J. Hill built the "Great Northern" rail line across the northern part of the U.S. without a dime of subsidy and without much interference by government.) >- Meddling by politicians: in Punjab, there was a Sikh regional party that >was quite strong. To erode its popular base, Indira Gandhi encouraged the >fundamentalists on its right. Similarly, Rajiv Gandhi's government helped >train the Tamil LTTE. Both paid for these blunders with their lives, at the >hands of the very groups they had once tried to foster. This "tactical move" of pitting one religious or ethnic group against another should be a lesson for the rest of us. Much better to take a hands-off attitude and essentially pretend that differences don't matter. (As opposed, say, to giving special privileges to Baptists, blacks, Catholics, etc.) In this regard, I think the U.S. got it "right" (though we are drifting toward a "minority rights" situation, which is sowing the seeds of Indian-style sectarian conflict, e.g., the riots in Los Angeles a few years ago). (Arun is now quoting someone else) >>The U.S. has a level of tolerance for diversity that I >>only recently came to >>appreciate. We hosted a foreign exchange student from Scotland (hardly >>culture shock to him), but he surprised me when he commented on how >>surprised he was that different groups of people were mixed together > >I've had a similar experience. I was part of the Indian delegation to a >couple of Amnesty International International Council meetings. In this >organisation, multiracialism and multiculturalism are heavily promoted. But >if you looked at delegations from Europe, even from countries with sizable >racial minorities, they were typically all-white. The US delegation, on the >other hand, had blacks, different kinds of Asians, Hispanics... and not by >design -- the US section leadership is highly "mixed", so they did not have >to think about multiracialism, it just happened. Of course, given the >"melting pot" ethos in the US, this is hardly surprising. Indeed, Americans are often branded as racist yahoos by the enlightened, racially-tolerant folks of Europe. They cluck at our "racial problems." However, America is a melting pot, as Arun notes. On a daily basis we interact with blacks, Asians, Mexicans, whites of all flavors, etc. Blacks, for example, are very well-represented in so many areas (not science and technology, for educational/cultural/image reasons--see Note if you want to hear why). For anyone who buys the UNESCO line about how American is a fundamentally racist society, a visit for a few weeks should clarify things. There is still a lot of racial separation, by choice and not by law, and economic disparities. But the fact is that the races mix on a daily basis, with little or no conflict. Music, sports, entertainment, business, etc. (Note: For various cultural and image reasons, science and technology are _not_ emphasized as careers for black children. Contrast the image of science in predominantly black environments with the image of science in, say, predominantly Jewish environments. The result is clear: blacks are severely underrepresented in these areas, and Jews are overrepresented in these same areas. Hey, I'm just citing a basic truth of our times, at least in this country. Similar statistics apply to Asians, with more than half of all U.C. Berkeley science and engineering undergrad students being Asian, and something less than 3% of them being black. The figures for who _graduates_ are even more skewed. There are various reasons for this. One of my pet peeves is how the terms "dweeb," "nerd," and "geek" are used to characterize science and engineering majors and professionals. Hardly terms that are likely to make a brother in the hood consider studying science!) --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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InfoWarCon V: DC
by winn＠Infowar.Com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

* * * * * * * P L E A S E D I S T R I B U T E W I D E L Y * * * * * * * InfoWarCon 5, 1996 Electronic Civil Defense for the 21st. Century The Convergence of the Commercial and the Military Sectors: Vulnerabilities, Capabilities and Solutions September 5-6, 1996 Washington, DC Sponsored by: Winn Schwartau, Interpact, Inc./Infowar.Com National Computer Security Association/NCSA.Com Robert Steele, OPEN SOURCE SOLUTIONS, Inc./OSS.Net Sponsoring Organizations: Command Software Systems Digital Equipment Corporation Norman Data Defense IBM Phillips Publications Jane's Information Group Historically, civil defense has meant to protect citizenry against hostile military actions. Today, with the specter of Information Warfare representing new challenges to late-industrial and information age nation-states, the rules have radically changed. Societies are rapidly migrating to increased dependance upon four critical interrelated infrastructures and adequate methods of protection must be developed: - The Power grid is the basis of most of modern society. With it gone, not much else happens. If you think this is just a matter of building more generators, think again--what happens if the factories that *make* the generators are taken down, too? - The Communications infrastructure: land, sea, air and satellite. 95% of military communications go over the public networks, and 100% of all financial and industrial communications. Is it worth protecting? - The Global Financial structure depends upon the first two infrastructures, and is perhaps the most vulnerable to theft and denial of service attack. 99+% of all "wealth" is digital--what happens if it vaporizes? - Transportation systems rely upon the other three. The air traffic systems require both power and communications to manage the thousands of airplanes in the sky. What happens to the thousands of airplanes in the air if air traffic control across an entire country goes down? Without all of these infrastructures properly and reliably functioning, the private sector and the national security community cannot function. No heat, no air conditioning, no food distribution, no light, no radio or TV, no Internet. Are we prepared? Do we have a a crisis response for the day money as we know it vanishes? Electronic Civil Defense will soon become a critical component of any nation's well being while the needs of both the private sector and government converge. The convergence of military and civilian interests that Mr. Schwartau predicted two years ago is happening before our eyes. Defensive and commercial postures have so intertwined as to make them indistinguishable. This Fifth International Conference on Information Warfare is an unclassified, open source forum, and will examine the myriad questions of Electronic Civil Defense from the US, International and multi-cultural perspectives. Our seasoned experts will work with InfoWarCon5 delegates to outline a framework for the vulnerabilities, threats, risks and solutions for Electronic Civil Defense. From this conference participants will be able to draw critical insights which will improve their own legislative, regulatory, financial, and operational readiness and security. Last year's Washington InfoWarCon brought together over 600 people and was covered by CNN among other major media organizations. This year key world players in information warfare from the economic, military, and law enforcement communities of over 30 countries are expected to participate. Be prepared for highly interactive sessions with plenty of audience participation. Please bring your opinions and be ready to discuss them with us all! PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE September 4, 1996 16:00 - 20:00 Registration Begins 18:00 - 20:00 Sponsored Reception for attendees, speakers, sponsors and the press. Light food fare and liquid refreshments. Meet Mr.Schwartau, Mr. Steele, Dr. Kabay and many of our other world-class speakers. September 5, 1996 6:30 - 7:50 Registration 7:50 - 8:00 Welcoming Comments and Administration: Dr. Peter Tippett, NCSA Winn Schwartau, Interpact, Inc. 8:00 - 8:30 Keynote Presentation: "National Security in the Information Age" Senator William Cohen (R-Maine) * 8:30 - 9:00 "A Commander in Chief's View of Rear-Area, Home-Front Vulnerabilities and Support Options." General John J. Sheehan, U.S. Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, Commander-in-Chief Atlantic Command 9:00 - 9:30 "Global Finance: Protection in the Age of Electronic Conflict" Colin Cook, V.P. Information Security, Citibank * 9:30 - 10:00 "We Can't Do It Without the Private Sector" Ken Minihan, Director, NSA * 10:00-10:30 Break 10:30-11:45 National Policy Reviews of Electronic Civil Defense Programs Ms. Sally Katzen, Administrator for Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, USA Dr. Anders Eriksson and Peter Wallstroem, National Defence Research Establishment, Dept. of Defence Analysis: Sweden Dr. Leroy Pearce, Canada, What is the current thinking in Electronic Civil Defense? How do plan on protecting our citizens against invisible unnamed assailants? What are the top policy makers planning for? International experts will present their views as well. 11:45 - 13:15 Sponsored Lunch 12:30 - 13:00 Luncheon Address 13:15 - 14: 30 Breakout Sessions A1 - A4 A1 A Military Briefing: The Electronic Projection of Power in a C4I World Moderated by General Jim McCarthy, USAF (Ret) Barry Horton, Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for C3I * Captain Patrick Tyrrell, Assistant Director, Information Warfare Policy, Ministry of Defence, United Kingdom A2 Protecting the Global Financial and Communications Infrastructures: Weaknesses at the Transport Layer Ron Eward, Martech, Inc. One scary session. Forget about HERF Guns and hackers. Mr. Eward will tell us how to wreak disaster with a few well placed pick- axes, from New York to Palermo to Taipei. An incredible research effort with global on the generally forgotten physical underpinnings of Cyberspace. Do not miss his tremendously important findings. Messrs. Eward and Schwartau upcoming book on this overlooked topic will shake the financial global community. A3 Media Manipulation, Perception Management and PsyOps Moderated by Dr. Mich Kabay, NCSA Mark Bender, ABC News * Jim Roberts, SOLIC Neil Munro, Washington Technology How can a nation-state use the media to bend the will of an adversary, or leverage its own position prior to, in or after a conflict? Who is really using who? A4 National Defense University Session Moderator - Dr. Dan Kuehl, Professor, NDU Top students from the School of Information Warfare and Strategy, the Nation's top-level school for potential flag officers in the IW arena, will discuss their findings and concerns. 14:30 - 15:00 Break 15:00 - 16:15 Breakout Sessions B1-B4 B1 - Emergency/Disaster Planning for the Effects of Information Warfare: Moderator: Mark Aldrich, Chief Infosec Engineer, GRC International, Inc. Michael Logan, Federal Planning Associate, American Red Cross William W. Donovan, CISSP, FEMA Ken Barksdale, Association of Contingency Planners Assume the worst happens, and an infowar assault takes down major life sustaining portions of the infrastructure. What do we do about it? How do we minimize the damage and protect the victims and citizens? These esteemed experts will tell you what they think and then invite your comments. B2 Legal Liabilities and Responsibilities in Information Warfare Danielle Cailloux, Judge, Committee on Intelligence, Belgium Charles Dunlap, Judge Advocate, USAF Kenneth Bass III, Cyber-Attorney, Washington If a company is attacked and it loses significant assets, what are the recourses of the stakeholders? How do we measure and evaluate the losses and responsibility? On the military side, what constitutes an Act of War and what steps are necessary to formulate a response? B3 The Forensics of Information Wafare for Law Enforcement Moderated by Michael Anderson, New Technologies Investigation Division Howard Schmidt, Director, AF Office of Special Investigations Ken Rosenblat, Santa Clara County Prosecutor, Author "High-Technology Crime: Investigating Cases Involving Computers" How can you tell you are under attack? Once you determine you are, how do you make a case which will stand up in court? How do you collect evidence? How do you involve law enforcement without compromising your efforts? Experts share years of experience with you. B4 Naval Postgraduate School Session Moderator: Dr. Fred Levien, NPS Top field grade students from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California will present InfoWar papers and concepts. 16:15 - 16:45 Break 16:45 - 18:00 The Hacker/Underground and Social Engineering Moderated by: Nic Chantler, Australian Intelligence (Ret) Andy Mueller-Maguhn, CHAOS Computer Club, Germany Chris Goggans, co-founder, Legion of Doom, USA John Gilmore, Electronic Frontier Foundation If you've ever wanted to know how hackers think; what makes them tick and how they became the first Information Warriors, here are the people who can answer your questions. These sessions are among the most popular at every InfoWarCon. Gilmore will present his unique concepts for Defensive Information Warfare. 18::00 - 20:30 Sponsored Reception/"Live Hackers" Off-Line September 6, 1996 6:30 - 7:50 Continental Breakfast 7:50 - 8:00 Opening Remarks and Administration 8:00 - 8:30 "Domestic Law Enforcement and Electronic Civil Defense" Louis Freeh, Director, FBI * 8:30 - 9:00 "The Convergence of Military and Civilian Defense" General Jim McCarthy, USAF (Ret) 9:00 - 9:30 "What is National Security?" Michael R. Nelson, Ph.D. Special Assistant for Information Technology White House Office of Science and Technology Policy 9:30 - 10:00 "Building a Society from the Net Up" Pedrag Pale, Chairman of the InfoTech Coordinating Committee, Ministry of Science, Technology and Informatics, Croatia 10:00-10:30 Break 10:30-11:45 The Russians are Coming Moderated by: Greg Treverton, Director of National Security Program, Rand Corporation From academia to the military to their business community, the Russians have been thinking long and had about Information Warfare. Here's what they have to say. Get front row seats and be ready to ask your questions. Dr. Victor I. Solntsev, Assoc. Prof. Moscow State Tech. Univ. "Information Warfare and Human-Operator Security" Dr. Dmitry Chereshkin Russian Academy of Sciences; Editorial Board, "Information Infrastructure and Policy." Dr. Georgy Smolian Russian Academy of Sciences and Scientific Council "Democratization of Russia and Information Security." 11:45 - 13:15 Sponsored Lunch 12:30 - 13:00 Luncheon Address 13:00 - 14: 15 Breakout Sessions C1-C4 C1 Corporate Civil Defense: Moderated by Don Sortor, Director Security Prgms, Corp. InfoSec., Motorola, Inc. A team of cross-industry experts from the primary infrastructures, will examine how industry and government can and should interact in the event of an Electronic Pearl Harbor. What is the role of the company and its management? What policies should be put into place to prepare for the malicious Acts of Man? How should the government work with the private sector to mitigate damages? These experts will set you on the right track. C2 Denial of Service in the Private Sector: The Nuclear Weapons of the Information Age: Magnetic Weapons from the Military to Electronic Pipe Bombs Carlo Copp, Defense Analyst, Australia Kelly Goen, Penetration and Security Engineer Get Seats Early! Magnetic weapons; directed energy weapons; HPM; HERF Guns; electromagnetic pulse cannons and EMP. Learn about the latest in high energy weapons systems and how they can be used to attack and destroy critical electronically based infrastructures. Then find out what the terrorist can do with home-brew electronic pipe bombs. C3 The Net Under Attack Dr. Dorothy Denning, Chair, Computer Science Dept., Georgetown Univ. Jim Christy, Permanent Subcommittee Investigations U.S. Senate (And USAF OSI) What makes an attack on the Internet and what do we do about it? Ms. Denning is an internationally recognized expert who will guide us and her panel of experts through the maze of possibilities. Incredibly valuable for security professionals. C4 USAF School of Advanced Airpower Studies Moderated by Col. Richard Szafranski, USAF, Air War College National Military Strategy Col. Szafranski and his top students will discuss their views, opinions on Information Warfare. The USAF SAAS has produced some of the most revolutionary papers in IW, including the now globally recognized papers on taking down telecommunications and national power systems. 14:30 - 15:00 Break 15:00 - 16:15 Breakout Sessions D1-D4 D1 Anonymous Global Banking: Pitfalls and Solutions Moderated by Bruce Schneier Kelly Goen, Security Engineer Eric Hughes, Cypherpunks Phil Zimmermann * How does anonymous international banking work? Is it merely a front for Criminal Central? Or is there a true value? How do conventional banking institutions view it? What about cryptographic solutions? Are your funds "naked on the Net today? Come see for yourself! D2 The Ethics of Information Warfare Moderated by Winn Schwartau Col. Phil Johnson, Judge Avocate, USAF Dr. Dan Kuehl, NDU While CNN is looking over your shoulder, as a military commander, here is your choice: either use a precision smart bomb which will immediately kill 20 civilians for the world to see. Or, use a non-lethal IW weapon, no immediate TV deaths, but a predicted 200 civilian collateral fatalities within 30 days. What do you do? The Ethical conundra of Information Warfare will be examined from all perspectives. Or: you have been attacked anonymously--you suspect one party, without proof--another attack is coming. What now? Should we develop new intelligence capabilities to permit precision detection and response in cyberwar? D3 National Information Assurance: Cooperation is the Key to Safeguarding Communications, Power and Transportation Moderated by: Major Brad Bigelow, Office of the Manager, National Communications System Jeff Sheldon, General Counsel, Utilities Telecommunications Council Steve Fabes, Director of Electronic Delivery Services, BankAmerica Carl Ripa, VP National Security/Emergency Preparedness, Bellcore Experts from the major civilian infrastructures will discuss how past cooperation between industry and government has echoed economic realities. The bulk of the nations information infrastructure is not under the economic or regulatory control of the Federal government. So, how do we maintain a healthy balance between private initiative and legislative and regulatory actions? Today there is no "due diligence" standard which requires that communications and computing services be guaranteed in terms of security and data integrity. Our panel will provoke an active discussion of remedial cooperative measures. D4 "Understanding and Defending Against Industrial Espionage and Information Terrorism." Tom Fedorek, Managing Director, Kroll Associates New York* Matt DeVost TITLE COMING Charlies Swett, Acting Deputy Director for Low-Intenstity Conflict Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict A look at how modern espionage and information is conducted, why it's done and who's doing it. How much can it cost your company and how can you tell if you're targeted? Do not miss this fascinating session which is expected to feature the Kroll Managing Directors from Paris, London, and New York. 16:15 - 16:30 Break 16:30 - 17:00 Wrap Up: "What is War?" Moderated by Dr. Mich Kabay, NCSA General Jim McCarthy, USAF (Ret) John Petersen, President, The Arlington Institute You - The Audience An exciting 'don't miss' interactive audience session. What a closing! (* Speakers with an * have been invited but have not confirmed as of June 28, 1996.) HOTEL INFORMATION: Crystal Gateway Marriott 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway Arlington, VA 22202 The Crystal Gateway Marriott is offereing a special conference rate of $129 single/$139 double occupancy. This rate is good until August 14, 1996. 703-920-3230 (Voice) 703-271-5212 (Fax) CANCELLATION POLICY After August 9th, any cancellation will incur a $100.00 processing fee. If the reservation is not cancelled and no one attends, the full registration price will be charged. Substitute attendees are welcome. InfoWarCon '96 Registration Form: Name: ___________________________________________________________ Title: ___________________________________________________________ Org: ___________________________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________________________ City: ___________________________________________________________ State: _______________________________ Zip: _____________________ Country: __________________________ Email: ________________________ Phone: __________________________ Fax: _________________________ FEES: Payment made BEFORE August 9, 1996: ( ) 595.00 NCSA Members/OSS '96 Attendees ( ) 645.00 All others Payment made AFTER August 9, 1996: ( ) 645.00 NCSA Members/OSS '96 Attendees ( ) 695.00 All others Make checks payable to NCSA, or Charge to: ( ) VISA ( ) MasterCard AMEX ( ) Number: ___________________________________________ Exp date: ___________________________ Signature: ___________________________________________ MAIL OR FAX OR EMAIL REGISTRATION TO: National Computer Security Association 10 South Courthouse Avenue Carlisle, PA 17013 Phone 717-258-1816 or FAX 717-243-8642 EMAIL: conference(a)ncsa.com For more information about NCSA: WWW: http://www.ncsa.com CompuServe: GO NCSA EMail: info(a)ncsa.com Version: 1.10 Peace Winn Winn Schwartau - Interpact, Inc. Information Warfare and InfoSec V: 813.393.6600 / F: 813.393.6361 Winn(a)InfoWar.Com

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Synchronization Attack on Pseudo-DC-net's
by janke＠unixg.ubc.ca 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Here's an easy attack on a pseudo-DC-net that I thought up over lunch if the clients trust the server to be honest in telling both the round number and who is on. Let Stephanie be the person running the server, and let Alice and Bob be two users. Let f(n) be the pseudo random function they share. Assume that Stephanie knows their secret encryption key. It is then possible for her to compromise their anonymity as follows: First Alice joins the net, and Stephanie tells her that it is round 100 and Bob is on. Alice sends a messages. Stephanie sends back some random junk to Alice to convince her that there was a collision. Alice backs off for a few rounds. Stephanine now receives f(101), f(102), f(103), etc. and then tells Alice that Bob has left. Alice leaves now. Later Bob joins. Stephanine tells him that it is round 101 and Alice is here. Bob starts talking right away, sending three message: f(101) xor M1, f(102) xor M2, and f(103) xor M3. From this Stephanie is able to recover M1, M2, and M3 by xor'ing f(101), f(102), and f(103), which she has from before, back in. Bob has completely lost his anonymity! Thus, it looks like trusting the server for both who is on and the round number is a bad idea! It might be possible to remove the need for a round number if the number of seconds since channel creation is used instead, and the clients are time synchronized. In that case running the pseudo-DC-net on top of UDP might be preferable to running it on top of TCP. Can anyone think of an attack if the server is just trusted for a list of who is on? If there is one, I guess new clients could ask for signed messages of who is on: "It is 456 seconds since channel creation, and, I---Alice---am on. (signature)". That would complicate the protocol, of course, and cost Nancy---a new client---some time in verifying the signatures. Good attacks so far! Keep 'em coming. :) Leonard Janke (pgp key id 0xF4118611) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3ia Charset: noconv iQEVAwUBMeF6nUMBIFf0EYYRAQGITQf/U0Wjpsyb7XpG6uCVFCPNaAYVIJpLeEyk Mxl6X/TQPhJFRclbRJwFoWfwH46M2le/QKHu6nFFjioyYbXofaLWqDeOa61XY5/c 4law80/xxAg9IdzoQp4mAz6QOvToMCOlNE21MCL8YlPrrdhIL4MfAH9gpU8+Otui IH1S5VB7TGE6ttZEx18sKdBUxYeJeU4jrXb4Uj2HEN5inLrhJBic/fsZ0hZXjCAH 5kbZLI8sf+leLyoW03qILeVl8jjYuPy/z16MsY2SDzJ3hFv8nngT9+fzVItX7sO2 ngvqvyUW4SIWfK8XwRWUiMFW7i7gyMcKteSSEJBaEdOZNcGUvXY+5Q== =jmVk -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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