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Proxy Cryptography draft available
by Bill Stewart 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Matt Blaze posted the following to cryptography/coderpunks. Looks like potentially cool stuff. I had to use ftp://research.att.com/dist/mab/proxy.ps as a URL, but that may just have been Netcom DNS weirdnesses. >Subject: Proxy Cryptography draft available >Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 18:37:10 -0400 >From: Matt Blaze <mab(a)research.att.com> >Sender: owner-cryptography(a)c2.net > >I've put a draft of a new paper in my ftp directory. Comments and >discussion welcome. In particular, I'm curious if anyone can find >any real practical application for symmetric proxy functions. > >ftp://ftp.research.att.com/dist/mab/proxy.ps > >Proxy Cryptography > >Matt Blaze >Martin Strauss > >AT&T Labs -- Research >{mab,mstrauss}(a)research.att.com > >Abstract: > >This paper introduces {\em proxy cryptography,} in which a {\em >proxy function,} in conjunction with a public {\em proxy key,} >converts ciphertext (messages in a public key encryption scheme or >signatures in a digital signature scheme) for one key ($k_1$) into >ciphertext for another ($k_2$). Proxy keys, once generated, may >be made public and proxy functions applied in untrusted environments. >Various kinds of proxy functions might exist; {\em symmetric} proxy >functions assume that the holder of $k_2$ unconditionally trusts >the holder of $k_1$, while {\em asymmetric} proxy functions do not. >It is not clear whether proxy functions exist for any previous >public-key cryptosystems. Several new public-key cryptosystems >with symmetric proxy functions are described: an encryption scheme, >which is at least as secure as Diffie-Hellman, an identification >scheme, which is at least as secure as the discrete log, and a >signature scheme derived from the identification scheme via a hash >function. > > # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com # You can get PGP outside the US at ftp.ox.ac.uk/pub/crypto/pgp # (If this is a mailing list, please Cc: me on replies. Thanks.)

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Problems at PGP?
by Steve 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hot Off The Press http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,10660,00.html Pretty Good Privacy CEO quits By Dawn Yoshitake May 14, 1997, 11:30 a.m. PT Security software firm Pretty Good Privacy announced today that its chief executive and president has resigned as the company mature from its start-up status. Thomas Steding, CEO, president, and a PGP founder, will now become a company adviser. The CEO position will be phased out, the company said. "This was a decision by the board and the executive staff. It seemed the right time," spokesman Mike Nelson said. "We're moving out of a start-up mode and into pursuit of the corporate marketplace. This was a minor adjustment to the staff." Nelson added that Steding will continue to advise the company on team-building and moving its operations quickly. Phillip Dunkelberger, former vice president of sales, will now become president and be responsible for the company's daily operations. Dunkelberger will also become a board member. Jonathan Seybold, a PGP founder, has been named chairman of the company. Nelson said the company is on target with its product development and sales and profitability targets, and will review where it stands financially and with its product lineup before setting a future course for an initial public offering. PGP, which has been in operation for a year, is scheduled to begin open beta testing for its Personal Privacy version 5.0 tomorrow. The commercial version is slated to be released later this month. Meanwhile, the crypto company has initiated a few acquisitions. One of its most recent was the March buyout of Zoomit, a directory technology that combines private intranets, pubic extranets, and the Internet. -- A picture tells a thousand words. Stego -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS/IT/S d--() s+: a-- C++++(++)$ ULS+++@ P++@ L+(++)$ E- W+(+++)$ N++$ !o K-? w++(+++)$ !O+>++ !M !V PS+(+++)@ PE(++)@ Y++$ PGP@ t+@ 5++@ X++>$ R+++>$ tv+@ b+@ DI+++>$ D+++@>$ G@ e++@>++++ h r* y+ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

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DoJ on Bombmaking Info
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

We offer: "Report on the Availability of Bombmaking Information, the Extent to Which Its Dissemination Is Controlled by Federal Law, and the Extent to Which Such Dissemination May Be Subject to Regulation Consistent with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution Prepared by the United States Department of Justice As Required by Section 709(a) of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. Submitted to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate April 1997" ----- http://jya.com/abi.htm (193K) This relates to the proposed "Feinstein Amendment" of the AEPDA. It covers in detail what kind of speech is permissable now and what language for the amendment should be to close gaps. A fine distinction is traced between "teaching" the use of terrorist and mass destruction weapons and "advocating" them. Or something like that -- I am a jailhouse laugher.

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DES challenge news (fwd)
by 3umoelle＠informatik.uni-hamburg.de 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Distributed key cracking efforts have been discussed in detail on cypherpunks and coderpunks for quite some time. A Swedish group trying to solve RSADSI's DES challenge chose to ignore the results. Here is what they got (from RISKS 19.14): >Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 17:56:54 +0200 (MET DST) >From: Thomas Koenig <ig25(a)mvmap66.ciw.uni-karlsruhe.de> >Subject: DES challenge news You may remember RISKS-19.09, in which I discussed the risks in a network-wide attack on the RSA DES challenge: The Swedish group at http://www.des.sollentuna.se/ didn't give out its source, so the client could, in fact, do anything, such as crack a master EC-card key. The reason given was client integrity. Well, a month after this, the promised source code release has not happened. Instead, it appears that somebody disassembled part of the client, made a version that reported fake "done" blocks, and then sent these to the servers. Moral? Don't ever think that nobody can read compiled code. Don't try to run a cooperative effort like this in a closed development model. Thomas Koenig, Thomas.Koenig(a)ciw.uni-karlsruhe.de, ig25(a)dkauni2.bitnet. ------------------------------

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Re: The Inducement of Rapid Oxidation of Certain Materials....
by jimbell＠pacifier.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 14:27 5/14/97 -0700, Kent Crispin wrote: >On Wed, May 14, 1997 at 03:07:43PM -0400, Tom Allard wrote: >> How pedantic. Webster's New World Dictionary (also reputable, I might add), >> has THIS to say about "Anarchy": >> >> anarchy n. [Gr. an- without + archos, leader] 1. the absence of government >> 2. political disorder and violence 3. disorder; confusion >> >> Note the etymology. Taken to its roots, the word simply means "no leader". > >Note the second definition. A definition which it included because of years of misuse. It is said that language is a living thing, which it is, which means that if an error is made frequently enough it becomes the truth. Most of us understand this concept. Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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mbanx - 128 bit SSL transactions
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Can you say, "regulatory arbitrage"? I knew you could... Cheers, Bob Hettinga --- begin forwarded text Sender: e$(a)thumper.vmeng.com Reply-To: "networks(a)vir.com" <networks(a)vir.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Precedence: Bulk Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 11:02:33 -0500 From: "networks(a)vir.com" <networks(a)vir.com> To: Multiple recipients of <e$(a)thumper.vmeng.com> Subject: mbanx - 128 bit SSL transactions I just finished reading about mbanx www.mbanx.com They're a new bank (owned by the Bank of Montreal) which offers services including bill payment and account transfers using the Internet. One of the most interesting things about their service is that they only permit transactions using Netscape with 128 bit SSL. When I heard that I immediately assumed that I had to go out and buy it, but apparently they will supply it to me for free if I don't already have it (so they said when I talked to them on the phone anyway). Unfortunately, they seem to have a $13.00 a month fee, so it's no wonder they aren't worried about giving you 128 bit Netscape. It's a shame that despite the fact that branchless banking is probably saving them a lot of money on infrastructure, they still feel it's necessary to charge a premium. However, I must add that, in the information I have, it is unclear whether the $13.00 fee is standard or whether it is an option to replace transaction charges. I've got more information coming in the mail so I'll try and keep everyone posted. Alan Majer networks(a)vir.com --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "The cost of anything is the foregone alternative" -- Walter Johnson The e$ Home Page: http://www.vmeng.com/rah/

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sorry I'm late...
by Perry E. Metzger 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Sorry I'm about two weeks late getting the new cryptography mailing list in place. Sameer Parekh volunteered his machines at C2, and as soon as a couple of residual majordomo issues are resolved the list will be announced and go on line. I thank you all for your patience. Perry

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microstock market
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

ultimately what cyberspace does in many ways is decrease the "granularity" of economic transactions. you can imagine that an economic transaction has an overhead cost associatd with it needed to manage the bureacracy of the cash transfer. the army of people that have to support check passing, such as the mailman, bankers, etc., the people in the company that have to open envelopes and punch keys, etc. ad infinitum. these vast teams/roles of people are going to vaporize to move into other aspects of the economy. increasingly, the overhead of an economic transaction will move toward the infinitesmal. this radically changes many business models. consider the stock market for example. you have a situation where it doesn' t make sense for a company to be traded on the stock market except after some threshhold has been reached. I suspect this threshhold is due directly to economics that could radically change in the near future (say a decade). what I suspect this might mean is not merely new kinds of stock markets, but a massive plethora of new forums in which business can be transacted in cyberspace. I think we are going to see many new stock exchanges as the capital moves towards the ones that most efficiently handle it. and increasingly, I think you will see very small companies have stocks. you will also see a much better means by which an investor can judge the value of a company. the assets will be more open and thoroughly revealed on public web sites of the company. increasingly the outsider will be able to "peer into" a company for investment or business purposes. the companies with the most open policies are going to be those most favored by their customers. what would be neat is if one could invest in very small companies or ideas. I suspect our economy is moving in exactly this direction. also in addition to this, I suspect that regulations governing stock transactions are going to be challenged and increasingly melt away in the long run. the open market will find its own ways of guaranteeing the safety of its transactions that will make government interference only draining or damaging. so you can imagine that our economy of today is like moving around big boulders-- you need a lot of people and organization to create economic transactions. in the future, transactions are going to decrease in granularity and you will have a system more like the flow of electricity throughout an entire system. the revolutionary implications of cyberspace have barely begun to be uncovered. ultimately it will radically change the nature of our economics and government systems just as the introduction of the printing press did in its time.

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Stanford Patents
by Kent Briggs 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Has anyone heard anything from the Schlafly vs PKP case? There were supposed to be patent validity hearings on Wednesday. I don't know if they are still going on, Roger hasn't updated his web page yet. Kent Briggs

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NIST Crypto Notices
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Two May 13 Federal Register notices by NIST: NIST is planning to develop a FIPS for Public-Key Based Cryptographic Key Agreement and Exchange. This notice solicits comments regarding techniques for consideration specifically including RSA, Diffie-Hellman, and Elliptic Curve techniques. This standard will be for use in designing and implementing public-key based key agreement and exchange systems which Federal departments and agencies operate or which are operated for them under contract. More than one algorithm may be specified, consistent with sound security practices, to enable Federal departments and agencies enhanced flexibility in the design, implementation, and use of cryptographic systems. http://jya.com/nist051397.txt (6K) NIST is planning to develop a proposed revision to Federal Information Processing Standard 186, Digital Signature Standard. This revision would specify additional public-key based digital signature algorithms (in addition to the Digital Signature Algorithm [DSA]) for use in designing and implementing public-key based signature systems which Federal departments and agencies operate or which are operated for them under contract. The purpose of the revision will be to enable Federal departments and agencies greater flexibility, consistent with sound security practices, in the design, implementation, and use of public-key based digital signature systems. http://jya.com/dss-rev.txt (6K)

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